We present UV, optical, and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo, the binary neutron star merger GW170817. Our data set extends from the discovery of the optical counterpart at 0.47-18.5 days post-merger, and includes observations with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), Gemini-South/ FLAMINGOS-2 (GS/F2), and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spectral energy distribution (SED) inferred from this photometry at 0.6 days is well described by a blackbody model with T approximate to 8300 K, a radius of R approximate to 4.5 x 10(14) cm (corresponding to an expansion velocity of v approximate to 0.3c), and a bolometric luminosity of L-bol approximate to 5 x 10(41) erg s(-1). At 1.5 days we find a multi-component SED across the optical and NIR, and subsequently we observe rapid fading in the UV and blue optical bands and significant reddening of the optical/ NIR colors. Modeling the entire data set, we find that models with heating from radioactive decay of Ni-56, or those with only a single component of opacity from r-process elements, fail to capture the rapid optical decline and red optical/NIR colors. Instead, models with two components consistent with lanthanide-poor and lanthanide-rich ejecta provide a good fit to the data; the resulting "blue" component has M-ej(blue) approximate to 0.01 M-circle dot and v(ej)(blue) approximate to 0.3c, and the "red" component has M-cj(red) approximate to 0.04 M-circle dot and v(cj)(red) approximate to 0.1 c. These ejecta masses are broadly consistent with the estimated r-process production rate required to explain the Milky Way r-process abundances, providing the first evidence that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can be a dominant site of r-process enrichment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/626064 |
| Date | 16 October 2017 |
| Creators | Cowperthwaite, P. S., Berger, E., Villar, V. A., Metzger, B. D., Nicholl, M., Chornock, R., Blanchard, P. K., Fong, W., Margutti, R., Soares-Santos, M., Alexander, K. D., Allam, S., Annis, J., Brout, D., Brown, D. A., Butler, R. E., Chen, H.-Y., Diehl, H. T., Doctor, Z., Drout, M. R., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D. A., Foley, R. J., Frieman, J. A., Fryer, C. L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M. S. S., Guillochon, J., Herner, K., Holz, D. E., Kasen, D., Kessler, R., Marriner, J., Matheson, T., Neilsen, E. H., Quataert, E., Palmese, A., Rest, A., Sako, M., Scolnic, D. M., Smith, N., Tucker, D. L., Williams, P. K. G., Balbinot, E., Carlin, J. L., Cook, E. R., Durret, F., Li, T. S., Lopes, P. A. A., Lourenço, A. C. C., Marshall, J. L., Medina, G. E., Muir, J., Muñoz, R. R., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D. J., Secco, L. F., Vivas, A. K., Wester, W., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T. M. C., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D. L., Capozzi, D., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Castander, F. J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C. E., D’Andrea, C. B., Costa, L. N. da, Davis, C., DePoy, D. L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J. P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T. F., Evrard, A. E., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D. W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D. A., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R. A., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D. J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M. W. G., Johnson, M. D., Kent, S., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Nuropatkin, N., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Lin, H., Maia, M. A. G., March, M., Martini, P., McMahon, R. G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C. J., Miquel, R., Mohr, J. J., Neilsen, E., Nichol, R. C., Ogando, R. L. C., Plazas, A. A., Roe, N., Romer, A. K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E. S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schindler, R., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R. C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M. E. C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R. C., Troxel, M. A., Vikram, V., Walker, A. R., Wechsler, R. H., Weller, J., Yanny, B., Zuntz, J. |
| Contributors | Univ Arizona, Steward Observ |
| Publisher | IOP PUBLISHING LTD |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Rights | © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
| Relation | http://stacks.iop.org/2041-8205/848/i=2/a=L17?key=crossref.855984494ac6a42b7e9da44c6a1f3a12 |
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