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Observations of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source by the TOROS collaboration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2019

Lucas M. Macri Open the ORCID record for Lucas M. Macri [Opens in a new window] ,
Mario C. Díaz ,
Diego Garcia Lambas  and
the TOROS collaboration
Lucas M. Macri
Affiliation:
George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics & Astronomy, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA email: lmacri@tamu.edu
Mario C. Díaz
Affiliation:
Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Texas - Río Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA
Diego Garcia Lambas
Affiliation:
IATE-OAC, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba-CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
the TOROS collaboration
Affiliation:
George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics & Astronomy, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA email: lmacri@tamu.edu Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Texas - Río Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA IATE-OAC, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba-CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
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Abstract

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We present the results of prompt optical follow-up of the electromagnetic counterpart of GW170817 by the Transient Optical Robotic Observatory of the South Collaboration (TOROS). We detected highly significant dimming in the light curves of the counterpart over the course of only 80 minutes of observations obtained ~35 hr after the trigger with the T80-South telescope. A second epoch of observations, obtained ~59 hr after the event with the EABA 1.5m telescope, confirms the fast fading nature of the transient. The observed colors of the counterpart suggest that this event was a “blue kilonova” relatively free of lanthanides.

Keywords

Gravitational wavesstars: neutron

References

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