A Dark Energy Camera Search for an Optical Counterpart to the First Advanced LIGO Gravitational Wave Event GW150914

Journal Article · Fri May 27 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Astrophys.J.Lett.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L33 · OSTI ID:1253580

Soares-Santos, M.  ^[1]; Kessler, R.  ^[2]; Berger, E.  ^[3]; Annis, J.  ^[1]; Brout, D.  ^[4]; Buckley-Geer, E.  ^[1]; Chen, H. ^[2]; Cowperthwaite, P. S. ^[3]; Diehl, H. T.  ^[1]; Doctor, Z. ^[2]; Drlica-Wagner, A.  ^[1]; Farr, B. ^[2]; Finley, D. A.  ^[1]; Flaugher, B.  ^[1]; Foley, R. ^[5]; Frieman, J.  ^[6]; Gruendl, R. A. ^[5]; Herner, K. ^[1]; Holz, D. ^[2]; Lin, H.  ^[1] ; Marriner, J.  ^[1]; Neilsen, E.  ^[1]; Rest, A. ^[7]; Sako, M. ^[4]; Scolnic, D. ^[2]; Sobreira, F.  ^[8]; Walker, A. R. ^[9]; Wester, W.  ^[1]; Yanny, B.  ^[1]; Abbott, T. M.C.  ^[9]; Abdalla, F. B. ^[10]; Allam, S.  ^[1]; Armstrong, R. ^[11]; Banerji, M. ^[12]; Benoit-Levy, A. ^[13]; Bernstein, R. A. ^[14]; Bertin, E. ^[15]; Brown, D. A.  ^[16]; Burke, D. L.  ^[17]; Capozzi, D. ^[18]; Carnero Rosell, A. ^[19]; Carrasco Kind, M.  ^[5]; Carretero, J.  ^[20]; Castander, F. J. ^[21]; Cenko, S. B.  ^[22]; Chornock, R. ^[23]; Crocce, M. ^[21]; D'Andrea, C. B. ^[24]; da Costa, L. N. ^[19]; Desai, S.  ^[25]; Dietrich, J. P. ^[25]; Drout, M. R. ^[3]; Eifler, T. F. ^[26]; Estrada, J.  ^[1]; Evrard, A. E.  ^[27]; Fairhurst, S. ^[28]; Fernandez, E. ^[29]; Fischer, J. ^[4]; Fong, W. ^[30]; Fosalba, P.  ^[21]; Fox, D. B. ^[31]; Fryer, C. L. ^[32]; Garcia-Bellido, J.  ^[33]; Gaztanaga, E.  ^[21]; Gerdes, D. W.  ^[34]; Goldstein, D. A. ^[35]; Gruen, D. ^[17]; Gutierrez, G.  ^[1]; Honscheid, K. ^[36]; James, D. J. ^[9]; Karliner, I. ^[37]; Kasen, D. ^[35]; Kent, S.  ^[1]; Kuropatkin, N. ^[1]; Kuehn, K. ^[38]; Lahav, O. ^[39]; Li, T. S.  ^[40]; Lima, M. ^[41]; Maia, M. A.G.  ^[19]; Margutti, R. ^[42]; Martini, P.  ^[43]; Matheson, T. ^[44]; McMahon, R. G. ^[12]; Metzger, B. D. ^[45]; Miller, C. J. ^[27]; Miquel, R. ^[46]; Mohr, J. J. ^[47]; Nichol, R. C.  ^[18]; Nord, B.  ^[1]; Ogando, R. ^[19]; Peoples, J.  ^[1]; Plazas, A. A. ^[48]; Quataert, E. ^[49]; Romer, A. K. ^[50]; Roodman, A. ^[17]; Rykoff, E. S. ^[17]; Sanchez, E.  ^[33]; Scarpine, V. ^[1]; Schindler, R. ^[51]; Schubnell, M. ^[34]; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.  ^[52]; Sheldon, E. ^[53]; Smith, M. ^[54]; Smith, N. ^[30]; Smith, R. C. ^[9]; Stebbins, A.  ^[1]; Sutton, P. J. ^[28]; Swanson, M. E.C. ^[37]; Tarle, G.  ^[34]; Thaler, J. ^[37]; Thomas, R. C.  ^[55]; Tucker, D. L.  ^[1]; Vikram, V. ^[56]; Wechsler, R. H. ^[57]; Weller, J.  ^[58]

