A DECAM SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226

P. S. Cowperthwaite; E. Berger; M. Soares-Santos; J. Annis; D. Brout; D. A. Brown; E. Buckley-Geer; S. B. Cenko; H. Y. Chen; R. Chornock; H. T. Diehl; Z. Doctor; A. Drlica-Wagner; M. R. Drout; B. Farr; D. A. Finley; R. J. Foley; W. Fong; D. B. Fox; J. Frieman; J. Garcia-Bellido; M. S.S. Gill; R. A. Gruendl; K. Herner; D. E. Holz; D. Kasen; R. Kessler; H. Lin; R. Margutti; J. Marriner; T. Matheson; B. D. Metzger; E. H. Neilsen; E. Quataert; A. Rest; M. Sako; D. Scolnic; N. Smith; F. Sobreira; G. M. Strampelli; V. A. Villar; A. R. Walker; W. Wester; P. K.G. Williams; B. Yanny; T. M.C. Abbott; F. B. Abdalla; S. Allam; R. Armstrong; K. Bechtol; A. Benoit-Lévy; E. Bertin; D. Brooks; D. L. Burke; A. Carnero Rosell; M. Carrasco Kind; J. Carretero; F. J. Castander; C. E. Cunha; C. B. D'Andrea; L. N.Da Costa; S. Desai; J. P. Dietrich; A. E. Evrard; A. Fausti Neto; P. Fosalba; D. W. Gerdes; T. Giannantonio; D. A. Goldstein; D. Gruen; G. Gutierrez; K. Honscheid; D. J. James; M. W.G. Johnson; M. D. Johnson; E. Krause; K. Kuehn; N. Kuropatkin; M. Lima; M. A.G. Maia; J. L. Marshall; F. Menanteau; R. Miquel; J. J. Mohr; R. C. Nichol; B. Nord; R. Ogando; A. A. Plazas; K. Reil; A. K. Romer; E. Sanchez; V. Scarpine; I. Sevilla-Noarbe; R. C. Smith; E. Suchyta; G. Tarle; D. Thomas; R. C. Thomas; D. L. Tucker; J. Weller

doi:10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L29

A DECAM SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226

P. S. Cowperthwaite, E. Berger, M. Soares-Santos, J. Annis, D. Brout, D. A. Brown, E. Buckley-Geer, S. B. Cenko, H. Y. Chen, R. Chornock, H. T. Diehl, Z. Doctor, A. Drlica-Wagner, M. R. Drout, B. Farr, D. A. Finley, R. J. Foley, W. Fong, D. B. Fox, J. FriemanJ. Garcia-Bellido, M. S.S. Gill, R. A. Gruendl, K. Herner, D. E. Holz, D. Kasen, R. Kessler, H. Lin, R. Margutti, J. Marriner, T. Matheson, B. D. Metzger, E. H. Neilsen, E. Quataert, A. Rest, M. Sako, D. Scolnic, N. Smith, F. Sobreira, G. M. Strampelli, V. A. Villar, A. R. Walker, W. Wester, P. K.G. Williams, B. Yanny, T. M.C. Abbott, F. B. Abdalla, S. Allam, R. Armstrong, K. Bechtol, A. Benoit-Lévy, E. Bertin, D. Brooks, D. L. Burke, A. Carnero Rosell, M. Carrasco Kind, J. Carretero, F. J. Castander, C. E. Cunha, C. B. D'Andrea, L. N.Da Costa, S. Desai, J. P. Dietrich, A. E. Evrard, A. Fausti Neto, P. Fosalba, D. W. Gerdes, T. Giannantonio, D. A. Goldstein, D. Gruen, G. Gutierrez, K. Honscheid, D. J. James, M. W.G. Johnson, M. D. Johnson, E. Krause, K. Kuehn, N. Kuropatkin, M. Lima, M. A.G. Maia, J. L. Marshall, F. Menanteau, R. Miquel, J. J. Mohr, R. C. Nichol, B. Nord, R. Ogando, A. A. Plazas, K. Reil, A. K. Romer, E. Sanchez, V. Scarpine, I. Sevilla-Noarbe, R. C. Smith, E. Suchyta, G. Tarle, D. Thomas, R. C. Thomas, D. L. Tucker, J. Weller

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Abstract

© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. 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 point-source limiting magnitudes of and , 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 significance 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 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.

