On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ∼ 1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40 − 8 + 8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 M ⊙ . An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ∼ 40 Mpc ) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ∼ 9 and ∼ 16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.

Gravitational waves were discovered with the detection of binary black-hole mergers and they should also be detectable from lower-mass neutron-star mergers. These are predicted to eject material rich in heavy radioactive isotopes that can power an electromagnetic signal. This signal is luminous at optical and infrared wavelengths and is called a kilonova. The gravitational-wave source GW170817 arose from a binary neutron-star merger in the nearby Universe with a relatively well confined sky position and distance estimate. Here we report observations and physical modelling of a rapidly fading electromagnetic transient in the galaxy NGC 4993, which is spatially coincident with GW170817 and with a weak, short γ-ray burst. The transient has physical parameters that broadly match the theoretical predictions of blue kilonovae from neutron-star mergers. The emitted electromagnetic radiation can be explained with an ejected mass of 0.04 ± 0.01 solar masses, with an opacity of less than 0.5 square centimetres per gram, at a velocity of 0.2 ± 0.1 times light speed. The power source is constrained to have a power-law slope of -1.2 ± 0.3, consistent with radioactive powering from r-process nuclides. (The r-process is a series of neutron capture reactions that synthesise many of the elements heavier than iron.) We identify line features in the spectra that are consistent with light r-process elements (atomic masses of 90-140). As it fades, the transient rapidly becomes red, and a higher-opacity, lanthanide-rich ejecta component may contribute to the emission. This indicates that neutron-star mergers produce gravitational waves and radioactively powered kilonovae, and are a nucleosynthetic source of the r-process elements.

Accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can exhibit variable emission across the electromagnetic spectrum and over a broad range of time-scales. The variability of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the ultra-violet (UV) and optical is usually at the few tens of percent level over time-scales of hours to weeks 1 . Recently, rare, more dramatic changes to the emission from accreting SMBHs have been observed, including tidal disruption events (TDEs) 2-5 , "changing look" AGN 6-9 , and other extreme variability objects 10,11 . The physics behind the "re-ignition", enhancement, and "shutdown" of accretion onto SMBHs is not entirely understood. Here we present a rapid increase in ultraviolet-optical emission in the centre of a nearby galaxy marking the onset of sudden increased accretion onto a SMBH. The optical spectrum of this flare, dubbed AT 2017bgt, exhibits a mix of emission features. Some are typical of luminous, unobscured AGN, but others are likely driven by Bowen fluorescence -robustly linked here, for the first time, with highvelocity gas in the vicinity of the accreting SMBH. The spectral features and increased UV flux show little evolution over a period of at least 14 months. This disfavours the tidal disruption of a star as their origin, and instead suggests a longer-term event of intensified accretion. Together with two other recently reported events with similar properties, we define a new class of SMBH-related flares. This has important implications for the classification of different types of enhanced accretion onto SMBHs.AT 2017bgt was discovered by the All Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN 12 ) as ASASSN-17cv on 2017 February 21 in the early-type galaxy 2MASX J16110570+0234002, at z=0.064 (ref. 13; see Methods §). The long-term ASAS-SN optical data show that the total emission from the galaxy brightened by a factor of ∼50% over a period of about two months, with half of the rise occurring within three weeks (see Supplementary Fig. 1). Follow-up Swift observations show that the UV emission increased by a factor of ∼75 compared to GALEX data from 2004, reaching a luminosity of νLν (NUV) 8.9×10 44 erg s −1 , and that the X-ray emission increased by a factor of ∼2−3 compared to ROSAT data from 1990 August (see 'Detection and photometric monitoring' and 'Archival multi-wavelength data' in Methods for details on all new and archival data). The archival X-ray luminosity, of L(2−10 keV) 7×10 42 erg s −1 , and the archival UV to X-ray luminosity ratio are consistent with what is commonly observed in AGN (that is, a UV-to-X-ray spectral slope of αox≈ − 1.2; see Methods §). Archival detections in the radio (from 1998; obtained by the Very Large Array) and in the mid-infrared (from 2010; obtained with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) can be accounted for by star formation in the host galaxy. Thus, AT 2017bgt experienced a dramatic increase in its UV emission, accompanied by a smaller increase in optical and X-ray emission, sometime between 2004 and 2017.The X-ray spectral energy distribution...

Galaxy halos appear to be missing a large fraction of their baryons, most probably hiding in the circumgalactic medium (CGM), a diffuse component within the dark matter halo that extends far from the inner regions of the galaxies. A powerful tool to study the CGM gas is offered by absorption lines in the spectra of background quasars. Here, we present optical (MUSE) and mm (ALMA) observations of the field of the quasar Q1130−1449 which includes a log [N (HI)/cm −2 ]=21.71±0.07 absorber at z=0.313. Ground-based VLT/MUSE 3D spectroscopy shows 11 galaxies at the redshift of the absorber down to a limiting SFR>0.01 M yr −1 (covering emission lines of [O ii], Hβ, [O iii], [N ii] and Hα), 7 of which are new discoveries. In particular, we report a new emitter with a smaller impact parameter to the quasar line-of-sight (b=10.6 kpc) than the galaxies detected so far. Three of the objects are also detected in CO(1-0) in our ALMA observations indicating long depletion timescales for the molecular gas and kinematics consistent with the ionised gas. We infer from dedicated numerical cosmological RAMSES zoom-in simulations that the physical properties of these objects qualitatively resemble a small group environment, possibly part of a filamentary structure. Based on metallicity and velocity arguments, we conclude that the neutral gas traced in absorption is only partly related to these emitting galaxies while a larger fraction is likely the signature of gas with surface brightness almost four orders of magnitude fainter that current detection limits. Together, these findings challenge a picture where strong-N (H I) quasar absorbers are associated with a single bright galaxy and favour a scenario where the H i gas probed in absorption is related to far more complex galaxy structures.