IPTF SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE TRANSIENT GW150914

M. M. Kasliwal; S. B. Cenko; L. P. Singer; A. Corsi; Y. Cao; T. Barlow; V. Bhalerao; E. Bellm; D. Cook; G. E. Duggan; R. Ferretti; D. A. Frail; A. Horesh; R. Kendrick; S. R. Kulkarni; R. Lunnan; N. Palliyaguru; R. Laher; F. Masci; I. Manulis; A. A. Miller; P. E. Nugent; D. Perley; T. A. Prince; R. M. Quimby; J. Rana; U. Rebbapragada; B. Sesar; A. Singhal; J. Surace; A. Van Sistine

doi:10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L24

IPTF SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE TRANSIENT GW150914

M. M. Kasliwal, S. B. Cenko, L. P. Singer, A. Corsi, Y. Cao, T. Barlow, V. Bhalerao, E. Bellm, D. Cook, G. E. Duggan, R. Ferretti, D. A. Frail, A. Horesh, R. Kendrick, S. R. Kulkarni, R. Lunnan, N. Palliyaguru, R. Laher, F. Masci, I. ManulisA. A. Miller, P. E. Nugent, D. Perley, T. A. Prince, R. M. Quimby, J. Rana, U. Rebbapragada, B. Sesar, A. Singhal, J. Surace, A. Van Sistine

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Abstract

The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) autonomously responded to and promptly tiled the error region of the first gravitational-wave event GW150914 to search for an optical counterpart. Only a small fraction of the total localized region was immediately visible in the northern night sky, due both to Sun-angle and elevation constraints. Here, we report on the transient candidates identified and rapid follow-up undertaken to determine the nature of each candidate. Even in the small area imaged of 126 deg², after extensive filtering, eight candidates were deemed worthy of additional follow-up. Within two hours, all eight were spectroscopically classified by the Keck II telescope. Curiously, even though such events are rare, one of our candidates was a superluminous supernova. We obtained radio data with the Jansky Very Large Array and X-ray follow-up with the Swift satellite for this transient. None of our candidates appear to be associated with the gravitational-wave trigger, which is unsurprising given that GW150914 came from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes. This end-to-end discovery and follow-up campaign bodes well for future searches in this post-detection era of gravitational waves.

Original language	English
Article number	L24
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	824
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L24
State	Published - 20 Jun 2016
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

Keywords

gravitational waves
methods: observational
surveys
techniques: spectroscopic

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10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L24

Cite this

Kasliwal, M. M., Cenko, S. B., Singer, L. P., Corsi, A., Cao, Y., Barlow, T., Bhalerao, V., Bellm, E., Cook, D., Duggan, G. E., Ferretti, R., Frail, D. A., Horesh, A., Kendrick, R., Kulkarni, S. R., Lunnan, R., Palliyaguru, N., Laher, R., Masci, F., ... Sistine, A. V. (2016). IPTF SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE TRANSIENT GW150914. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 824(2), Article L24. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L24

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abstract = "The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) autonomously responded to and promptly tiled the error region of the first gravitational-wave event GW150914 to search for an optical counterpart. Only a small fraction of the total localized region was immediately visible in the northern night sky, due both to Sun-angle and elevation constraints. Here, we report on the transient candidates identified and rapid follow-up undertaken to determine the nature of each candidate. Even in the small area imaged of 126 deg2, after extensive filtering, eight candidates were deemed worthy of additional follow-up. Within two hours, all eight were spectroscopically classified by the Keck II telescope. Curiously, even though such events are rare, one of our candidates was a superluminous supernova. We obtained radio data with the Jansky Very Large Array and X-ray follow-up with the Swift satellite for this transient. None of our candidates appear to be associated with the gravitational-wave trigger, which is unsurprising given that GW150914 came from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes. This end-to-end discovery and follow-up campaign bodes well for future searches in this post-detection era of gravitational waves.",

keywords = "gravitational waves, methods: observational, surveys, techniques: spectroscopic",

author = "Kasliwal, {M. M.} and Cenko, {S. B.} and Singer, {L. P.} and A. Corsi and Y. Cao and T. Barlow and V. Bhalerao and E. Bellm and D. Cook and Duggan, {G. E.} and R. Ferretti and Frail, {D. A.} and A. Horesh and R. Kendrick and Kulkarni, {S. R.} and R. Lunnan and N. Palliyaguru and R. Laher and F. Masci and I. Manulis and Miller, {A. A.} and Nugent, {P. E.} and D. Perley and Prince, {T. A.} and Quimby, {R. M.} and J. Rana and U. Rebbapragada and B. Sesar and A. Singhal and J. Surace and Sistine, {A. Van}",

