A kilonova as the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source

2017/10/16 by S. J. Smartt, T.-W. Chen, T. -W. Chen +157 · 763 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Black hole (networking) #Galaxy #Gamma-ray burst #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Gravitational wave #Kilonova #LIGO #Luminosity #Neutron star #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph.HE

paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1038/nature24303

published in Nature 551(7678), 75-79 (Springer Science and Business Media LLC) · Nature, in press, DOI 10.1038/nature24303. Data files will be made available at http://www.pessto.org

crossref issued 2017/10/16 · crossref published 2017/10/16 · crossref published-online 2017/10/16 · openalex publication_date 2017/10/16 · crossref created 2017/10/16 · arxiv created 2017/10/17 · arxiv updated 2017/10/18 · crossref published-print 2017/11/02 · openalex created_date 2017/11/10 · crossref deposited 2022/04/20 · crossref indexed 2026/08/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Gravitational waves were discovered with the detection of binary black hole mergers and they should also be detectable from lower mass neutron star mergers. These are predicted to eject material rich in heavy radioactive isotopes that can power an electromagnetic signal called a kilonova. The gravitational wave source GW170817 arose from a binary neutron star merger in the nearby Universe with a relatively well confined sky position and distance estimate. Here we report observations and physical modelling of a rapidly fading electromagnetic transient in the galaxy NGC4993, which is spatially coincident with GW170817 and a weak short gamma-ray burst. The transient has physical parameters broadly matching the theoretical predictions of blue kilonovae from neutron star mergers. The emitted electromagnetic radiation can be explained with an ejected mass of 0.04 +/- 0.01 Msol, with an opacity of kappa <= 0.5 cm2/gm at a velocity of 0.2 +/- 0.1c. The power source is constrained to have a power law slope of beta = -1.2 +/- 0.3, consistent with radioactive powering from r-process nuclides. We identify line features in the spectra that are consistent with light r-process elements (90 < A < 140). As it fades, the transient rapidly becomes red, and emission may have contribution by a higher opacity, lanthanide-rich ejecta component. This indicates that neutron star mergers produce gravitational waves, radioactively powered kilonovae, and are a nucleosynthetic source of the r-process elements.

Citations

• Advanced Virgo: a 2nd generation interferometric gravitational wave detector
• An Early Warning System for Asteroid Impact
• Synthesis of the Elements in Stars
• Final Results from theHubble Space TelescopeKey Project to Measure the Hubble Constant
• A ‘kilonova’ associated with the short-duration γ-ray burst GRB 130603B
• Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
• GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral

Cited by

• Compton echoes from nearby gamma-ray bursts
• Anisotropic Ejecta from Binary Neutron Star Mergers: Self-Consistent Main Thermal and Late-Time Radio Emission of NS-Powered Kilonovae
• Three-dimensional GRMHD Simulations of Neutrino-cooled Accretion Disks from Neutron Star Mergers
• Multi-messenger standard-siren cosmology for third-generation gravitational-wave detectors: Considering observations of gamma-ray bursts and kilonovae
• Searching for the radio remnants of short-duration gamma-ray bursts
• Short Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts and Their Outflows in Light of GW170817
• Constraints on the presence of platinum and gold in the spectra of the kilonova AT2017gfo
• Global simulations of strongly magnetized remnant massive neutron stars formed in binary neutron star mergers
• OUP accepted manuscript
• GRB 111209A/SN 2011kl: Collapse of a Supramassive Magnetar with r-mode Oscillation and Fallback Accretion onto a Newborn Black Hole
• A Precise Distance to the Host Galaxy of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Using Surface Brightness Fluctuations∗
• Identification of strontium in the merger of two neutron stars
• Gravitational waves from neutron star mergers and their relation to the nuclear equation of state
• Spritz: general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics with neutrinos
• An analysis of the spectroscopic signatures of layering in the ejecta of Type Iax supernovae
• Observable features of GW170817 kilonova afterglow
• GW170817 and GW190814: Tension on the Maximum Mass
• Cooling off with a kilonova – lower limit on the expansion velocity of GW170817
• Signatures of r-process Elements in Kilonova Spectra
• Deep ATCA and VLA Radio Observations of Short-GRB Host Galaxies. Constraints on Star Formation Rates, Afterglow Flux, and Kilonova Radio Flares
• Lensed or not lensed: determining lensing magnifications for binary neutron star mergers from a single detection
• Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap
• The Optical Afterglow of GW170817: An Off-axis Structured Jet and Deep Constraints on a Globular Cluster Origin
• Observational Implications of Lowering the LIGO-Virgo Alert Threshold
• Are fast radio bursts the most likely electromagnetic counterpart of neutron star mergers resulting in prompt collapse?
• The first direct double neutron star merger detection: Implications for cosmic nucleosynthesis
• Plasma Instabilities Dominate Radioactive Transients Magnetic Fields: The self-confinement of leptons in Type Ia and Core-Collapse Supernovae, and Kilonovae
• Radio afterglows from compact binary coalescences: prospects for next-generation telescopes
• Mapping dynamical ejecta and disk masses from numerical relativity simulations of neutron star mergers
• Gravitational waves and mass ejecta from binary neutron star mergers: Effect of the spin orientation
• Implementation of Monte Carlo Transport in the General Relativistic SpEC Code
• No Detectable Kilonova Counterpart is Expected for O3 Neutron Star–Black Hole Candidates
• Mass Ejection from the Remnant of a Binary Neutron Star Merger: Viscous-radiation Hydrodynamics Study
• Fingerprints of Heavy-Element Nucleosynthesis in the Late-Time Lightcurves of Kilonovae
• Diversity of Kilonova Light Curves
• Serendipitous discoveries of kilonovae in the LSST main survey: maximizing detections of sub-threshold gravitational wave events
• A comparison between short GRB afterglows and kilonova AT2017gfo: shedding light on kilonovae properties
• Background-limited Imaging in the Near Infrared with Warm InGaAs Sensors: Applications for Time-domain Astronomy
• Targeting Bright Metal-poor Stars in the Disk and Halo Systems of the Galaxy
• Gamma ray burst studies with THESEUS
• Continued Radio Observations of GW170817 3.5 yr Post-merger
• Multidimensional simulations of ultrastripped supernovae to shock breakout
• Kilonova Luminosity Function Constraints Based on Zwicky Transient Facility Searches for 13 Neutron Star Merger Triggers during O3
• Implications from GW170817 and I-Love-Q relations for relativistic hybrid stars
• Spectroscopic r-Process Abundance Retrieval for Kilonovae III: Linking Spectral and Light Curve Modeling of the GW170817 Kilonova
• R-process [wikipedia]
• Supernova nucleosynthesis [wikipedia]

Related

• Kilonovae
• Electromagnetic Counterparts of Compact Object Mergers Powered by the Radioactive Decay of R-process Nuclei
• A ‘kilonova’ associated with the short-duration γ-ray burst GRB 130603B
• Origin of the heavy elements in binary neutron-star mergers from a gravitational-wave event
• Optical emission from a kilonova following a gravitational-wave-detected neutron-star merger