Related papers: Superheavy Elements in Kilonovae

Constraints on the Physical Properties of GW190814 through Simulations based on DECam Follow-up Observations by the Dark Energy Survey

On 14 August 2019, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations detected gravitational waves from a black hole and a 2.6 solar mass compact object, possibly the first neutron star -- black hole (NSBH) merger. In search of an optical counterpart, the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2022-05-23 R. Morgan , M. Soares-Santos , J. Annis , K. Herner , A. Garcia , A. Palmese , A. Drlica-Wagner , R. Kessler , J. Garcia-Bellido , T. G. Bachmann N. Sherman , S. Allam , K. Bechtol , C. R. Bom , D. Brout , R. E. Butler , M. Butner , R. Cartier , H. Chen , C. Conselice , E. Cook , T. M. Davis , Z. Doctor , B. Farr , A. L. Figueiredo , D. A. Finley , R. J. Foley , J. Y. Galarza , M. S. S. Gill , R. A. Gruendl , D. E. Holz , N. Kuropatkin , C. Lidman , H. Lin , U. Malik , A. W. Mann , J. Marriner , J. L. Marshall , C. E. Martinez-Vazquez , N. Meza , E. Neilsen , C. Nicolaou , F. Olivares E. , F. Paz-Chinchon , S. Points , J. Quirola , O. Rodriguez , M. Sako , D. Scolnic , M. Smith , F. Sobreira , D. L. Tucker , A. K. Vivas , M. Wiesner , M. L. Wood , B. Yanny , A. Zenteno , T. M. C. Abbott , M. Aguena , S. Avila , E. Bertin , S. Bhargava , D. Brooks , D. L. Burke , A. Carnero Rosell , M. Carrasco Kind , J. Carretero , L. N. da Costa , M. Costanzi , J. De Vicente , S. Desai , H. T. Diehl , P. Doel , T. F. Eifler , S. Everett , B. Flaugher , J. Frieman , E. Gaztanaga , D. W. Gerdes , D. Gruen , J. Gschwend , G. Gutierrez , W. G. Hartley , S. R. Hinton , D. L. Hollowood , K. Honscheid , D. J. James , K. Kuehn , O. Lahav , M. Lima , M. A. G. Maia , M. March , R. Miquel , R. L. C. Ogando , A. A. Plazas , A. Roodman , E. Sanchez , V. Scarpine , M. Schubnell , S. Serrano , I. Sevilla-Noarbe , E. Suchyta , G. Tarle

A Broad Grid of 2D Kilonova Emission Models

Depending upon the properties of their compact remnants and the physics included in the models, simulations of neutron star mergers can produce a broad range of ejecta properties. The characteristics of this ejecta, in turn, define the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2021-09-08 R. T. Wollaeger , C. L. Fryer , E. A. Chase , C. J. Fontes , M. Ristic , A. L. Hungerford , O. Korobkin , R. O'Shaughnessy , A. M. Herring

A Kilonova Following a Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst at 350 Mpc

Here, we report the discovery of a kilonova associated with the nearby (350 Mpc) minute-duration GRB 211211A. In tandem with deep optical limits that rule out the presence of an accompanying supernova to $M_I > -13$ mag at 17.7 days…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2022-12-21 J. C. Rastinejad , B. P. Gompertz , A. J. Levan , W. Fong , M. Nicholl , G. P. Lamb , D. B. Malesani , A. E. Nugent , S. R. Oates , N. R. Tanvir , A. de Ugarte Postigo , C. D. Kilpatrick , C. J. Moore , B. D. Metzger , M. E. Ravasio , A. Rossi , G. Schroeder , J. Jencson , D. J. Sand , N. Smith , J. F. Agüí Fernández , E. Berger , P. K. Blanchard , R. Chornock , B. E. Cobb , M. De Pasquale , J. P. U. Fynbo , L. Izzo , D. A. Kann , T. Laskar , E. Marini , K. Paterson , A. Rouco Escorial , H. M. Sears , C. C. Thöne

The Combined Ultraviolet, Optical, and Near-Infrared Light Curves of the Kilonova Associated with the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817: Unified Data Set, Analytic Models, and Physical Implications

We present the first effort to aggregate, homogenize, and uniformly model the combined ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared dataset for the electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star merger GW170817. By assembling all of the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-12-20 V. Ashley Villar , James Guillochon , Edo Berger , Brian D. Metzger , Philip S. Cowperthwaite , Matt Nicholl , Kate D. Alexander , Peter K. Blanchard , Ryan Chornock , Tarraneh Eftekhari , Wen-fai Fong , Raffaella Margutti , Peter K. G. Williams

