The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
Designing an Optimal Kilonova Search Using DECam for Gravitational-wave Events
- C. R. Bom,
- J. Annis,
- A. Garcia,
- A. Palmese,
- N. Sherman,
- M. Soares-Santos,
- L. Santana-Silva,
- R. Morgan,
- K. Bechtol,
- T. Davis,
- H. T. Diehl,
- S. S. Allam,
- T. G. Bachmann,
- B. M. O. Fraga,
- J. García-Bellido,
- M. S. S. Gill,
- K. Herner,
- C. D. Kilpatrick,
- M. Makler,
- F. Olivares E.,
- M. E. S. Pereira,
- J. Pineda,
- A. Santos,
- D. L. Tucker,
- M. P. Wiesner,
- M. Aguena,
- O. Alves,
- D. Bacon,
- P. H. Bernardinelli,
- E. Bertin,
- S. Bocquet,
- D. Brooks,
- M. Carrasco Kind,
- J. Carretero,
- C. Conselice,
- M. Costanzi,
- L. N. da Costa,
- J. De Vicente,
- S. Desai,
- P. Doel,
- S. Everett,
- I. Ferrero,
- J. Frieman,
- M. Gatti,
- D. W. Gerdes,
- D. Gruen,
- R. A. Gruendl,
- G. Gutierrez,
- S. R. Hinton,
- D. L. Hollowood,
- K. Honscheid,
- D. J. James,
- K. Kuehn,
- N. Kuropatkin,
- P. Melchior,
- J. Mena-Fernández,
- F. Menanteau,
- A. Pieres,
- A. A. Plazas Malagón,
- M. Raveri,
- M. Rodriguez-Monroy,
- E. Sanchez,
- B. Santiago,
- I. Sevilla-Noarbe,
- M. Smith,
- E. Suchyta,
- M. E. C. Swanson,
- G. Tarle,
- C. To,
- N. Weaverdyck
Affiliations
- C. R. Bom
- ORCiD
- Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas , Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ; [email protected]; Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca , Rodovia Mário Covas, lote J2, quadra J, CEP 23810-000, Itaguaí, RJ, Brazil
- J. Annis
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- A. Garcia
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- A. Palmese
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of California Berkeley , 366 LeConte Hall, MC 7300, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- N. Sherman
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- M. Soares-Santos
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- L. Santana-Silva
- ORCiD
- NAT-Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul/Universidade Cidade de São Paulo , Rua Galvão Bueno, 868, 01506-000 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
- R. Morgan
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, 2320 Chamberlin Hall, University of Wisconsin–Madison , 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706-1390, USA
- K. Bechtol
- ORCiD
- Physics Department, 2320 Chamberlin Hall, University of Wisconsin–Madison , 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706-1390, USA
- T. Davis
- ORCiD
- School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland , Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
- H. T. Diehl
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- S. S. Allam
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- T. G. Bachmann
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- B. M. O. Fraga
- Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas , Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ; [email protected]
- J. García-Bellido
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Fisica Teorica UAM/CSIC, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid , E-28049 Madrid, Spain
- M. S. S. Gill
- ORCiD
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory , Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
- K. Herner
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- C. D. Kilpatrick
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- M. Makler
- ORCiD
- Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas , Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ; [email protected]; International Center for Advanced Studies & Instituto de Ciencias Físicas , ECyT-UNSAM & CONICET, 1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina
- F. Olivares E.
