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Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs

Publication ,  Journal Article
Herner, K; Annis, J; Brout, D; Soares-Santos, M; Kessler, R; Sako, M; Butler, R; Doctor, Z; Palmese, A; Allam, S; Tucker, DL; Sobreira, F ...
Published in: Astronomy and Computing
October 1, 2020

Gravitational wave (GW) events detectable by LIGO and Virgo have several possible progenitors, including black hole mergers, neutron star mergers, black hole–neutron star mergers, supernovae, and cosmic string cusps. A subset of GW events is expected to produce electromagnetic (EM) emission that, once detected, will provide complementary information about their astrophysical context. To that end, the LIGO–Virgo Collaboration (LVC) sends GW candidate alerts to the astronomical community so that searches for their EM counterparts can be pursued. The DESGW group, consisting of members of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the LVC, and other members of the astronomical community, uses the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to perform a search and discovery program for optical signatures of LVC GW events. DESGW aims to use a sample of GW events as standard sirens for cosmology. Due to the short decay timescale of the expected EM counterparts and the need to quickly eliminate survey areas with no counterpart candidates, it is critical to complete the initial analysis of each night's images as quickly as possible. We discuss our search area determination, imaging pipeline, and candidate selection processes. We review results from the DESGW program during the first two LIGO–Virgo observing campaigns and introduce other science applications that our pipeline enables.

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Published In

Astronomy and Computing

DOI

ISSN

2213-1337

Publication Date

October 1, 2020

Volume

33

Related Subject Headings

  • 5101 Astronomical sciences
  • 4601 Applied computing
  • 0803 Computer Software
  • 0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
 

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Herner, K., Annis, J., Brout, D., Soares-Santos, M., Kessler, R., Sako, M., … Zhang, Y. (2020). Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs. Astronomy and Computing, 33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ascom.2020.100425
Herner, K., J. Annis, D. Brout, M. Soares-Santos, R. Kessler, M. Sako, R. Butler, et al. “Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs.” Astronomy and Computing 33 (October 1, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ascom.2020.100425.
Herner K, Annis J, Brout D, Soares-Santos M, Kessler R, Sako M, et al. Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs. Astronomy and Computing. 2020 Oct 1;33.
Herner, K., et al. “Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs.” Astronomy and Computing, vol. 33, Oct. 2020. Scopus, doi:10.1016/j.ascom.2020.100425.
Herner K, Annis J, Brout D, Soares-Santos M, Kessler R, Sako M, Butler R, Doctor Z, Palmese A, Allam S, Tucker DL, Sobreira F, Yanny B, Diehl HT, Frieman J, Glaeser N, Garcia A, Sherman NF, Bechtol K, Berger E, Chen HY, Conselice CJ, Cook E, Cowperthwaite PS, Davis TM, Drlica-Wagner A, Farr B, Finley D, Foley RJ, Garcia-Bellido J, Gill MSS, Gruendl RA, Holz DE, Kuropatkin N, Lin H, Marriner J, Marshall JL, Matheson T, Neilsen E, Paz-Chinchón F, Sauseda M, Scolnic D, Williams PKG, Avila S, Bertin E, Buckley-Geer E, Burke DL, Rosell AC, Carrasco-Kind M, Carretero J, da Costa LN, De Vicente J, Desai S, Doel P, Eifler TF, Everett S, Fosalba P, Gaztanaga E, Gerdes DW, Gschwend J, Gutierrez G, Hartley WG, Hollowood DL, Honscheid K, James DJ, Krause E, Kuehn K, Lahav O, Li TS, Lima M, Maia MAG, March M, Menanteau F, Miquel R, Plazas AA, Sanchez E, Scarpine V, Schubnell M, Serrano S, Sevilla-Noarbe I, Smith M, Suchyta E, Tarle G, Wester W, Zhang Y. Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs. Astronomy and Computing. 2020 Oct 1;33.
Journal cover image

Published In

Astronomy and Computing

DOI

ISSN

2213-1337

Publication Date

October 1, 2020

Volume

33

Related Subject Headings

  • 5101 Astronomical sciences
  • 4601 Applied computing
  • 0803 Computer Software
  • 0801 Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences