2016ApJ...826L..29C

Query : 2016ApJ...826L..29C

2016ApJ...826L..29C - Astrophys. J., 826, L29-L29 (2016/August-1)

A DECam search for an optical counterpart to the LIGO gravitational-wave event GW151226.

COWPERTHWAITE P.S., BERGER E., SOARES-SANTOS M., ANNIS J., BROUT D., BROWN D.A., BUCKLEY-GEER E., CENKO S.B., CHEN H.Y., CHORNOCK R., DIEHL H.T., DOCTOR Z., DRLICA-WAGNER A., DROUT M.R., FARR B., FINLEY D.A., FOLEY R.J., FONG W., FOX D.B., FRIEMAN J., GARCIA-BELLIDO J., GILL M.S.S., GRUENDL R.A., HERNER K., HOLZ D.E., KASEN D., KESSLER R., LIN H., MARGUTTI R., MARRINER J., MATHESON T., METZGER B.D., NEILSEN E.H.Jr, QUATAERT E., REST A., SAKO M., SCOLNIC D., SMITH N., SOBREIRA F., STRAMPELLI G.M., VILLAR V.A., WALKER A.R., WESTER W., WILLIAMS P.K.G., YANNY B., ABBOTT T.M.C., ABDALLA F.B., ALLAM S., ARMSTRONG R., BECHTOL K., BENOIT-LEVY A., BERTIN E., BROOKS D., BURKE D.L., CARNERO ROSELL A., CARRASCO KIND M., CARRETERO J., CASTANDER F.J., CUNHA C.E., D'ANDREA C.B., DA COSTA L.N., DESAI S., DIETRICH J.P., EVRARD A.E., FAUSTI NETO A., FOSALBA P., GERDES D.W., GIANNANTONIO T., GOLDSTEIN D.A., GRUEN D., GUTIERREZ G., HONSCHEID K., JAMES D.J., JOHNSON M.W.G., JOHNSON M.D., KRAUSE E., KUEHN K., KUROPATKIN N., LIMA M., MAIA M.A.G., MARSHALL J.L., MENANTEAU F., MIQUEL R., MOHR J.J., NICHOL R.C., NORD B., OGANDO R., PLAZAS A.A., REIL K., ROMER A.K., SANCHEZ E., SCARPINE V., SEVILLA-NOARBE I., SMITH R.C., SUCHYTA E., TARLE G., THOMAS D., THOMAS R.C., TUCKER D.L., WELLER J. (The DES Collaboration)

Abstract (from CDS):

We report the results of a Dark Energy Camera optical follow-up of the gravitational-wave (GW) event GW151226, discovered by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory detectors. Our observations cover 28.8 deg² of the localization region in the i and z bands (containing 3% of the BAYESTAR localization probability), starting 10 hr after the event was announced and spanning four epochs at 2-24 days after the GW detection. We achieve 5σpoint-source limiting magnitudes of i~21.7 and z~21.5 , with a scatter of 0.4 mag, in our difference images. Given the two-day delay, we search this area for a rapidly declining optical counterpart with \gtrsim 3σsignificance steady decline between the first and final observations. We recover four sources that pass our selection criteria, of which three are cataloged active galactic nuclei. The fourth source is offset by 5.8 arcsec from the center of a galaxy at a distance of 187 Mpc, exhibits a rapid decline by 0.5 mag over 4 days, and has a red color of i-z~0.3 mag. These properties could satisfy a set of cuts designed to identify kilonovae. However, this source was detected several times, starting 94 days prior to GW151226, in the Pan-STARRS Survey for Transients (dubbed as PS15cdi) and is therefore unrelated to the GW event. Given its long-term behavior, PS15cdi is likely a Type IIP supernova that transitioned out of its plateau phase during our observations, mimicking a kilonova-like behavior. We comment on the implications of this detection for contamination in future optical follow-up observations.

Journal keyword(s): binaries: close - catalogs - gravitational waves - stars: neutron - surveys

Simbad objects: 8

Full paper

View the references in ADS

Number of rows : 8

N	Identifier	Otype	ICRS (J2000) RA	ICRS (J2000) DEC	Mag B	Mag V	Sp type	#ref 1850 - 2026	#notes
1	PKS 0129-066	Rad	01 32 05.5	-06 26 17			~	3	0
2	SN 2013ej	SN*	01 36 48.16	+15 45 31.0			SNIIP	248	0
3	Z 386-30	GiC	01 42 15.9051797040	-02 13 38.427435228	15.7		~	8	0
4	PSST 15cdi	SN*	01 42 16.17	-02 13 42.6			SNIIP	1	0
5	Z 387-24	Sy2	02 00 26.3360981616	+02 40 10.246837332	16.00	15.40	~	60	0
6	PMN J0203+0956	Rad	02 03 20.671	+09 56 33.02			~	4	1
7	GrW 150914	GWE	~	~			~	674	1
8	GrW 151226	GWE	~	~			~	275	1

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