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1. Fermilab
2. Chicago U., KICP
3. Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.
4. Pennsylvania U.
5. Illinois U., Urbana, Astron. Dept.; Illinois U., Urbana
6. Fermilab; Chicago U., KICP
7. Johns Hopkins U.
8. Sao Paulo, IFT
9. Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs.
10. University Coll. London; Rhodes U.
11. Princeton U.
12. Cambridge U., Inst. of Astron.; Cambridge U., KICC
13. Paris, Inst. Astrophys.; University Coll. London
14. Carnegie Inst. Observ.
15. Paris, Inst. Astrophys.
16. Syracuse U.
17. KIPAC, Menlo Park; SLAC
18. Portsmouth U., ICG
19. LIneA, Rio de Janeiro; Rio de Janeiro Observ.
20. Barcelona, IEEC; Barcelona, IFAE
21. Barcelona, IEEC
22. NASA, Goddard; Maryland U.
23. Ohio U.
24. Portsmouth U., ICG; Southampton U.
25. Munich, Tech. U., Universe; Munich U.
26. Pennsylvania U.; Caltech
27. U. Michigan, Dept. Astron.; Michigan U.
28. Cardiff U.
29. Barcelona, IFAE
30. Arizona U.
31. Penn State U.
32. Los Alamos
33. Madrid, CIEMAT
34. Michigan U.
35. UC, Berkeley; LBL, Berkeley
36. Ohio State U., CCAPP; Ohio State U.
37. Illinois U., Urbana
38. Australia, CSIRO, North Ryde
39. University Coll. London
40. Texas A-M
41. Sao Paulo U.; LIneA, Rio de Janeiro
42. New York U., CCPP
43. Ohio State U., CCAPP; Ohio State U., Dept. Astron.
44. NOAO, Tucson
45. Columbia U.
46. ICREA, Barcelona; Barcelona, IFAE
47. Munich, Tech. U., Universe; Munich U.; Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE
48. Caltech
49. UC, Berkeley
50. Sussex U.
51. SLAC
52. Madrid, CIEMAT; Illinois U., Urbana, Astron. Dept.
53. Brookhaven
54. Southampton U.
55. LBL, Berkeley
56. Argonne
57. Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; KIPAC, Menlo Park; SLAC
58. Munich, Tech. U., Universe; Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; Munich U.

We report the results of a deep search for an optical counterpart to the gravitational wave (GW) event GW150914, the first trigger from the Advanced LIGO GW detectors. We used the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to image a 102 deg(2) area, corresponding to 38% of the initial trigger high-probability sky region and to 11% of the revised high-probability region. We observed in the i and z bands at 4–5, 7, and 24 days after the trigger. The median 5σ point-source limiting magnitudes of our search images are i = 22.5 and z = 21.8 mag. We processed the images through a difference-imaging pipeline using templates from pre-existing Dark Energy Survey data and publicly available DECam data. Due to missing template observations and other losses, our effective search area subtends 40 deg(2), corresponding to a 12% total probability in the initial map and 3% in the final map. In this area, we search for objects that decline significantly between days 4–5 and day 7, and are undetectable by day 24, finding none to typical magnitude limits of i = 21.5, 21.1, 20.1 for object colors (i − z) = 1, 0, −1, respectively. Our search demonstrates the feasibility of a dedicated search program with DECam and bodes well for future research in this emerging field.

• Research Organization: Portsmouth U., ICG; Illinois U., Urbana; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Ohio State U., Dept. Astron.; Ohio State U.; NASA, Goddard; Princeton U.; U. Michigan, Dept. Astron.; Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); LIneA, Rio de Janeiro; Southampton U.; Cardiff U.; Paris, Inst. Astrophys.; Sao Paulo, IFT; Barcelona, IFAE; Cambridge U., KICC; Cambridge U., Inst. of Astron.; Maryland U.; Ohio State U., CCAPP; Stanford U., Phys. Dept.; Texas A-M; Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); NOAO, Tucson; Madrid, CIEMAT; ICREA, Barcelona; Illinois U., Urbana, Astron. Dept.; Ohio U.; Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys.; Cerro-Tololo InterAmerican Obs.; Rio de Janeiro Observ.; New York U., CCPP; Arizona U.; Columbia U.; Barcelona, IEEC; Penn State U.; Chicago U., KICP; Johns Hopkins U.; Garching, Max Planck Inst., MPE; UC, Berkeley; Pennsylvania U.; Sussex U.; Syracuse U.; Sao Paulo U.; Caltech; Rhodes U.; Australia, CSIRO, North Ryde; Michigan U.; Munich U.; Carnegie Inst. Observ.; Munich, Tech. U., Universe; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); University Coll. London
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 1253580
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-PUB-16-031-AE-PPD; oai:inspirehep.net:1421418; arXiv:1602.04198
• Journal Information: Astrophys.J.Lett., Journal Name: Astrophys.J.Lett. Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 823
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English