Original language	English
Article number	L29
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	826
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L29
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2016

Keywords

Binaries: Close
Catalogs
Gravitational waves
stars: Neutron
Surveys

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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., ... Weller, J. (2016). A DECAM SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 826(2), [L29]. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L29

@article{343f424a5b504b7eae406a5a58d50be3,

title = "A DECAM SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226",

abstract = "{\textcopyright} 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. 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 point-source limiting magnitudes of and , 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 significance 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 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.",

keywords = "Binaries: Close, Catalogs, Gravitational waves, stars: Neutron, Surveys",

author = "Cowperthwaite, {P. S.} and E. Berger and M. Soares-Santos and J. Annis and D. Brout and Brown, {D. A.} and E. Buckley-Geer and Cenko, {S. B.} and Chen, {H. Y.} and R. Chornock and Diehl, {H. T.} and Z. Doctor and A. Drlica-Wagner and Drout, {M. R.} and B. Farr and Finley, {D. A.} and Foley, {R. J.} and W. Fong and Fox, {D. B.} and J. Frieman and J. Garcia-Bellido and Gill, {M. S.S.} and Gruendl, {R. A.} and K. Herner and Holz, {D. E.} and D. Kasen and R. Kessler and H. Lin and R. Margutti and J. Marriner and T. Matheson and Metzger, {B. D.} and Neilsen, {E. H.} and E. Quataert and A. Rest and M. Sako and D. Scolnic and N. Smith and F. Sobreira and Strampelli, {G. M.} and Villar, {V. A.} and Walker, {A. R.} and W. Wester and Williams, {P. K.G.} and B. Yanny and Abbott, {T. M.C.} and Abdalla, {F. B.} and S. Allam and R. Armstrong and K. Bechtol and A. Benoit-L{\'e}vy and E. Bertin and D. Brooks and Burke, {D. L.} and Rosell, {A. Carnero} and Kind, {M. Carrasco} and J. Carretero and Castander, {F. J.} and Cunha, {C. E.} and D'Andrea, {C. B.} and Costa, {L. N.Da} and S. Desai and Dietrich, {J. P.} and Evrard, {A. E.} and Neto, {A. Fausti} and P. Fosalba and Gerdes, {D. W.} and T. Giannantonio and Goldstein, {D. A.} and D. Gruen and G. Gutierrez and K. Honscheid and James, {D. J.} and Johnson, {M. W.G.} and Johnson, {M. D.} and E. Krause and K. Kuehn and N. Kuropatkin and M. Lima and Maia, {M. A.G.} and Marshall, {J. L.} and F. Menanteau and R. Miquel and Mohr, {J. J.} and Nichol, {R. C.} and B. Nord and R. Ogando and Plazas, {A. A.} and K. Reil and Romer, {A. K.} and E. Sanchez and V. Scarpine and I. Sevilla-Noarbe and Smith, {R. C.} and E. Suchyta and G. Tarle and D. Thomas and Thomas, {R. C.} and Tucker, {D. L.} and J. Weller",

year = "2016",

month = aug,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L29",

language = "English",

volume = "826",

journal = "The astrophysical journal. Letters (Print)",

issn = "2041-8205",

number = "2",

}

Cowperthwaite, PS, Berger, E, Soares-Santos, M, Annis, J, Brout, D, Brown, DA, Buckley-Geer, E, Cenko, SB, Chen, HY, Chornock, R, Diehl, HT, Doctor, Z, Drlica-Wagner, A, Drout, MR, Farr, B, Finley, DA, Foley, RJ, Fong, W, Fox, DB, Frieman, J, Garcia-Bellido, J, Gill, MSS, Gruendl, RA, Herner, K, Holz, DE, Kasen, D, Kessler, R, Lin, H, Margutti, R, Marriner, J, Matheson, T, Metzger, BD, Neilsen, EH, Quataert, E, Rest, A, Sako, M, Scolnic, D, Smith, N, Sobreira, F, Strampelli, GM, Villar, VA, Walker, AR, Wester, W, Williams, PKG, Yanny, B, Abbott, TMC, Abdalla, FB, Allam, S, Armstrong, R, Bechtol, K, Benoit-Lévy, A, Bertin, E, Brooks, D, Burke, DL, Rosell, AC, Kind, MC, Carretero, J, Castander, FJ, Cunha, CE, D'Andrea, CB, Costa, LND, Desai, S, Dietrich, JP, Evrard, AE, Neto, AF, Fosalba, P, Gerdes, DW, Giannantonio, T, Goldstein, DA, Gruen, D, Gutierrez, G, Honscheid, K, James, DJ, Johnson, MWG, Johnson, MD, Krause, E, Kuehn, K, Kuropatkin, N, Lima, M, Maia, MAG, Marshall, JL, Menanteau, F, Miquel, R, Mohr, JJ, Nichol, RC, Nord, B, Ogando, R, Plazas, AA, Reil, K, Romer, AK, Sanchez, E, Scarpine, V, Sevilla-Noarbe, I, Smith, RC, Suchyta, E, Tarle, G, Thomas, D, Thomas, RC, Tucker, DL & Weller, J 2016, 'A DECAM SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 826, no. 2, L29. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L29

