Optical follow-up of the neutron star–black hole mergers S200105ae and S200115j
[1];
[2];
[3];
[6];
[7];
[9];
[5];
[10];
[9];
[1];
[1]
more »
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States)
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States); University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University (Sweden)
- University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
- Stockholm University (Sweden)
- American University of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates)
- Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron DESY, Zeuthen (Germany); Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Germany)
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States); University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
- Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences, Prague (Czech Republic)
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Granada (Spain); Universidad de Málaga (Spain)
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Granada (Spain); Universidad de Granada (Spain)
- National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu (Taiwan)
- Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai (India)
- University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Université Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand (France)
- INAF–Instituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Rome (Italy)
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States); University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot (Israel)
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States); KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University (Sweden); Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnii Arkhyz (Russia)
LIGO and Virgo's third observing run (O3) revealed the first neutron star-black hole (NSBH) merger candidates in gravitational waves. These events are predicted to synthesize r-process elements creating optical/near-IR "kilonova" (KN) emission. The joint gravitational-wave (GW) and electromagnetic detection of an NSBH merger could be used to constrain the equation of state of dense nuclear matter, and independently measure the local expansion rate of the universe. Here, we present the optical follow-up and analysis of two of the only three high-significance NSBH merger candidates detected to date, S200105ae and S200115j, with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). ZTF observed ~\,48\% of S200105ae and ~\,22\% of S200115j's localization probabilities, with observations sensitive to KNe brighter than -17.5\,mag fading at 0.5\,mag/day in g- and r-bands; extensive searches and systematic follow-up of candidates did not yield a viable counterpart. We present state-of-the-art KN models tailored to NSBH systems that place constraints on the ejecta properties of these NSBH mergers. We show that with depths of mAB≈22 mag, attainable in meter-class, wide field-of-view survey instruments, strong constraints on ejecta mass are possible, with the potential to rule out low mass ratios, high BH spins, and large neutron star radii.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); National Science Foundation (NSF); Heising-Simons Foundation
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0020435; 1545949; AST-1440341; 12540303; PHY-2010970; PHY-1806278
- OSTI ID:
- 1681212
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1784936
- Journal Information:
- Nature Astronomy, Vol. 5, Issue 1; ISSN 2397-3366
- Publisher:
- Springer NatureCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Kilonova Luminosity Function Constraints Based on Zwicky Transient Facility Searches for 13 Neutron Star Merger Triggers during O3
The Challenges Ahead for Multimessenger Analyses of Gravitational Waves and Kilonova: A Case Study on GW190425