Thorium in Kilonova Spectra: Exploring the Heaviest Detectable Element

Kilonova spectra provide us with the direct information of r-process nucleosynthesis in neutron star mergers. In this paper, we study the signatures of elements beyond the third r-process peak expected to be produced in neutron-rich ejecta…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2024-11-27 Nanae Domoto , Shinya Wanajo , Masaomi Tanaka , Daiji Kato , Kenta Hotokezaka

Neutron Star Mergers as the Dominant Contributor to the Production of Heavy $r$-Process Elements

The discovery of the radioactively powered kilonova AT2017gfo, associated with the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A and the gravitational wave source GW170817, has provided the first direct evidence supporting binary neutron star…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2024-02-14 Meng-Hua Chen , Li-Xin Li , Qiu-Hong Chen , Rui-Chong Hu , En-Wei Liang

The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. II. UV, Optical, and Near-IR Light Curves and Comparison to Kilonova Models

We present UV, optical, and NIR photometry of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source from Advanced LIGO/Virgo, the binary neutron star merger GW170817. Our data set extends from the discovery of the optical…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-10-17 P. S. Cowperthwaite , E. Berger , V. A. Villar , B. D. Metzger , M. Nicholl , R. Chornock , P. K. Blanchard , W. Fong , R. Margutti , M. Soares-Santos , K. D. Alexander , S. Allam , J. Annis , D. Brout , D. A. Brown , R. E. Butler , H. -Y. Chen , H. T. Diehl , Z. Doctor , M. R. Drout , T. Eftekhari , B. Farr , D. A. Finley , R. J. Foley , J. A. Frieman , C. L. Fryer , J. García-Bellido , M. S. S. Gill , J. Guillochon , K. Herner , D. E. Holz , D. Kasen , R. Kessler , J. Marriner , T. Matheson , E. H. Neilsen, , E. Quataert , A. Palmese , A. Rest , M. Sako , D. M. Scolnic , N. Smith , D. L. Tucker , P. K. G. Williams , E. Balbinot , J. L. Carlin , E. R. Cook , F. Durret , T. S. Li , P. A. A. Lopes , A. C. C. Lourenço , J. L. Marshall , G. E. Medina , J. Muir , R. R. Muñoz , M. Sauseda , D. J. Schlegel , L. F. Secco , A. K. Vivas , W. Wester , A. Zenteno , Y. Zhang , T. M. C. Abbott , M. Banerji , K. Bechtol , A. Benoit-Lévy , E. Bertin , E. Buckley-Geer , D. L. Burke , D. Capozzi , A. Carnero Rosell , M. Carrasco Kind , F. J. Castander , M. Crocce , C. E. Cunha , C. B. D'Andrea , L. N. da Costa , C. Davis , D. L. DePoy , S. Desai , J. P. Dietrich , A. Drlica-Wagner , T. F. Eifler , A. E. Evrard , E. Fernandez , B. Flaugher , P. Fosalba , E. Gaztanaga , D. W. Gerdes , T. Giannantonio , D. A. Goldstein , D. Gruen , R. A. Gruendl , G. Gutierrez , K. Honscheid , B. Jain , D. J. James , T. Jeltema , M. W. G. Johnson , M. D. Johnson , S. Kent , E. Krause , R. Kron , K. Kuehn , N. Kuropatkin , O. Lahav , M. Lima , H. Lin , M. A. G. Maia , M. March , P. Martini , R. G. McMahon , F. Menanteau , C. J. Miller , R. Miquel , J. J. Mohr , E. Neilsen , R. C. Nichol , R. L. C. Ogando , A. A. Plazas , N. Roe , A. K. Romer , A. Roodman , E. S. Rykoff , E. Sanchez , V. Scarpine , R. Schindler , M. Schubnell , I. Sevilla-Noarbe , M. Smith , R. C. Smith , F. Sobreira , E. Suchyta , M. E. C. Swanson , G. Tarle , D. Thomas , R. C. Thomas , M. A. Troxel , V. Vikram , A. R. Walker , R. H. Wechsler , J. Weller , B. Yanny , J. Zuntz

Dynamical ejecta of neutron star mergers with nucleonic weak processes II: Kilonova emission