TY - JOUR

T1 - A DECAM SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226

AU - Cowperthwaite, P. S.

AU - Berger, E.

AU - Soares-Santos, M.

AU - Annis, J.

AU - Brout, D.

AU - Brown, D. A.

AU - Buckley-Geer, E.

AU - Cenko, S. B.

AU - Chen, H. Y.

AU - Chornock, R.

AU - Diehl, H. T.

AU - Doctor, Z.

AU - Drlica-Wagner, A.

AU - Drout, M. R.

AU - Farr, B.

AU - Finley, D. A.

AU - Foley, R. J.

AU - Fong, W.

AU - Fox, D. B.

AU - Frieman, J.

AU - Garcia-Bellido, J.

AU - Gill, M. S.S.

AU - Gruendl, R. A.

AU - Herner, K.

AU - Holz, D. E.

AU - Kasen, D.

AU - Kessler, R.

AU - Lin, H.

AU - Margutti, R.

AU - Marriner, J.

AU - Matheson, T.

AU - Metzger, B. D.

AU - Neilsen, E. H.

AU - Quataert, E.

AU - Rest, A.

AU - Sako, M.

AU - Scolnic, D.

AU - Smith, N.

AU - Sobreira, F.

AU - Strampelli, G. M.

AU - Villar, V. A.

AU - Walker, A. R.

AU - Wester, W.

AU - Williams, P. K.G.

AU - Yanny, B.

AU - Abbott, T. M.C.

AU - Abdalla, F. B.

AU - Allam, S.

AU - Armstrong, R.

AU - Bechtol, K.

AU - Benoit-Lévy, A.

AU - Bertin, E.

AU - Brooks, D.

AU - Burke, D. L.

AU - Rosell, A. Carnero

AU - Kind, M. Carrasco

AU - Carretero, J.

AU - Castander, F. J.

AU - Cunha, C. E.

AU - D'Andrea, C. B.

AU - Costa, L. N.Da

AU - Desai, S.

AU - Dietrich, J. P.

AU - Evrard, A. E.

AU - Neto, A. Fausti

AU - Fosalba, P.

AU - Gerdes, D. W.

AU - Giannantonio, T.

AU - Goldstein, D. A.

AU - Gruen, D.

AU - Gutierrez, G.

AU - Honscheid, K.

AU - James, D. J.

AU - Johnson, M. W.G.

AU - Johnson, M. D.

AU - Krause, E.

AU - Kuehn, K.

AU - Kuropatkin, N.

AU - Lima, M.

AU - Maia, M. A.G.

AU - Marshall, J. L.

AU - Menanteau, F.

AU - Miquel, R.

AU - Mohr, J. J.

AU - Nichol, R. C.

AU - Nord, B.

AU - Ogando, R.

AU - Plazas, A. A.

AU - Reil, K.

AU - Romer, A. K.

AU - Sanchez, E.

AU - Scarpine, V.

AU - Sevilla-Noarbe, I.

AU - Smith, R. C.

AU - Suchyta, E.

AU - Tarle, G.

AU - Thomas, D.

AU - Thomas, R. C.

AU - Tucker, D. L.

AU - Weller, J.

PY - 2016/8/1

Y1 - 2016/8/1

N2 - © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. 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 point-source limiting magnitudes of and , 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 significance 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 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.

AB - © 2016. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. 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 point-source limiting magnitudes of and , 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 significance 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 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.

KW - Binaries: Close

KW - Catalogs

KW - Gravitational waves

KW - stars: Neutron

KW - Surveys

U2 - 10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L29

DO - 10.3847/2041-8205/826/2/L29

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-8205

VL - 826

JO - The astrophysical journal. Letters (Print)

JF - The astrophysical journal. Letters (Print)

IS - 2

M1 - L29

ER -

A DECAM SEARCH for AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART to the LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226

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Keywords

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