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dc.contributor.authorMooley, K.
dc.contributor.authorNakar, E.
dc.contributor.authorHotokezaka, K.
dc.contributor.authorHallinan, G.
dc.contributor.authorCorsi, A.
dc.contributor.authorFrail, D.
dc.contributor.authorHoresh, A.
dc.contributor.authorMurphy, T.
dc.contributor.authorLenc, E.
dc.contributor.authorKaplan, D.
dc.contributor.authorDe, K.
dc.contributor.authorDobie, D.
dc.contributor.authorChandra, P.
dc.contributor.authorDeller, A.
dc.contributor.authorGottlieb, O.
dc.contributor.authorKasliwal, M.
dc.contributor.authorKulkarni, S.
dc.contributor.authorMyers, S.
dc.contributor.authorNissanke, S.
dc.contributor.authorPiran, T.
dc.contributor.authorLynch, Christene
dc.contributor.authorBhalerao, V.
dc.contributor.authorBourke, S.
dc.contributor.authorBannister, K.
dc.contributor.authorSinger, L.
dc.date.accessioned2018-08-08T04:43:22Z
dc.date.available2018-08-08T04:43:22Z
dc.date.created2018-08-08T03:50:45Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.identifier.citationMooley, K. and Nakar, E. and Hotokezaka, K. and Hallinan, G. and Corsi, A. and Frail, D. and Horesh, A. et al. 2018. A mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow in the neutron-star merger event GW170817. Nature. 554 (7691): pp. 207-210.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/70055
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/nature25452
dc.description.abstract

GW170817 was the first gravitational-wave detection of a binary neutron-star merger1. It was accompanied by radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum and localized2 to the galaxy NGC 4993 at a distance of 40 megaparsecs. It has been proposed that the observed γ-ray, X-ray and radio emission is due to an ultra-relativistic jet being launched during the merger (and successfully breaking out of the surrounding material), directed away from our line of sight (off-axis)3,4,5,6. The presence of such a jet is predicted from models that posit neutron-star mergers as the drivers of short hard-γ-ray bursts7,8. Here we report that the radio light curve of GW170817 has no direct signature of the afterglow of an off-axis jet. Although we cannot completely rule out the existence of a jet directed away from the line of sight, the observed γ-ray emission could not have originated from such a jet. Instead, the radio data require the existence of a mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow moving towards us. This outflow could be the high-velocity tail of the neutron-rich material that was ejected dynamically during the merger, or a cocoon of material that breaks out when a jet launched during the merger transfers its energy to the dynamical ejecta. Because the cocoon model explains the radio light curve of GW170817, as well as the γ-ray and X-ray emission (and possibly also the ultraviolet and optical emission)9,10,11,12,13,14,15, it is the model that is most consistent with the observational data. Cocoons may be a ubiquitous phenomenon produced in neutron-star mergers, giving rise to a hitherto unidentified population of radio, ultraviolet, X-ray and γ-ray transients in the local Universe.

dc.publisherNature Publishing Group
dc.titleA mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow in the neutron-star merger event GW170817
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume554
dcterms.source.number7691
dcterms.source.startPage207
dcterms.source.endPage210
dcterms.source.issn0028-0836
dcterms.source.titleNature
curtin.departmentCurtin Institute of Radio Astronomy (Physics)
curtin.accessStatusFulltext not available


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