Electromagnetic Follow-up to Gravitational Wave Events with the UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX)

Abstract

The Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) is expected to fly in 2030 and will have the opportunity -- and the rapid near/far ultraviolet (UV) capabilities -- to glean unprecedented insight into the bright UV emission present in kilonovae like that of AT 170817gfo, the electromagnetic counterpart to binary neutron star merger GW170817. To do so, it will need to perform prompt target-of-opportunity observations following detection of binary neutron star mergers by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA gravitational observatories. We present initial simulations to develop UVEX target-of-opportunity strategies for such events and provide the community with detailed initial estimates of the prospects for and characteristics of UVEX target-of-opportunity observations following gravitational-wave events, considering fiducial scenarios for the fifth and sixth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs. Additionally, in light of the relatively few binary neutron star mergers observed since GW170817, we consider variant target-of-opportunity strategies for UVEX to maximize scientific gain in the case of a lowered binary neutron star merger rate.

arXiv comment18 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables

References in corpus (83)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Array Programming with NumPy
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral
• The Astropy Project: Building an inclusive, open-science project and status of the v2.0 core package
• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
• Gravitational Waves and Gamma-rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A
• LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
• GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
• GWTC-3: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the Second Part of the Third Observing Run
• GW190425: Observation of a Compact Binary Coalescence with Total Mass $\sim 3.4M_{\odot }$
• Transient Events from Neutron Star Mergers
• A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant
• Origin of the heavy elements in binary neutron-star mergers from a gravitational wave event
• Electromagnetic Counterparts of Compact Object Mergers Powered by the Radioactive Decay of R-process Nuclei
• Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a), the Optical Counterpart to a Gravitational Wave Source
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. II. UV, Optical, and Near-IR Light Curves and Comparison to Kilonova Models
• Spectroscopic identification of r-process nucleosynthesis in a double neutron star merger
• A kilonova as the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source
• Illuminating Gravitational Waves: A Concordant Picture of Photons from a Neutron Star Merger
• Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole coalescences
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Dark Energy Camera Discovery of the Optical Counterpart
• Swift and NuSTAR observations of GW170817: detection of a blue kilonova
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. IV. Detection of Near-infrared Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis with Gemini-South
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. III. Optical and UV Spectra of a Blue Kilonova From Fast Polar Ejecta
• Identification of strontium in the merger of two neutron stars
• Kilonovae
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. V. Rising X-ray Emission from an Off-Axis Jet
• Rapid Bayesian position reconstruction for gravitational-wave transients
• Stringent constraints on neutron-star radii from multimessenger observations and nuclear theory
• The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. VI. Radio Constraints on a Relativistic Jet and Predictions for Late-Time Emission from the Kilonova Ejecta
• Constraining Neutron-Star Matter with Microscopic and Macroscopic Collisions
• Electromagnetic Evidence that SSS17a is the Result of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
• Multi-messenger Bayesian parameter inference of a binary neutron-star merger
• Estimating the Contribution of Dynamical Ejecta in the Kilonova Associated with GW170817
• Constraining the dense matter equation of state with joint analysis of NICER and LIGO/Virgo measurements
• Impact of the PSR J0740+6620 radius constraint on the properties of high-density matter
• Going the Distance: Mapping Host Galaxies of LIGO and Virgo Sources in Three Dimensions Using Local Cosmography and Targeted Follow-up
• Nonparametric Inference of Neutron Star Composition, Equation of State, and Maximum Mass with GW170817
• Neutron-powered precursors of kilonovae
• The first direct double neutron star merger detection: implications for cosmic nucleosynthesis
• The Distance to NGC 4993: The Host Galaxy of the Gravitational-wave Event GW170817
• Detectability of compact binary merger macronovae
• The electromagnetic counterparts of compact binary mergers
• Science with a wide-field UV transient explorer
• When Did the Remnant of GW170817 Collapse to a Black Hole?
• The Multi-Messenger Matrix: the Future of Neutron Star Merger Constraints on the Nuclear Equation of State
• GROWTH on S190425z: Searching thousands of square degrees to identify an optical or infrared counterpart to a binary neutron star merger with the Zwicky Transient Facility and Palomar Gattini IR
• A long-lived remnant neutron star after GW170817 inferred from its associated kilonova
• Data-driven expectations for electromagnetic counterpart searches based on LIGO/Virgo public alerts
• Evidence for Cocoon Emission from the Early Light Curve of SSS17a
• Improved constraints on H0 from a combined analysis of gravitational-wave and electromagnetic emission from GW170817
• Spitzer Mid-Infrared Detections of Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Suggests Synthesis of the Heaviest Elements
• Searching for Electromagnetic Counterparts to Gravitational-wave Merger Events with the Prototype Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO-4)
• Optical follow-up of the neutron star-black hole mergers S200105ae and S200115j
• Kilonova Luminosity Function Constraints based on Zwicky Transient Facility Searches for 13 Neutron Star Mergers
• AT2017gfo: Bayesian inference and model selection of multi-component kilonovae and constraints on the neutron star equation of state
• GRANDMA Observations of Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's Third Observational Campaign
• Follow-up of the Neutron Star Bearing Gravitational Wave Candidate Events S190425z and S190426c with MMT and SOAR
• Radioactive heating rate of r-process elements and macronova light curve
• Combining Electromagnetic and Gravitational-Wave Constraints on Neutron-Star Masses and Radii
• Implications of the search for optical counterparts during the first six months of the Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's third observing run: possible limits on the ejecta mass and binary properties
• Tight multi-messenger constraints on the neutron star equation of state from GW170817 and a forward model for kilonova light curve synthesis
• Impact of PREX-II and combined Radio/NICER/XMM-Newton's mass-radius measurement of PSRJ0740+6620 on the dense matter equation of state
• The first six months of the Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's third observing run with GRANDMA
• Simulations of early kilonova emission from neutron star mergers
• Supplement: Going the Distance: Mapping Host Galaxies of LIGO and Virgo Sources in Three Dimensions Using Local Cosmography and Targeted Follow-up
• The Fate of the Merger Remnant in GW170817 and its Imprint on the Jet Structure
• On standardizing kilonovae and their use as standard candles to measure the Hubble constant
• Updated observing scenarios and multi-messenger implications for the International Gravitational-wave Network's O4 and O5
• Measuring the Hubble Constant with a sample of kilonovae
• Population properties and multimessenger prospects of neutron star-black hole mergers following GWTC-3
• Swift-XRT follow-up of gravitational wave triggers during the third aLIGO/Virgo observing run
• Multimessenger parameter estimation of GW170817: from jet structure to the Hubble constant
• The Effect of Jet-Ejecta Interaction on the Viewing Angle Dependence of Kilonova Light Curves
• Low-latency gravitational wave alert products and their performance at the time of the fourth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing run
• Constraints on the electromagnetic counterpart of the Neutron Star Black Hole merger GW200115
• Bayesian inference of multimessenger astrophysical data: Joint and coherent inference of gravitational waves and kilonovae
• Viewing angle constraints on S190425z and S190426c and the joint gravitational-wave/gamma-ray detection fractions for binary neutron star mergers
• Electromagnetic signals from the decay of free neutrons in the first hours of neutron star mergers
• Joint analysis of gravitational-wave and electromagnetic data of mergers: breaking an afterglow model degeneracy in GW170817 and in future events
• On the energetics of a possible relativistic jet associated with the binary neutron star merger candidate S190425z

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Optimal Follow-Up of Gravitational-Wave Events with the UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX)