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A DARK ENERGY CAMERA SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the FIRST ADVANCED LIGO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EVENT GW150914

Publication ,  Journal Article
Soares-Santos, M; Kessler, R; Berger, E; Annis, J; Brout, D; Buckley-Geer, E; Chen, H; Cowperthwaite, PS; Diehl, HT; Doctor, Z; Farr, B ...
Published in: Astrophysical Journal Letters
June 1, 2016

We report the results of a deep search for an optical counterpart to the gravitational wave (GW) event GW150914, the first trigger from the Advanced LIGO GW detectors. We used the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to image a 102 deg2 area, corresponding to 38% of the initial trigger high-probability sky region and to 11% of the revised high-probability region. We observed in the i and z bands at 4-5, 7, and 24 days after the trigger. The median 5σ point-source limiting magnitudes of our search images are i = 22.5 and z = 21.8 mag. We processed the images through a difference-imaging pipeline using templates from pre-existing Dark Energy Survey data and publicly available DECam data. Due to missing template observations and other losses, our effective search area subtends 40 deg2, corresponding to a 12% total probability in the initial map and 3% in the final map. In this area, we search for objects that decline significantly between days 4-5 and day 7, and are undetectable by day 24, finding none to typical magnitude limits of i = 21.5, 21.1, 20.1 for object colors (i - z) = 1, 0, -1, respectively. Our search demonstrates the feasibility of a dedicated search program with DECam and bodes well for future research in this emerging field.

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Published In

Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI

EISSN

2041-8213

ISSN

2041-8205

Publication Date

June 1, 2016

Volume

823

Issue

2

Related Subject Headings

  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • 5109 Space sciences
  • 5101 Astronomical sciences
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
 

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MLA
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Soares-Santos, M., Kessler, R., Berger, E., Annis, J., Brout, D., Buckley-Geer, E., … Schubnell, M. (2016). A DARK ENERGY CAMERA SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the FIRST ADVANCED LIGO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EVENT GW150914. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 823(2). https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L33
Soares-Santos, M., R. Kessler, E. Berger, J. Annis, D. Brout, E. Buckley-Geer, H. Chen, et al. “A DARK ENERGY CAMERA SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the FIRST ADVANCED LIGO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EVENT GW150914.” Astrophysical Journal Letters 823, no. 2 (June 1, 2016). https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L33.
Soares-Santos M, Kessler R, Berger E, Annis J, Brout D, Buckley-Geer E, et al. A DARK ENERGY CAMERA SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the FIRST ADVANCED LIGO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EVENT GW150914. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2016 Jun 1;823(2).
Soares-Santos, M., et al. “A DARK ENERGY CAMERA SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the FIRST ADVANCED LIGO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EVENT GW150914.” Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 823, no. 2, June 2016. Scopus, doi:10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L33.
Soares-Santos M, Kessler R, Berger E, Annis J, Brout D, Buckley-Geer E, Chen H, Cowperthwaite PS, Diehl HT, Doctor Z, Drlica-Wagner A, Farr B, Finley DA, Flaugher B, Foley RJ, Frieman J, Gruendl RA, Herner K, Holz D, Lin H, Marriner J, Neilsen E, Rest A, Sako M, Scolnic D, Sobreira F, Walker AR, Wester W, Yanny B, Abbott TMC, Abdalla FB, Allam S, Armstrong R, Banerji M, Benoit-Lévy A, Bernstein RA, Bertin E, Brown DA, Burke DL, Capozzi D, Carnero Rosell A, Carrasco Kind M, Carretero J, Castander FJ, Cenko SB, Chornock R, Crocce M, D’Andrea CB, Da Costa LN, Desai S, Dietrich JP, Drout MR, Eifler TF, Estrada J, Evrard AE, Fairhurst S, Fernandez E, Fischer J, Fong W, Fosalba P, Fox DB, Fryer CL, Garcia-Bellido J, Gaztanaga E, Gerdes DW, Goldstein DA, Gruen D, Gutierrez G, Honscheid K, James DJ, Karliner I, Kasen D, Kent S, Kuropatkin N, Kuehn K, Lahav O, Li TS, Lima M, Maia MAG, Margutti R, Martini P, Matheson T, McMahon RG, Metzger BD, Miller CJ, Miquel R, Mohr JJ, Nichol RC, Nord B, Ogando R, Peoples J, Plazas AA, Quataert E, Romer AK, Roodman A, Rykoff ES, Sanchez E, Scarpine V, Schindler R, Schubnell M. A DARK ENERGY CAMERA SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the FIRST ADVANCED LIGO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EVENT GW150914. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2016 Jun 1;823(2).
Journal cover image

Published In

Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI

EISSN

2041-8213

ISSN

2041-8205

Publication Date

June 1, 2016

Volume

823

Issue

2

Related Subject Headings

  • Astronomy & Astrophysics
  • 5109 Space sciences
  • 5101 Astronomical sciences
  • 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences