SOAR/Goodman Spectroscopic Assessment of Candidate Counterparts of the LIGO/Virgo Event GW190814

DES Collaboration

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac5b60

SOAR/Goodman Spectroscopic Assessment of Candidate Counterparts of the LIGO/Virgo Event GW190814

DES Collaboration

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Abstract

On 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC, the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) detected a possible neutron star-black hole merger (NSBH), the first ever identified. An extensive search for an optical counterpart of this event, designated GW190814, was undertaken using the Dark Energy Camera on the 4 m Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Target of Opportunity interrupts were issued on eight separate nights to observe 11 candidates using the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope's Goodman High Throughput Spectrograph in order to assess whether any of these transients was likely to be an optical counterpart of the possible NSBH merger. Here, we describe the process of observing with SOAR, the analysis of our spectra, our spectroscopic typing methodology, and our resultant conclusion that none of the candidates corresponded to the gravitational wave merger event but were all instead other transients. Finally, we describe the lessons learned from this effort. Application of these lessons will be critical for a successful community spectroscopic follow-up program for LVC observing run 4 (O4) and beyond.

Original language	English
Article number	115
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	929
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac5b60
State	Published - Apr 1 2022

Funding

This manuscript has been authored by Fermi Research Alliance, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359 with the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the DOE and NSF(USA), MEC/MICINN/MINECO (Spain), STFC (UK), HEFCE(UK). NCSA (UIUC), KICP (U. Chicago), CCAPP (Ohio State), MIFPA (Texas A&M), CNPQ, FAPERJ, FINEP (Brazil), DFG (Germany) and the Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey. The UCSC team is supported in part by NASA grant NNG17PX03C, NSF grant AST-1815935, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and by a fellowship from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to R.J.F. We acknowledge support from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) project CE170100004. F.O.E. acknowledges support from FONDECYT grant 1201223. I.A. is a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar in the Gravity and the Extreme Universe Program and acknowledges support from that program, from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement number 852097), from the Israel Science Foundation (grant number 2752/19), from the United States–Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), and from the Israeli Council for Higher Education Alon Fellowship. R.M. thanks the LSSTC Data Science Fellowship Program, which is funded by LSSTC, NSF Cybertraining grant #1829740, the Brinson Foundation, and the Moore Foundation; his participation in the program has benefited this work. The DES Data Management System is supported by the NSF under grant Nos. AST-1138766 and AST-1536171. The DES participants from Spanish institutions are partially supported by MINECO under grants AYA2015-71825, ESP2015-88861, FPA2015-68048, and Centro de Excelencia SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597 and MDM-2015-0509. Research leading to these results has received funding from the ERC under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme including grants ERC 240672, 291329 and 306478. L.S.-S. acknowledges the financial support from FAPESP through the grant #2020/03301 − 5. D.A.H. is supported by NSF grant AST-1911151.

Funders	Funder number
Centro de Excelencia	SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, MDM-2015-0509
Fermi Research Alliance, LLC	DE-AC02-07CH11359
Israeli Council for Higher Education Alon Fellowship
LSSTC
National Science Foundation	AST-1815935, AST-1911151, AST-1138766, 1829740, AST-1536171
David and Lucile Packard Foundation
U.S. Department of Energy
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	NNG17PX03C
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Brinson Foundation
Bloom's Syndrome Foundation
Blanche Moore Foundation
Office of Science
High Energy Physics
Seventh Framework Programme	240672, 306478, 291329
Heising-Simons Foundation
Science and Technology Facilities Council
European Research Council
Australian Research Council	CE170100004
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo	2020/03301 − 5
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte
Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad	ESP2015-88861, FPA2015-68048, AYA2015-71825
Israel Science Foundation	2752/19
Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Horizon 2020	852097

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@article{759ad51162804514bc2124bd06cc6e25,

title = "SOAR/Goodman Spectroscopic Assessment of Candidate Counterparts of the LIGO/Virgo Event GW190814",

abstract = "On 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC, the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) detected a possible neutron star-black hole merger (NSBH), the first ever identified. An extensive search for an optical counterpart of this event, designated GW190814, was undertaken using the Dark Energy Camera on the 4 m Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Target of Opportunity interrupts were issued on eight separate nights to observe 11 candidates using the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope's Goodman High Throughput Spectrograph in order to assess whether any of these transients was likely to be an optical counterpart of the possible NSBH merger. Here, we describe the process of observing with SOAR, the analysis of our spectra, our spectroscopic typing methodology, and our resultant conclusion that none of the candidates corresponded to the gravitational wave merger event but were all instead other transients. Finally, we describe the lessons learned from this effort. Application of these lessons will be critical for a successful community spectroscopic follow-up program for LVC observing run 4 (O4) and beyond.",

