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.

Spectral analysis of Swift/XRT dataWe use the xspec v11.3.2 X-ray spectral fitting package to fit both a power law and a blackbody model to the XRT outburst data. In both models we allow for excess neutral hydrogen absorption (N H ) above the Galactic value along the line of sight to NGC 2770, N H,Gal = 1.7 × 10 20 cm −2 . The best-fit power law model (χ 2 = 7.5 for 17 degrees of freedom; probability, P = 0.98) has a photon index, Γ = 2.3 ± 0.3 (or, F ν ∝ ν −1.3±0.3 ) and N H = 6.9 +1.8 −1.5 × 10 21 cm −2 . The best-fit blackbody model is described by kT = 0.71 ± 0.08 keV and N H = 1.3 +1.0 −0.9 × 10 21 cm −2 . However, this model provides a much poorer fit to the data (χ 2 = 26.0 for 17 degrees of freedom; probability, P = 0.074). We therefore adopt the power law model as the best description of the data. The resulting count rate to flux conversion is 1 counts s −1 = 5 × 10 −11 erg cm −2 s −1 . The outburst undergoes a significant hard-to-soft spectral evolution as indicated by the ratio of counts in the 0.3 − 2 keV band and 2 − 10 keV band. The hardness ratio decreases from 1.35 ± 0.15 during the peak of the flare to 0.25 ± 0.10 about 400 s later. In the context of the power law model this spectral softening corresponds to a change from Γ = 1.70 ± 0.25 to 3.20 ± 0.35 during the same time interval. High resolution optical spectroscopyWe obtained the spectrum with the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) mounted on the Keck I 10-m telescope beginning at Jan 17.46 UT. A total of four 1800-s exposures were obtained with a spectral resolution, R = 48, 000, and a slit width of 0.86 arcsec. The data reach a signal-to-noise ratio of 18 per pixel. We reduced the data with the MAKEE reduction package. We are interested in the Na I D and K I absorption features since they are sensitive to the gas column density, and hence extinction, along the line of the sight to the SN. Rejecting a Relativistic Origin for XRO 080109We investigate the possibility that XRO 080109 is the result of a relativistic outflow similar to that in GRBs. In this context the emission is non-thermal synchrotron radiation. The outburst flux density is 7.5 × 10 2 µJy at 0.3 keV. Simultaneously, we find 3σ limits on the flux density in the UBV bands (∼ 3 eV) of F ν < 9.0 × 10 2 µJy, indicating that the peak of the synchrotron spectrum must be located between the UV and X-ray bands. In the standard synchrotron model this requires the frequencies corresponding to electrons with the minimum and cooling Lorentz factors to obey ν m ≈ ν c ≈ 3 × 10 16 Hz, while the peak of the spectrum is F ν,p ≈ 3 mJy.The inferred values of ν m and ν c allow us to constrain 47 the outflow parameters and thus to check for consistency with the hypothesis of relativistic expansion. The relevant parameters are the bulk Lorentz factor (γ), the magnetic field (B), and the shock radius (R sh ). From the value of ν c we find γB 3 ≈ 8.3 × 10 3 , and since γ > 1 we conclude that B < 20 G. In addition, using ν m we find ǫ 2 e γ 3 B ≈ 3 × 10 4 ; here ǫ e is the fraction of posts...

Gravitational waves have been detected from a binary neutron star merger event, GW170817. The detection of electromagnetic radiation from the same source has shown that the merger occurred in the outskirts of the galaxy NGC 4993, at a distance of 40 megaparsecs from Earth. We report the detection of a counterpart radio source that appears 16 days after the event, allowing us to diagnose the energetics and environment of the merger. The observed radio emission can be explained by either a collimated ultrarelativistic jet, viewed off-axis, or a cocoon of mildly relativistic ejecta. Within 100 days of the merger, the radio light curves will enable observers to distinguish between these models, and the angular velocity and geometry of the debris will be directly measurable by very long baseline interferometry.

Type Ia supernovae are important cosmological distance indicators. Each of these bright supernovae supposedly results from the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf star that, after accreting material from a companion star, exceeds some mass limit, but the true nature of the progenitor star system remains controversial. Here we report the spectroscopic detection of circumstellar material in a normal type Ia supernova explosion. The expansion velocities, densities, and dimensions of the circumstellar envelope indicate that this material was ejected from the progenitor system. In particular, the relatively low expansion velocities suggest that the white dwarf was accreting material from a companion star that was in the red-giant phase at the time of the explosion.

Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) mark 1 the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of Type Ibc supernovae (SNe Ibc). They are distinguished by the production of an energetic and collimated relativistic outflow powered 2 by a central engine (an accreting black hole or neutron star).Observationally, this outflow is manifested 3 in the pulse of gamma-rays and a long-lived radio afterglow. To date, central engine-driven SNe have been discovered exclusively through their gamma-ray emission, yet it is expected 4 that a larger population goes undetected due to limited satellite sensitivity or beaming of the collimated emission away from our line-of-sight. In this framework, 2 Soderberg et al.the recovery of undetected GRBs may be possible through radio searches 5,6 for SNe Ibc with relativistic outflows. Here we report the discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary Type Ibc SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine. The lack of a coincident GRB makes SN 2009bb the first engine-driven SN discovered without a detected gamma-ray signal. A comparison with our extensive radio survey of SNe Ibc reveals that the fraction harboring central engines is low, ∼ 1%, measured independently from, but consistent with, the inferred 46 rate of nearby GRBs. Our study demonstrates that upcoming optical and radio surveys will soon rival gamma-ray satellites in pinpointing the nearest engine-driven SNe.A similar result for a different supernova is reported 8 independently. A Relativistic SN 3Unlike the optical emission from SNe which traces only the slowest explosion debris, radio observations uniquely probe 35 the fastest ejecta as the expanding blastwave (velocity, v) shocks and accelerates electrons in amplified magnetic fields. The resulting synchrotron emission is suppressed by self-absorption (SSA) producing a low frequency radio turnover that defines the spectral peak frequency, ν p . Combining our observations from the VLA and the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), the radio spectra of SN 2009bbare well described by an SSA model across multiple epochs ( Figure 2). From our earliest spectrum on Apr 8 UT (∆t ≈ 20 days), we infer ν p ≈ 6 GHz and a spectral peak luminosity,Making the conservative assumption that the energy of the radio emitting material is partitioned equally into accelerating electrons and amplifying magnetic fields (equipartition), the properties of the SSA radio spectrum enable 13,35 a robust estimate of the blastwave radius, R ≈ 2.9 × 10 16 (L ν,p /10 28 erg ssynchrotron sources with a low spectral peak frequency thus require larger sizes (Figure 3).For SN 2009bb, we infer R ≈ 4.4 × 10 16 cm at ∆t ≈ 20 days and thus the mean expansion velocity is R/∆t = 0.85 ± 0.02c, where c is the speed of light. The transverse expansion speed, Γβc = R/∆t indicates that the blastwave is relativistic, Γ 1.3, at this time [bulk Lorentz factor Γ = (1 − β 2 ) −1/2 with β = v/c]. This is a lower limit on the initial velocity since th...

GW170817 was the first gravitational-wave detection of a binary neutron-star merger. It was accompanied by radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum and localized to the galaxy NGC 4993 at a distance of 40 megaparsecs. It has been proposed that the observed γ-ray, X-ray and radio emission is due to an ultra-relativistic jet being launched during the merger (and successfully breaking out of the surrounding material), directed away from our line of sight (off-axis). The presence of such a jet is predicted from models that posit neutron-star mergers as the drivers of short hard-γ-ray bursts. Here we report that the radio light curve of GW170817 has no direct signature of the afterglow of an off-axis jet. Although we cannot completely rule out the existence of a jet directed away from the line of sight, the observed γ-ray emission could not have originated from such a jet. Instead, the radio data require the existence of a mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow moving towards us. This outflow could be the high-velocity tail of the neutron-rich material that was ejected dynamically during the merger, or a cocoon of material that breaks out when a jet launched during the merger transfers its energy to the dynamical ejecta. Because the cocoon model explains the radio light curve of GW170817, as well as the γ-ray and X-ray emission (and possibly also the ultraviolet and optical emission), it is the model that is most consistent with the observational data. Cocoons may be a ubiquitous phenomenon produced in neutron-star mergers, giving rise to a hitherto unidentified population of radio, ultraviolet, X-ray and γ-ray transients in the local Universe.

With an extinction-corrected V-band peak absolute magnitude of about −22, supernova (SN) 2006gy is probably the brightest SN ever observed. We report on multi-wavelength observations of this SN and its environment. Our spectroscopy shows an Hα emission line as well as absorption features which may be identified as Si II lines at low expansion velocity. The high peak luminosity, the slow rise to maximum, and the narrow Hα line are similar to those observed in hybrid type-Ia/IIn (also called IIa) SNe. The host galaxy, NGC 1260, is dominated by an old stellar population with solar metallicity. However, our high resolution adaptive optics images reveal a dust lane in this galaxy, and there appears to be an H II region in the vicinity of the SN. The extra-ordinarily large peak luminosity, ∼ 3 × 10 44 erg s −1 , demands a dense circum-stellar medium, regardless of the mass of the progenitor star. The inferred mass loss rate of the progenitor is ∼ 0.1 M ⊙ yr −1 over a period of ∼ 10 yr prior to explosion. Such an high mass-loss rate may be the result of a binary star common envelope ejection. The total radiated energy in the first two months is about 1.1 × 10 51 erg, which is only a factor of two less than that available from a super-Chandrasekhar Ia explosion. Therefore, given the presence of a star forming region in the vicinity of the SN and the high energy requirements, a plausible scenario is that SN 2006gy is related to the death of a massive star (e.g., pair production SN).

We present a catalog of radio afterglow observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) over a 14 year period from 1997 to 2011. Our sample of 304 afterglows consists of 2995 flux density measurements (including upper limits) at frequencies between 0.6 GHz and 660 GHz, with the majority of data taken at 8.5 GHz frequency band (1539 measurements). We use this data set to carry out a statistical analysis of the radio-selected sample. The detection rate of radio afterglows has stayed unchanged almost at 31% before and after the launch of the Swift satellite. The canonical long-duration GRB radio light curve at 8.5 GHz peaks at three to six days in the source rest frame, with a median peak luminosity of 10 31 erg s −1 Hz −1 . The peak radio luminosities for short-hard bursts, X-ray flashes, and the supernova-GRB classes are an order of magnitude or more fainter than this value. There are clear relationships between the detectability of a radio afterglow and the fluence or energy of a GRB, and the X-ray or optical brightness of the afterglow. However, we find few significant correlations between these same GRB and afterglow properties and the peak radio flux density. We also produce synthetic light curves at centimeter and millimeter bands using a range of blast wave and microphysics parameters derived from multiwavelength afterglow modeling, and we use them to compare to the radio sample. Finding agreement, we extrapolate this behavior to predict the centimeter and millimeter behavior of GRBs observed by the Expanded Very Large Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.