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month = jun,

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doi = "10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L24",

language = "אנגלית",

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Kasliwal, MM, Cenko, SB, Singer, LP, Corsi, A, Cao, Y, Barlow, T, Bhalerao, V, Bellm, E, Cook, D, Duggan, GE, Ferretti, R, Frail, DA, Horesh, A, Kendrick, R, Kulkarni, SR, Lunnan, R, Palliyaguru, N, Laher, R, Masci, F, Manulis, I, Miller, AA, Nugent, PE, Perley, D, Prince, TA, Quimby, RM, Rana, J, Rebbapragada, U, Sesar, B, Singhal, A, Surace, J & Sistine, AV 2016, 'IPTF SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE TRANSIENT GW150914', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 824, no. 2, L24. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/824/2/L24

TY - JOUR

T1 - IPTF SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE TRANSIENT GW150914

AU - Kasliwal, M. M.

AU - Cenko, S. B.

AU - Singer, L. P.

AU - Corsi, A.

AU - Cao, Y.

AU - Barlow, T.

AU - Bhalerao, V.

AU - Bellm, E.

AU - Cook, D.

AU - Duggan, G. E.

AU - Ferretti, R.

AU - Frail, D. A.

AU - Horesh, A.

AU - Kendrick, R.

AU - Kulkarni, S. R.

AU - Lunnan, R.

AU - Palliyaguru, N.

AU - Laher, R.

AU - Masci, F.

AU - Manulis, I.

AU - Miller, A. A.

AU - Nugent, P. E.

AU - Perley, D.

AU - Prince, T. A.

AU - Quimby, R. M.

AU - Rana, J.

AU - Rebbapragada, U.

AU - Sesar, B.

AU - Singhal, A.

AU - Surace, J.

AU - Sistine, A. Van

PY - 2016/6/20

Y1 - 2016/6/20

N2 - The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) autonomously responded to and promptly tiled the error region of the first gravitational-wave event GW150914 to search for an optical counterpart. Only a small fraction of the total localized region was immediately visible in the northern night sky, due both to Sun-angle and elevation constraints. Here, we report on the transient candidates identified and rapid follow-up undertaken to determine the nature of each candidate. Even in the small area imaged of 126 deg2, after extensive filtering, eight candidates were deemed worthy of additional follow-up. Within two hours, all eight were spectroscopically classified by the Keck II telescope. Curiously, even though such events are rare, one of our candidates was a superluminous supernova. We obtained radio data with the Jansky Very Large Array and X-ray follow-up with the Swift satellite for this transient. None of our candidates appear to be associated with the gravitational-wave trigger, which is unsurprising given that GW150914 came from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes. This end-to-end discovery and follow-up campaign bodes well for future searches in this post-detection era of gravitational waves.

AB - The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) autonomously responded to and promptly tiled the error region of the first gravitational-wave event GW150914 to search for an optical counterpart. Only a small fraction of the total localized region was immediately visible in the northern night sky, due both to Sun-angle and elevation constraints. Here, we report on the transient candidates identified and rapid follow-up undertaken to determine the nature of each candidate. Even in the small area imaged of 126 deg2, after extensive filtering, eight candidates were deemed worthy of additional follow-up. Within two hours, all eight were spectroscopically classified by the Keck II telescope. Curiously, even though such events are rare, one of our candidates was a superluminous supernova. We obtained radio data with the Jansky Very Large Array and X-ray follow-up with the Swift satellite for this transient. None of our candidates appear to be associated with the gravitational-wave trigger, which is unsurprising given that GW150914 came from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes. This end-to-end discovery and follow-up campaign bodes well for future searches in this post-detection era of gravitational waves.

KW - gravitational waves

KW - methods: observational

KW - surveys

KW - techniques: spectroscopic

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IPTF SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE TRANSIENT GW150914

Abstract

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Keywords

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