Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger

Kasliwal, M.; Nakar, E.; Singer, L.; Kaplan, D.; Cook, D.; Van Sistine, A.; Lau, R.; Fremling, C.; Gottlieb, O.; Jencson, J.; Adams, S.; Feindt, U.; Hotokezaka, K.; Ghosh, S.; Perley, D.; Yu, P.; Piran, T.; Allison, J.; Anupama, G.; Balasubramanian, A.; Bannister, K.; Bally, J.; Barnes, J.; Barway, S.; Bellm, E.; Bhalerao, V.; Bhattacharya, D.; Blagorodnova, N.; Bloom, J.; Brady, P.; Cannella, C.; Chatterjee, D.; Cenko, S.; Cobb, B.; Copperwheat, C.; Corsi, A.; De, K.; Dobie, D.; Emery, S.; Evans, P.; Fox, O.; Frail, D.; Frohmaier, C.; Goobar, A.; Hallinan, G.; Harrison, F.; Helou, G.; Hinderer, T.; Ho, A.; Horesh, A.; Ip, W.; Itoh, R.; Kasen, D.; Kim, H.; Kuin, N.; Kupfer, T.; Lynch, Christene; Madsen, K.; Mazzali, P.; Miller, A.; Mooley, K.; Murphy, T.; Ngeow, C.; Nichols, D.; Nissanke, S.; Nugent, P.; Ofek, E.; Qi, H.; Quimby, R.; Rosswog, S.; Rusu, F.; Sadler, E.; Schmidt, P.; Sollerman, J.; Steele, I.; Williamson, A.; Xu, Y.; Yan, L.; Yatsu, Y.; Zhang, C.; Zhao, W.

doi:10.1126/science.aap9455

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Authors

Kasliwal, M.

Nakar, E.

Singer, L.

Kaplan, D.

Cook, D.

Van Sistine, A.

Lau, R.

Fremling, C.

Gottlieb, O.

Jencson, J.

Adams, S.

Feindt, U.

Hotokezaka, K.

Ghosh, S.

Perley, D.

Yu, P.

Piran, T.

Allison, J.

Anupama, G.

Balasubramanian, A.

Bannister, K.

Bally, J.

Barnes, J.

Barway, S.

Bellm, E.

Bhalerao, V.

Bhattacharya, D.

Blagorodnova, N.

Bloom, J.

Brady, P.

Cannella, C.

Chatterjee, D.

Cenko, S.

Cobb, B.

Copperwheat, C.

Corsi, A.

De, K.

Dobie, D.

Emery, S.

Evans, P.

Fox, O.

Frail, D.

Frohmaier, C.

Goobar, A.

Hallinan, G.

Harrison, F.

Helou, G.

Hinderer, T.

Ho, A.

Horesh, A.

Ip, W.

Itoh, R.

Kasen, D.

Kim, H.

Kuin, N.

Kupfer, T.

Lynch, Christene

Madsen, K.

Mazzali, P.

Miller, A.

Mooley, K.

Murphy, T.

Ngeow, C.

Nichols, D.

Nissanke, S.

Nugent, P.

Ofek, E.

Qi, H.

Quimby, R.

Rosswog, S.

Rusu, F.

Sadler, E.

Schmidt, P.

Sollerman, J.

Steele, I.

Williamson, A.

Xu, Y.

Yan, L.

Yatsu, Y.

Zhang, C.

Zhao, W.

Date

2017

Type

Journal Article

Metadata

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Citation

Kasliwal, M. and Nakar, E. and Singer, L. and Kaplan, D. and Cook, D. and Van Sistine, A. and Lau, R. et al. 2017. Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger. Science. 358 (6370): pp. 1559-1565.

Source Title

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.aap9455

ISSN

0036-8075

School

Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (Physics)

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69473

Collection

Curtin Research Publications

Abstract

Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate that merging neutron stars are a long-sought production site forging heavy elements by r-process nucleosynthesis. The weak gamma rays seen in EM170817 are dissimilar to classical short gamma-ray bursts with ultrarelativistic jets. Instead, we suggest that breakout of a wide-angle, mildly relativistic cocoon engulfing the jet explains the low-luminosity gamma rays, the high-luminosity ultraviolet-optical-infrared, and the delayed radio and x-ray emission. We posit that all neutron star mergers may lead to a wide-angle cocoon breakout, sometimes accompanied by a successful jet and sometimes by a choked jet.