author = "{DES Collaboration} and Tucker, {D. L.} and Wiesner, {M. P.} and Allam, {S. S.} and M. Soares-Santos and Bom, {C. R.} and M. Butner and A. Garcia and R. Morgan and {Olivares E.}, F. and A. Palmese and L. Santana-Silva and A. Shrivastava and J. Annis and J. Garc{\'i}a-Bellido and Gill, {M. S.S.} and K. Herner and Kilpatrick, {C. D.} and M. Makler and N. Sherman and A. Amara and H. Lin and M. Smith and E. Swann and I. Arcavi and Bachmann, {T. G.} and K. Bechtol and F. Berlfein and C. Brice{\~n}o and D. Brout and Butler, {R. E.} and R. Cartier and J. Casares and Chen, {H. Y.} and C. Conselice and C. Contreras and E. Cook and J. Cooke and K. Dage and C. D'Andrea and Davis, {T. M.} and {De Carvalho}, R. and Diehl, {H. T.} and Dietrich, {J. P.} and Z. Doctor and A. Drlica-Wagner and M. Drout and B. Farr and Finley, {D. A.} and M. Fishbach and E. Suchyta",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.",

year = "2022",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/ac5b60",

language = "English",

volume = "929",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

issn = "0004-637X",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "2",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - SOAR/Goodman Spectroscopic Assessment of Candidate Counterparts of the LIGO/Virgo Event GW190814

AU - DES Collaboration

AU - Tucker, D. L.

AU - Wiesner, M. P.

AU - Allam, S. S.

AU - Soares-Santos, M.

AU - Bom, C. R.

AU - Butner, M.

AU - Garcia, A.

AU - Morgan, R.

AU - Olivares E., F.

AU - Palmese, A.

AU - Santana-Silva, L.

AU - Shrivastava, A.

AU - Annis, J.

AU - García-Bellido, J.

AU - Gill, M. S.S.

AU - Herner, K.

AU - Kilpatrick, C. D.

AU - Makler, M.

AU - Sherman, N.

AU - Amara, A.

AU - Lin, H.

AU - Smith, M.

AU - Swann, E.

AU - Arcavi, I.

AU - Bachmann, T. G.

AU - Bechtol, K.

AU - Berlfein, F.

AU - Briceño, C.

AU - Brout, D.

AU - Butler, R. E.

AU - Cartier, R.

AU - Casares, J.

AU - Chen, H. Y.

AU - Conselice, C.

AU - Contreras, C.

AU - Cook, E.

AU - Cooke, J.

AU - Dage, K.

AU - D'Andrea, C.

AU - Davis, T. M.

AU - De Carvalho, R.

AU - Diehl, H. T.

AU - Dietrich, J. P.

AU - Doctor, Z.

AU - Drlica-Wagner, A.

AU - Drout, M.

AU - Farr, B.

AU - Finley, D. A.

AU - Fishbach, M.

AU - Suchyta, E.

PY - 2022/4/1

Y1 - 2022/4/1

N2 - On 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC, the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) detected a possible neutron star-black hole merger (NSBH), the first ever identified. An extensive search for an optical counterpart of this event, designated GW190814, was undertaken using the Dark Energy Camera on the 4 m Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Target of Opportunity interrupts were issued on eight separate nights to observe 11 candidates using the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope's Goodman High Throughput Spectrograph in order to assess whether any of these transients was likely to be an optical counterpart of the possible NSBH merger. Here, we describe the process of observing with SOAR, the analysis of our spectra, our spectroscopic typing methodology, and our resultant conclusion that none of the candidates corresponded to the gravitational wave merger event but were all instead other transients. Finally, we describe the lessons learned from this effort. Application of these lessons will be critical for a successful community spectroscopic follow-up program for LVC observing run 4 (O4) and beyond.

AB - On 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC, the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) detected a possible neutron star-black hole merger (NSBH), the first ever identified. An extensive search for an optical counterpart of this event, designated GW190814, was undertaken using the Dark Energy Camera on the 4 m Victor M. Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Target of Opportunity interrupts were issued on eight separate nights to observe 11 candidates using the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope's Goodman High Throughput Spectrograph in order to assess whether any of these transients was likely to be an optical counterpart of the possible NSBH merger. Here, we describe the process of observing with SOAR, the analysis of our spectra, our spectroscopic typing methodology, and our resultant conclusion that none of the candidates corresponded to the gravitational wave merger event but were all instead other transients. Finally, we describe the lessons learned from this effort. Application of these lessons will be critical for a successful community spectroscopic follow-up program for LVC observing run 4 (O4) and beyond.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129634171&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/ac5b60

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ac5b60

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85129634171

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 929

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 2

M1 - 115

ER -

SOAR/Goodman Spectroscopic Assessment of Candidate Counterparts of the LIGO/Virgo Event GW190814

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