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.

On 2017 August 17, the gravitational-wave event GW170817 was observed by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors, and the gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB170817A was observed independently by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, and the Anti-Coincidence Shield for the Spectrometer for the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. The probability of the near-simultaneous temporal and spatial observation of GRB170817A and GW170817 occurring by chance is 5.0 10 8 -. We therefore confirm binary neutron star mergers as a progenitor of short GRBs. The association of GW170817 and GRB170817A provides new insight into fundamental physics and the origin of short GRBs. We use the observed time delay of 1.74 0.05 s +  () between GRB170817A and GW170817 to: (i) constrain the difference between the speed of gravity and the speed of light to be between 3 10 15 -´and 7 10 16 +´times the speed of light, (ii) place new bounds on the violation of Lorentz invariance, (iii) present a new test of the equivalence principle by constraining the Shapiro delay between gravitational and electromagnetic radiation. We also use the time delay to constrain the size and bulk Lorentz factor of the region emitting the gamma-rays. GRB170817A is the closest short GRB with a known distance, but is between 2 and 6 orders of magnitude less energetic than other bursts with measured redshift. A new generation of gamma-ray detectors, and subthreshold searches in existing detectors, will be essential to detect similar short bursts at greater distances. Finally, we predict a joint detection rate for the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors of 0.1-1.4 per year during the 2018-2019 observing run and 0.3-1.7 per year at design sensitivity.

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On

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has had a major breakthrough with the impressive results obtained using systems of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has a huge potential in astrophysics, particle physics and cosmology. CTA is an international initiative to build the next generation instrument, with a factor of 5-10 improvement in sensitivity in the 100 GeV-10 TeV range and the extension to energies well below 100 GeV and above 100 TeV. CTA will consist of two arrays (one in the north, one in the south) for full sky coverage and will be operated as open observatory. The design of CTA is based on currently available technology. This document reports on the status and presents the major design concepts of CTA.

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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...

The Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) has triggered on 1637 cosmic gamma-ray bursts between 1991 April 19 and 1996 August 29. These events constitute the Fourth BATSE burst catalog. The current version (4Br) has been revised from the version first circulated on CD-ROM in September 1997 (4B) to include improved locations for a subset of bursts that have been reprocessed using additional data. A significant difference from previous BATSE catalogs is the inclusion of bursts from periods when the trigger energy range differed from the nominal 50-300 keV. We present tables of the burst occurrence times, locations, peak fluxes, fluences, and durations. In general, results from previous BATSE catalogs are confirmed here with greater statistical significance.