(FermiFermi)-LAT observations of the LIGO event GW150914

Journal Article · Fri May 20 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/1/L2· OSTI ID:22868618

Ackermann, M. ^[1]; Ajello, M. ^[2]; Albert, A.; Baldini, L.; Blandford, R. D.; Bloom, E. D.; Bottacini, E. ^[3]; Anderson, B. ^[4]; Arimoto, M. ^[5]; Atwood, W. B. ^[6]; Axelsson, M. ^[7]; Ballet, J. ^[8]; Barbiellini, G. ^[9]; Baring, M. G. ^[10]; Bastieri, D. ^[11]; Gonzalez, J. Becerra; Brandt, T. J. ^[12]; Bellazzini, R. ^[13]; Bissaldi, E. ^[14]; others, and

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1. Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, D-15738 Zeuthen (Germany)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson, SC 29634-0978 (United States)
3. W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)
4. Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
5. Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro City, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan)
6. Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
7. Department of Physics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
8. Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot, Service d’Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France)
9. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy)
10. Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, MS-108, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 (United States)
11. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy)
12. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
13. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)
14. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari, I-70126 Bari (Italy)

The Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) has an instantaneous field of view (FoV) covering ∼1/5 of the sky and it completes a survey of the entire sky in high-energy gamma-rays every 3 hr. It enables searches for transient phenomena over timescales from milliseconds to years. Among these phenomena could be electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) sources. In this paper, we present a detailed study of the LAT observations relevant to Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) event GW150914, which is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and has been interpreted as being due to the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. The localization region for GW150914 was outside the LAT FoV at the time of the GW signal. However, as part of routine survey observations, the LAT observed the entire LIGO localization region within ∼70 minutes of the trigger and thus enabled a comprehensive search for a γ-ray counterpart to GW150914. The study of the LAT data presented here did not find any potential counterparts to GW150914, but it did provide limits on the presence of a transient counterpart above 100 MeV on timescales of hours to days over the entire GW150914 localization region.

• OSTI ID: 22868618
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 823, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
BLACK HOLES
COALESCENCE
COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS
GAMMA RADIATION
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTORS
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
INTERFEROMETERS
LASERS
MEV RANGE
SIGNALS
SKY
TELESCOPES