<i>Swift</i> and <i>NuSTAR</i> observations of GW170817: Detection of a blue kilonova.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29038371.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/science.aap9580.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
With the first direct detection of merging black holes in 2015, the era of gravitational wave (GW) astrophysics began. A complete picture of compact object mergers, however, requires the detection of an electromagnetic (EM) counterpart. We report ultraviolet (UV) and x-ray observations by <i>Swift</i> and the <i>Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array</i> of the EM counterpart of the binary neutron star merger GW170817. The bright, rapidly fading UV emission indicates a high mass (≈0.03 solar masses) wind-driven outflow with moderate electron fraction (<i>Y</i><sub>e</sub> ≈ 0.27). Combined with the x-ray limits, we favor an observer viewing angle of ≈30° away from the orbital rotation axis, which avoids both obscuration from the heaviest elements in the orbital plane and a direct view of any ultrarelativistic, highly collimated ejecta (a γ-ray burst afterglow).