Optical Follow-up of Gravitational-wave Events with Las Cumbres Observatory
Optical Follow-up of Gravitational-wave Events with Las Cumbres Observatory
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DOI：
10.3847/2041-8213/aa910f
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发表时间：
2017-10
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通讯作者：
I. Arcavi;C. McCully;G. Hosseinzadeh;D. Howell;S. Vasylyev;D. Poznanski;M. Zaltzman;D. Maoz;L. Singer;S. Valenti;D. Kasen;J. Barnes;T. Piran;W. Fong
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作者：
I. Arcavi;C. McCully;G. Hosseinzadeh;D. Howell;S. Vasylyev;D. Poznanski;M. Zaltzman;D. Maoz;L. Singer;S. Valenti;D. Kasen;J. Barnes;T. Piran;W. Fong
我们提出了Gehrels等人使用拉斯康布雷斯天文台全球望远镜网络跟踪引力波（GW）的星系目标策略的实现。我们使用了先进探测器时代（GLADE）星系目录的星系列表，我们显示，对于比谢克特函数星系亮度中位数更亮的星系，它是完整的（相对于谢克特函数）~ 300 Mpc。我们使用优先排序算法来选择最有可能包含对应星系的星系，考虑到它们的亮度、位置和相对于GW定位的距离，在这些星系中，我们最有可能探测到对应星系，考虑到它的预期亮度，与我们望远镜的极限星等相比。该算法可以很容易地适应任何期望的瞬态参数和望远镜。我们在第二次高级探测器观测运行（O2）中实施了这一策略，并跟踪了黑洞合并GW170814和中子星合并GW170817。对于后者，由于我们的算法在激光干涉引力波天文台(LIGO)/处女座定位发现的182个星系中选择了正确的第五宿主星系，因此我们确定了一个光学千新星/宏新星对应体。这也使我们能够获得由GW探测触发的第一次光学瞬态的一些最早的观测结果（如在配套论文中所述）。
We present an implementation of the Gehrels et al. galaxy-targeted strategy for gravitational-wave (GW) follow-up using the Las Cumbres Observatory global network of telescopes. We use the Galaxy List for the Advanced Detector Era (GLADE) galaxy catalog, which we show is complete (with respect to a Schechter function) out to ∼300 Mpc for galaxies brighter than the median Schechter function galaxy luminosity. We use a prioritization algorithm to select the galaxies with the highest chance of containing the counterpart given their luminosity, their position, and their distance relative to a GW localization, and in which we are most likely to detect a counterpart given its expected brightness compared to the limiting magnitude of our telescopes. This algorithm can be easily adapted to any expected transient parameters and telescopes. We implemented this strategy during the second Advanced Detector Observing Run (O2) and followed the black hole merger GW170814 and the neutron star merger GW170817. For the latter, we identified an optical kilonova/macronova counterpart thanks to our algorithm selecting the correct host galaxy fifth in its ranked list among the 182 galaxies we identified in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo localization. This also allowed us to obtain some of the earliest observations of the first optical transient ever triggered by a GW detection (as presented in a companion paper).