Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the optical counterpart to a gravitational wave source
Rest, A.; Foley, R. J.; Shappee, B. J.; Kilpatrick, C. D.; Prochaska, J. X.; Simon, J. D.; Drout, M. R.; Pan, Y. -C.; Coulter, D. A.; Piro, A. L.; Siebert, M. R.; Ulloa, N.; Kasen, D.; Madore, B. F.; Murguia-Berthier, A.; Ramirez-Ruiz, E.; Rojas-Bravo, C.
United States, Chile, Denmark
Abstract
On 17 August 2017, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo interferometer detected gravitational waves (GWs) emanating from a binary neutron star merger, GW170817. Nearly simultaneously, the Fermi and INTEGRAL (INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) telescopes detected a gamma-ray transient, GRB 170817A. At 10.9 hours after the GW trigger, we discovered a transient and fading optical source, Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), coincident with GW170817. SSS17a is located in NGC 4993, an S0 galaxy at a distance of 40 megaparsecs. The precise location of GW170817 provides an opportunity to probe the nature of these cataclysmic events by combining electromagnetic and GW observations.