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A Dark Energy Camera Search for an Optical Counterpart to the First Advanced LIGO Gravitational Wave Event GW150914We 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 deg(exp 2) 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 5(sigma) 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 deg(exp 2), 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.
Document ID
20170003859
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Soares-Santos, M.
(Fermi National Accelerator Lab. Batavia, IL, United States)
Kessler, R.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Burger, E.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Annis, J.
(Fermi National Accelerator Lab. Batavia, IL, United States)
Brout, D.
(Pennsylvania Univ. Philadelphia, PA, United States)
Buckley-Geer, E.
(Fermi National Accelerator Lab. Batavia, IL, United States)
Chen, H.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Cowperthwaite, P. S.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, MA, United States)
Diehl, H.T.
(Fermi National Accelerator Lab. Batavia, IL, United States)
Doctor, Z.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Cenko, S. B.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
April 21, 2017
Publication Date
May 27, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Volume: 823
Issue: 2
ISSN: 2041-8205
e-ISSN: 2041-8213
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN41996
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: FPA2013-47986
CONTRACT_GRANT: ERC 240672
CONTRACT_GRANT: ERC 306478
CONTRACT_GRANT: AYA2012-39559
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-1138766
CONTRACT_GRANT: ERC 291329
CONTRACT_GRANT: ESP2013-48274
CONTRACT_GRANT: SEV-2012-0234
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
binaries: close – catalogs – gravitational waves – stars: neutron – surv

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