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Kasliwal MM, Nakar E, Singer LP, et al. Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger. Science. 2017;358(6370):1559-1565doi: 10.1126/science.aap9455.
Kasliwal, M. M., Nakar, E., Singer, L. P., Kaplan, D. L., Cook, D. O., Van Sistine, A., Lau, R. M., Fremling, C., Gottlieb, O., Jencson, J. E., Adams, S. M., Feindt, U., Hotokezaka, K., Ghosh, S., Perley, D. A., Yu, P. C., Piran, T., Allison, J. R., Anupama, G. C., Balasubramanian, A., Bannister, K. W., Bally, J., Barnes, J., Barway, S., Bellm, E., Bhalerao, V., Bhattacharya, D., Blagorodnova, N., Bloom, J. S., Brady, P. R., Cannella, C., Chatterjee, D., Cenko, S. B., Cobb, B. E., Copperwheat, C., Corsi, A., De, K., Dobie, D., Emery, S. W. K., Evans, P. A., Fox, O. D., Frail, D. A., Frohmaier, C., Goobar, A., Hallinan, G., Harrison, F., Helou, G., Hinderer, T., Ho, A. Y. Q., Horesh, A., Ip, W. H., Itoh, R., Kasen, D., Kim, H., Kuin, N. P. M., Kupfer, T., Lynch, C., Madsen, K., Mazzali, P. A., Miller, A. A., Mooley, K., Murphy, T., Ngeow, C. C., Nichols, D., Nissanke, S., Nugent, P., Ofek, E. O., Qi, H., Quimby, R. M., Rosswog, S., Rusu, F., Sadler, E. M., Schmidt, P., Sollerman, J., Steele, I., Williamson, A. R., Xu, Y., Yan, L., Yatsu, Y., Zhang, C., & Zhao, W. (2017). Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger. Science (New York, N.Y.), 358(6370), 1559-1565. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9455
Kasliwal, M M, et al. "Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger." Science (New York, N.Y.) vol. 358,6370 (2017): 1559-1565. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9455
Kasliwal MM, Nakar E, Singer LP, Kaplan DL, Cook DO, Van Sistine A, Lau RM, Fremling C, Gottlieb O, Jencson JE, Adams SM, Feindt U, Hotokezaka K, Ghosh S, Perley DA, Yu PC, Piran T, Allison JR, Anupama GC, Balasubramanian A, Bannister KW, Bally J, Barnes J, Barway S, Bellm E, Bhalerao V, Bhattacharya D, Blagorodnova N, Bloom JS, Brady PR, Cannella C, Chatterjee D, Cenko SB, Cobb BE, Copperwheat C, Corsi A, De K, Dobie D, Emery SWK, Evans PA, Fox OD, Frail DA, Frohmaier C, Goobar A, Hallinan G, Harrison F, Helou G, Hinderer T, Ho AYQ, Horesh A, Ip WH, Itoh R, Kasen D, Kim H, Kuin NPM, Kupfer T, Lynch C, Madsen K, Mazzali PA, Miller AA, Mooley K, Murphy T, Ngeow CC, Nichols D, Nissanke S, Nugent P, Ofek EO, Qi H, Quimby RM, Rosswog S, Rusu F, Sadler EM, Schmidt P, Sollerman J, Steele I, Williamson AR, Xu Y, Yan L, Yatsu Y, Zhang C, Zhao W. Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger. Science. 2017 Dec 22;358(6370):1559-1565. doi: 10.1126/science.aap9455. Epub 2017 Oct 16. PMID: 29038373.
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Science. 2017 Dec 22;358(6370):1559-1565. doi: 10.1126/science.aap9455. Epub 2017 Oct 16.

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

Science (New York, N.Y.)

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

Affiliations

  1. Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. [email protected].
  2. The Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
  3. Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 661, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
  4. Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
  5. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA.
  6. Division of Physics, Math and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
  7. The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
  8. Center for Computational Astrophysics, Simons Foundation, Flatiron Institute, 162 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA.
  9. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
  10. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, IC2, Liverpool Science Park, 146 Browlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK.
  11. Graduate Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City 32001, Taiwan.
  12. Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
  13. Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics A28, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
  14. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions, Australia.
  15. Indian Institute of Astrophysics, II Block Koramangala, Bangalore 560034, India.
  16. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune 411008, India.
  17. Australia Telescope National Facility, Astronomy and Space Science, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Post Office Box 76, Epping, New South Wales 1710, Australia.
  18. Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
  19. Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
  20. South African Astronomical Observatory, Post Office Box 9, Observatory, Cape Town 7935, South Africa.
  21. Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
  22. Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
  23. Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Post Office Bag 4, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411007, India.
  24. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA.
  25. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, MS 50B-4206, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
  26. Department of Physics, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
  27. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas Tech University, Box 41051, Lubbock, TX 79409-1051, USA.
  28. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics, Australia.
  29. University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking RH5 6NT, UK.
  30. X-ray and Observational Astronomy Research Group, Leicester Institute for Space and Earth Observation, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
  31. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
  32. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, NM 87825, USA.
  33. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ, UK.
  34. Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Dennis Sciama Building, University of Portsmouth, Burnaby Road, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK.
  35. Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
  36. Institute of Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, Netherlands.
  37. Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.
  38. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
  39. Gemini Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile.
  40. Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany.
  41. Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
  42. The Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.
  43. Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK.
  44. Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
  45. Department of Astronomy, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
  46. Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan.
  47. The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
  48. School of Engineering (EECS), University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA.

PMID: 29038373 DOI: 10.1126/science.aap9455

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.

Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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