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astronomía y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama , Av. Copayapu 485, Copiapó, Chile
- M. E. S. Pereira
- ORCiD
- Hamburger Sternwarte, Universität Hamburg , Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg, Germany
- J. Pineda
- Departamento de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Andres Bello , Avda. Republica 252, Santiago, Chile; Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS) , Nuncio Monseñor Sótero Sanz 100, Providencia, Santiago, Chile
- A. Santos
- Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas , Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ; [email protected]
- D. L. Tucker
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- M. P. Wiesner
- ORCiD
- Benedictine University , Department of Physics, 5700 College Road, Lisle, IL 60532, USA
- M. Aguena
- ORCiD
- Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia—LIneA , Rua Gal. José Cristino 77, Rio de Janeiro RJ—20921-400, Brazil
- O. Alves
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- D. Bacon
- ORCiD
- Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth , Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK
- P. H. Bernardinelli
- ORCiD
- Astronomy Department, University of Washington , Box 351580, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- E. Bertin
- CNRS, UMR 7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris , F-75014 Paris, France; Sorbonne Universités , UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7095, Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, F-75014 Paris, France
- S. Bocquet
- ORCiD
- University Observatory, Faculty of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität , Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 Munich, Germany
- D. Brooks
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- M. Carrasco Kind
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Surveys , National Center for Supercomputing Applications, 1205 West Clark Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- J. Carretero
- ORCiD
- Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) , The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
- C. Conselice
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; University of Nottingham , School of Physics and Astronomy, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
- M. Costanzi
- Astronomy Unit, Department of Physics, University of Trieste , via Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste, Italy; INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste , via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, Italy; Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe , Via Beirut 2, I-34014 Trieste, Italy
- L. N. da Costa
- Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia—LIneA , Rua Gal. José Cristino 77, Rio de Janeiro RJ—20921-400, Brazil
- J. De Vicente
- ORCiD
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas , Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
- S. Desai
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, IIT Hyderabad , Kandi, Telangana 502285, India
- P. Doel
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- S. Everett
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- I. Ferrero
- ORCiD
- Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029, Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo, Norway
- J. Frieman
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA; Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637, USA
- M. Gatti
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- D. W. Gerdes
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- D. Gruen
- ORCiD
- University Observatory, Faculty of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität , Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 Munich, Germany
- R. A. Gruendl
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Surveys , National Center for Supercomputing Applications, 1205 West Clark Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- G. Gutierrez
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- S. R. Hinton
- ORCiD
- School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland , Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
- D. L. Hollowood
- ORCiD
- Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics , Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
- K. Honscheid
- ORCiD
- Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Physics, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- D. J. James
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics , Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- K. Kuehn
- ORCiD
- Australian Astronomical Optics, Macquarie University , North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia; Lowell Observatory , 1400 Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- N. Kuropatkin
- ORCiD
- Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory , P.O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA
- P. Melchior
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- J. Mena-Fernández
- ORCiD
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas , Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
- F. Menanteau
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysical Surveys , National Center for Supercomputing Applications, 1205 West Clark Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- A. Pieres
- ORCiD
- Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia—LIneA , Rua Gal. José Cristino 77, Rio de Janeiro RJ—20921-400, Brazil; Observatório Nacional , Rua Gal. José Cristino 77, Rio de Janeiro RJ—20921-400, Brazil
- A. A. Plazas Malagón
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University , Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- M. Raveri
- Department of Physics, University of Genova and INFN , Via Dodecaneso 33, I-16146 Genova, Italy
- M. Rodriguez-Monroy
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas , Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
- E. Sanchez
- ORCiD
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas , Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
- B. Santiago
- Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia—LIneA , Rua Gal. José Cristino 77, Rio de Janeiro RJ—20921-400, Brazil; Instituto de Física , UFRGS, Caixa Postal 15051, Porto Alegre RS—91501-970, Brazil
- I. Sevilla-Noarbe
- ORCiD
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas , Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
- M. Smith
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton , Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
- E. Suchyta
- ORCiD
- Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory , Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
- M. E. C. Swanson
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London , Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Center for Astrophysics , Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- G. Tarle
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- C. To
- ORCiD
- Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- N. Weaverdyck
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad0462
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 960,
no. 2
p. 122
Abstract
We address the problem of optimally identifying all kilonovae detected via gravitational-wave emission in the upcoming LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observing run, O4, which is expected to be sensitive to a factor of ∼7 more binary neutron star (BNS) alerts than previously. Electromagnetic follow-up of all but the brightest of these new events will require >1 m telescopes, for which limited time is available. We present an optimized observing strategy for the DECam during O4. We base our study on simulations of gravitational-wave events expected for O4 and wide-prior kilonova simulations. We derive the detectabilities of events for realistic observing conditions. We optimize our strategy for confirming a kilonova while minimizing telescope time. For a wide range of kilonova parameters, corresponding to a fainter kilonova compared to GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that, with this optimal strategy, the discovery probability for electromagnetic counterparts with the DECam is ∼80% at the nominal BNS gravitational-wave detection limit for O4 (190 Mpc), which corresponds to an ∼30% improvement compared to the strategy adopted during the previous observing run. For more distant events (∼330 Mpc), we reach an ∼60% probability of detection, a factor of ∼2 increase. For a brighter kilonova model dominated by the blue component that reproduces the observations of GW170817/AT 2017gfo, we find that we can reach ∼90% probability of detection out to 330 Mpc, representing an increase of ∼20%, while also reducing the total telescope time required to follow up events by ∼20%.
Keywords