The majority of existing results for the kilonova (or macronova) emission from material ejected during a neutron-star (NS) merger is based on (quasi-)one-zone models or manually constructed toy-model ejecta configurations. In this study we…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2022-05-06 Oliver Just , Ina Kullmann , Stephane Goriely , Andreas Bauswein , Hans-Thomas Janka , Christine E. Collins

Inferring Neutron Star Nuclear Properties from Gravitational-Wave and Gamma-Ray Burst Observations

Recent discoveries of long gamma-ray bursts accompanied by kilonova emission prompted interest in understanding their progenitors. If these long-duration bursts arise from neutron star mergers, similar to short gamma-ray bursts, it raises…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-06-24 Hsin-Yu Chen , Ore Gottlieb

Can Kilonova Light curves be Standardized?

Binary neutron star mergers have been recently confirmed to be the progenitors of the optical transients kilonovae (KNe). KNe are powered by the radioactive decay of neutron-rich elements (r-process elements) which are believed to be the…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2020-02-06 Rahul Kashyap , Gayathri Raman , Parameswaran Ajith

Super-luminous supernovae from PESSTO

We present optical spectra and light curves for three hydrogen-poor super-luminous supernovae followed by the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO). Time series spectroscopy from a few days after maximum light to 100…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-01-14 M. Nicholl , S. J. Smartt , A. Jerkstrand , C. Inserra , J. P. Anderson , C. Baltay , S. Benetti , T. -W. Chen , N. Elias-Rosa , U. Feindt , M. Fraser , A. Gal-Yam , E. Hadjiyska , D. A. Howell , R. Kotak , A. Lawrence , G. Leloudas , S. Margheim , S. Mattila , R. McKinnon , M. McCrum , A. Mead , P. Nugent , D. Rabinowitz , A. Rest , K. W. Smith , J. Sollerman , M. Sullivan , F. Taddia , S. Valenti , E. S. Walker , D. R. Young

Discovery of a 760 nm P Cygni line in AT2017gfo: Identification of yttrium in the kilonova photosphere

Neutron star mergers are believed to be a major cosmological source of rapid neutron-capture elements. The kilonovae associated with neutron star mergers have to date yielded only a single well-identified spectral signature: the P Cygni…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-08-09 Albert Sneppen , Darach Watson

Prospects for kilonova signals in the gravitational-wave era

The binary neutron star merger gravitational-wave signal GW170817 was followed by three electromagnetic counterparts, including a kilonova arising from the radioactivity of freshly synthesized $r$-process elements in ejecta from the merger.…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2021-07-21 Robert Mochkovitch , Frédéric Daigne , Raphaël Duque , Hannachi Zitouni

Properties of Kilonovae from Dynamical and Post-Merger Ejecta of Neutron Star Mergers

Ejected material from neutron star mergers give rise to electromagnetic emission powered by radioactive decays of r-process nuclei, which is so called kilonova or macronova. While properties of the emission are largely affected by opacities…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2018-01-31 Masaomi Tanaka , Daiji Kato , Gediminas Gaigalas , Pavel Rynkun , Laima Radziute , Shinya Wanajo , Yuichiro Sekiguchi , Nobuyuki Nakamura , Hajime Tanuma , Izumi Murakami , Hiroyuki A. Sakaue

Strontium and helium in the kilonova AT2017gfo: Origin of the 1{\mu}m feature constrained via NLTE calculations

Mergers of neutron stars are believed to be one of the primary sites for the synthesis of the universe's heavy elements via the rapid neutron capture process. AT2017gfo, the kilonova following GW170817 provided the first direct…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2026-04-08 Aayush Arya , Rasmus Damgaard , Albert Sneppen , David J. Dougan , Stuart A. Sim , Connor P. Ballance , Darach Watson

Kilonova emission from GW230529 and mass gap neutron star-black hole mergers

The detection of the gravitational wave event GW230529, presumably a neutron star-black hole (NSBH) merger, by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration marks an exciting discovery for multimessenger astronomy. The black hole (BH) has a high…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-10-14 Keerthi Kunnumkai , Antonella Palmese , Mattia Bulla , Tim Dietrich , Amanda M. Farah , Peter T. H. Pang

