Optical emission from a kilonova following a gravitational-wave-detected neutron-star merger

被引：588

作者：

Arcavi, Iair ^{[1
,2
]}

Hosseinzadeh, Griffin ^{[1
,2
]}

Howell, D. Andrew ^{[1
,2
]}

McCully, Curtis ^{[1
,2
]}

Poznanski, Dovi ^{[3
]}

Kasen, Daniel ^{[4
,5
,6
]}

Barnes, Jennifer ^{[7
]}

Zaltzman, Michael ^{[3
]}

Vasylyev, Sergiy ^{[1
,2
]}

Maoz, Dan ^{[3
]}

Valenti, Stefano ^{[8
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Dept Phys, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA

[2] Las Cumbres Observ, 6740 Cortona Dr,Suite 102, Goleta, CA 93117 USA

[3] Tel Aviv Univ, Sch Phys & Astron, IL-69978 Tel Aviv, Israel

[4] Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Nucl Sci Div, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

[5] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Phys, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

[6] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Astron, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

[7] Columbia Univ, Columbia Astrophys Lab, 538 W 120th St, New York, NY 10027 USA

[8] Univ Calif Davis, Dept Phys, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616 USA

来源：

NATURE | 2017年 / 551卷 / 7678期

基金：

美国国家航空航天局; 以色列科学基金会; 美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

GAMMA-RAY BURSTS; NUCLEOSYNTHESIS;

D O I：

10.1038/nature24291

中图分类号：

O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

The merger of two neutron stars has been predicted to produce an optical-infrared transient (lasting a few days) known as a 'kilonova', powered by the radioactive decay of neutron-rich species synthesized in the merger(1-5). Evidence that short gamma-ray bursts also arise from neutron-star mergers has been accumulating(6-8). In models(2,9) of such mergers, a small amount of mass (10(-4)-10(-2) solar masses) with a low electron fraction is ejected at high velocities (0.1-0.3 times light speed) or carried out by winds from an accretion disk formed around the newly merged object(10,11). This mass is expected to undergo rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis, leading to the formation of radioactive elements that release energy as they decay, powering an electromagnetic transient(1-3,9-14). A large uncertainty in the composition of the newly synthesized material leads to various expected colours, durations and luminosities for such transients(11-14). Observational evidence for kilonovae has so far been inconclusive because it was based on cases(15-19) of moderate excess emission detected in the afterglows of gamma-ray bursts. Here we report optical to near-infrared observations of a transient coincident with the detection of the gravitational-wave signature of a binary neutron-star merger and with a low-luminosity short-duration gamma-ray burst(20). Our observations, taken roughly every eight hours over a few days following the gravitational-wave trigger, reveal an initial blue excess, with fast optical fading and reddening. Using numerical models(21), we conclude that our data are broadly consistent with a light curve powered by a few hundredths of a solar mass of low-opacity material corresponding to lanthanide-poor (a fraction of 10(-4.5) by mass) ejecta.

引用

页码：64 / +

页数：12

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