The afterglow of GW170817 from every angle: prospects for detecting the afterglows of binary neutron star mergers

Abstract

To date GW170817, produced by a binary neutron star (BNS) merger, is the only gravitational wave (GW) event with an electromagnetic counterpart. It was associated with a prompt short gamma-ray burst (GRB), an optical kilonova, and the afterglow of a structured off-axis relativistic jet. We model the prospects for future mergers discovered in gravitational waves to produce detectable afterglows. Using a model fit to GW170817, we assume all BNS mergers produce jets with the same parameters, and model the afterglow luminosity for a full distribution of observer angles, ISM densities, and distances. We find that in the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA O4 run, 30 per cent–45 per cent of BNS mergers with a well-localized counterpart will have an afterglow detectable with current instrumentation in the X-ray, radio and optical. Without a previously detected counterpart, 10 per cent–15 per cent will have an afterglow detectable by wide-area radio and optical surveys, compared to only about 5 per cent–12 per cent of events expected to have bright (on-axis) gamma-ray emission. Most afterglows that are detected will be from off-axis jets. Further in the future, in the A + era (O5), 40 per cent–50 per cent of mergers will have afterglows detectable with next-generation X-ray and radio instruments. Future wide-area radio survey instruments, particularly DSA-2000, could detect 40 per cent of afterglows, even without a kilonova counterpart. Finding and monitoring these afterglows will provide valuable insight into the structure and diversity of relativistic jets, the rate at which mergers produce jets, and constrain the angle of the mergers relative to our line of sight.