Tools
Tools
Kasliwal, MM, Kasen, D, Lau, RM, Perley, DA, Rosswog, S, Ofek, EO, Hotokezaka, K, Chary, R-R, Sollerman, J, Goobar, A and Kaplan, DL (2019) Spitzer Mid-Infrared Detections of Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Suggests Synthesis of the Heaviest Elements. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 510 (1). L7-L12. ISSN 1745-3925
|
Text
slz007.pdf - Published Version Download (661kB) | Preview |
Abstract
We report our Spitzer Space Telescope observations and detections of the binary neutron star merger GW170817. At 4.5μm, GW170817 is detected at 21.9 mag AB at +43 days and 23.9 mag AB at +74 days after merger. At 3.6μm, GW170817 is not detected to a limit of 23.2 mag AB at +43 days and 23.1 mag AB at +74 days. Our detections constitute the latest and reddest constraints on the kilonova/macronova emission and composition of heavy elements. The 4.5μm luminosity at this late phase cannot be explained by elements exclusively from the first abundance peak of the r-process. Moreover, the steep decline in the Spitzer band, with a power-law index of 3.4 ± 0.2, can be explained by a few of the heaviest isotopes with half-life around 14 days dominating the luminosity (e.g. 140Ba, 143Pr, 147Nd, 156Eu, 191Os, 223Ra, 225Ra, 233Pa, 234Th) or a model with lower deposition efficiency. This data offers evidence that the heaviest elements in the second and third r-process abundance peak were indeed synthesized. Our conclusion is verified by both analytics and network simulations and robust despite intricacies and uncertainties in the nuclear physics. Future observations with Spitzer and James Webb Space Telescope will further illuminate the relative abundance of the synthesized heavy elements.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters ©: 2019 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics |
| Divisions: | Astrophysics Research Institute |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press (OUP) |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2019 09:27 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Jan 2022 16:00 |
| DOI or ID number: | 10.1093/mnrasl/slz007 |
| URI: | https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/11371 |
 |
View Item |