Search Publications
Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the optical counterpart to a gravitational wave source
Rest, A.; Foley, R. J.; Shappee, B. J. +14 more
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 17081…
Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
Fox, O. D.; Cenko, S. B.; Sollerman, J. +78 more
Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate …
Electromagnetic evidence that SSS17a is the result of a binary neutron star merger
Rest, A.; Foley, R. J.; Boutsia, K. +18 more
Eleven hours after the detection of gravitational wave source GW170817 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and Virgo Interferometers, an associated optical transient, SSS17a, was identified in the galaxy NGC 4993. Although the gravitational wave data indicate that GW170817 is consistent with the merger of two compact objects…
iPTF16geu: A multiply imaged, gravitationally lensed type Ia supernova
Sollerman, J.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Sullivan, M. +31 more
We report the discovery of a multiply imaged, gravitationally lensed type Ia supernova, iPTF16geu (SN 2016geu), at redshift z = 0.409. This phenomenon was identified because the light from the stellar explosion was magnified more than 50 times by the curvature of space around matter in an intervening galaxy. We used high-spatial-resolution observa…
Relativistic deflection of background starlight measures the mass of a nearby white dwarf star
Brown, Thomas M.; Casertano, Stefano; Anderson, Jay +12 more
Gravitational deflection of starlight around the Sun during the 1919 total solar eclipse provided measurements that confirmed Einstein’s general theory of relativity. We have used the Hubble Space Telescope to measure the analogous process of astrometric microlensing caused by a nearby star, the white dwarf Stein 2051 B. As Stein 2051 B passed clo…