A kilonova as the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source

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…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-10-18 S. J. Smartt , T. -W. Chen , A. Jerkstrand , M. Coughlin , E. Kankare , S. A. Sim , M. Fraser , C. Inserra , K. Maguire , K. C. Chambers , M. E. Huber , T. Kruhler , G. Leloudas , M. Magee , L. J. Shingles , K. W. Smith , D. R. Young , J. Tonry , R. Kotak , A. Gal-Yam , J. D. Lyman , D. S. Homan , C. Agliozzo , J. P. Anderson , C. R. Angus C. Ashall , C. Barbarino , F. E. Bauer , M. Berton , M. T. Botticella , M. Bulla , J. Bulger , G. Cannizzaro , Z. Cano , R. Cartier , A. Cikota , P. Clark , A. De Cia , M. Della Valle , L. Denneau , M. Dennefeld , L. Dessart , G. Dimitriadis , N. Elias-Rosa , R. E. Firth , H. Flewelling , A. Flors , A. Franckowiak , C. Frohmaier , L. Galbany , S. Gonzalez-Gaitan , J. Greiner , M. Gromadzki , A. Nicuesa Guelbenzu , C. P. Gutierrez , A. Hamanowicz , L. Hanlon , J. Harmanen , K. E. Heintz , A. Heinze , M. -S. Hernandez , S. T. Hodgkin , I. M. Hook , L. Izzo , P. A. James , P. G. Jonker , W. E. Kerzendorf , S. Klose , Z. Kostrzewa-Rutkowska , M. Kowalski , M. Kromer , H. Kuncarayakti , A. Lawrence , T. B. Lowe , E. A. Magnier , I. Manulis , A. Martin-Carrillo , S. Mattila , O. McBrien , A. Muller , J. Nordin , D. O'Neill , F. Onori , J. T. Palmerio , A. Pastorello , F. Patat , G. Pignata , Ph. Podsiadlowski , M. L. Pumo , S. J. Prentice , A. Rau , A. Razza , A. Rest , T. Reynolds , R. Roy , A. J. Ruiter , K. A. Rybicki , L. Salmon , P. Schady , A. S. B. Schultz , T. Schweyer , I. R. Seitenzahl , M. Smith , J. Sollerman , B. Stalder , C. W. Stubbs , M. Sullivan , H. Szegedi , F. Taddia , S. Taubenberger , G. Terreran , B. van Soelen , J. Vos , R. J. Wainscoat , N. A. Walton , C. Waters , H. Weiland , M. Willman , P. Wiseman , D. E. Wright , L. Wyrzykowski , O. Yaron

What to expect: kilonova light curve predictions via equation of state marginalization

Efficient multi-messenger observations of gravitational-wave candidates from compact binary coalescence candidate events rely on data products reported in low-latency by the International Gravitational-wave Network (IGWN). While data…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-03-31 Andrew Toivonen , Gargi Mansingh , Holton Griffin , Armita Kazemi , Frank Kerkow , Stephen K. Mahanty , Jacob Markus , Seiya Tsukamoto , Sushant Sharma Chaudhary , Sarah Antier , Michael W. Coughlin , Deep Chatterjee , Reed Essick , Shaon Ghosh , Tim Dietrich , Philippe Landry

A strategy for LSST to unveil a population of kilonovae without gravitational-wave triggers

We present a cadence optimization strategy to unveil a large population of kilonovae using optical imaging alone. These transients are generated during binary neutron star and potentially neutron star-black hole mergers and are…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2019-05-15 Igor Andreoni , Shreya Anand , Federica B. Bianco , Brad Cenko , Philip Cowperthwaite , Michael W. Coughlin , Maria Drout , V. Zach Golkhou , David Kaplan , Kunal P. Mooley , Tyler A. Pritchard , Leo P. Singer , Sara Webb

The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/VIRGO GW170817. IV. Detection of Near-infrared Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis with Gemini-South

We present a near-infrared spectral sequence of the electromagnetic counterpart to the binary neutron star merger GW170817 detected by Advanced LIGO/Virgo. Our dataset comprises seven epochs of J+H spectra taken with FLAMINGOS-2 on…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-10-17 R. Chornock , E. Berger , D. Kasen , P. S. Cowperthwaite , M. Nicholl , V. A. Villar , K. D. Alexander , P. K. Blanchard , T. Eftekhari , W. Fong , R. Margutti , P. K. G. Williams , J. Annis , D. Brout , D. A. Brown , H. -Y. Chen , M. R. Drout , R. J. Foley , J. A. Frieman , C. L. Fryer , D. E. Holz , T. Matheson , B. D. Metzger , E. Quataert , A. Rest , M. Sako , D. M. Scolnic , N. Smith , M. Soares-Santos