Comparing H-alpha and HI Surveys as Means to a Complete Local Galaxy Catalog in the Advanced LIGO/Virgo Era

Abstract

Identifying the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave (GW) sources detected by upcoming networks of advanced ground-based interferometers will be challenging due in part to the large number of unrelated astrophysical transients within the ~10-100 square degree sky localizations. A potential way to greatly reduce the number of such false positives is to limit detailed follow-up to only those candidates near galaxies within the GW sensitivity range of ~200 Mpc for binary neutron star mergers. Such a strategy is currently hindered by the fact that galaxy catalogs are grossly incomplete within this volume. Here we compare two methods for completing the local galaxy catalog: (1) a narrow-band H-alpha imaging survey; and (2) an HI emission line radio survey. Using H-alpha fluxes, stellar masses (M_star), and star formation rates (SFR) from galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), combined with HI data from the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey and the Herschel Reference Survey, we estimate that a H-alpha survey with a luminosity sensitivity of L_H-alpha = 1e40 erg/s at 200 Mpc could achieve a completeness of f_SFR ~ 75% with respect to total SFR, but only f_Mstar ~ 33% with respect to stellar mass (due to lack of sensitivity to early-type galaxies). These numbers are significantly lower than those achieved by an idealized spectroscopic survey due to the loss of H-alpha flux resulting from resolving out nearby galaxies and the inability to correct for the underlying stellar continuum. An HI survey with sensitivity similar to the proposed WALLABY survey on ASKAP could achieve f_SFR ~ 80% and f_Mstar ~ 50%, somewhat higher than that of the H-alpha survey. Finally, both H-alpha and HI surveys should achieve > 50% completeness with respect to the host galaxies of short duration gamma-ray bursts, which may trace the population of binary neutron star mergers.

12 pages, 7 figures, submitted to ApJ

References in corpus (13)

• UV Star Formation Rates in the Local Universe
• An H-alpha Imaging Survey of Galaxies in the Local 11 Mpc Volume
• The Luminosity Function and Star Formation Rate between Redshifts of 0.07 and 1.47 for Narrow-band Emitters in the Subaru Deep Field
• Host Galaxies Catalog Used in LIGO Searches for Compact Binary Coalescence Events
• Predictions for ASKAP Neutral Hydrogen Surveys
• The GALEX view of the Herschel Reference Survey - Ultraviolet structural properties of nearby galaxies
• The Host Galaxies of Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts: Luminosities, Metallicities, and Star Formation Rates
• The H-alpha Luminosity Function and Star Formation Rate Volume Density at z=0.8 from the NEWFIRM H-alpha Survey
• The Star Formation Demographics of Galaxies in the Local Volume
• The GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey. VI. Second Data Release and Updated Gas Fraction Scaling Relations
• The Cool ISM in Elliptical Galaxies. I. A Survey of Molecular Gas
• Swift follow-up observations of candidate gravitational-wave transient events
• The Wyoming Survey for H-alpha. I. Initial Results at z ~ 0.16 and 0.24

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Red or blue? A potential kilonova imprint of the delay until black hole formation following a neutron star merger
• The long-term evolution of neutron star merger remnants - II. Radioactively powered transients
• Gravitational-Wave Localization Alone Probes AGN Origin of Stellar-Mass Black Hole Mergers
• Interpreting Short Gamma Ray Burst Progenitor Kicks and Time Delays Using the Host Galaxy-Dark Matter Halo Connection
• Utility of galaxy catalogs for following up gravitational waves from binary neutron star mergers with wide-field telescopes
• Galaxy Survey On The Fly: Prospects of Rapid Galaxy Cataloging to Aid the Electromagnetic Follow-up of Gravitational-wave Observations
• James Webb Space Telescope can Detect Kilonovae in Gravitational Wave Follow-up Search
• X-ray Transients in the Advanced LIGO/Virgo Horizon
• Using ISS Telescopes for Electromagnetic Follow-up of Gravitational Wave Detections of NS-NS and NS-BH Mergers