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Given that GRBs have been detected for a long time and thought to have been a result of neutron star mergers, has a GRB detection ever led to an optical light d

by spuz 9y ago

Given that GRBs have been detected for a long time and thought to have been a result of neutron star mergers, has a GRB detection ever led to an optical light detection of such a merger before? Is the news here that gravitational wave detection allowed us to see neutron star mergers optically or that they simply coincided with detections of the previously seen optical and gamma ray events?

scrumper 9y ago
Yes, in around 1997 I believe. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v396/n6708/full/396233a0.html?foxtrotcallback=true http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v396/n6708/full/396233a... My read is that the news here is that this is the first visual counterpart to a gravitational wave detection. (It's also very strong supporting evidence for the leading theory that neutron stars merging are sources of those gravitational waves.)
WD-42 9y ago
Yes, there have been optical counterparts to GRBs before. What is news here is the first optical counterpart to a gravitational wave detection, along with a GRB, which gives us the strongest evidence yet that these are neutron star mergers.
- spuz 9y ago
  Is there any new information gained from the optical observations in this particular instance? Did the initial gravitational wave detection allow us to capture the optical counterpart at an earlier stage than normal and therefore get more information as a result?
  - WD-42 9y ago
    Yes, absolutely. This wasn't a very large gamma ray burst - as far as I know it may have not been followed up at all. GRBs are hard to localize - but the detection of the gravitational wave made it possible to search for the source quickly in a much smaller area of the sky. This got a lot of people looking, and a lot of good data collected.
    - batbomb 9y ago
      There will be more info on this and the possibility of observing it (Via Fermi), but those papers haven't been released yet.

by spuz 9y ago

scrumper 9y ago

Yes, in around 1997 I believe. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v396/n6708/full/396233a0.html?foxtrotcallback=true http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v396/n6708/full/396233a... My read is that the news here is that this is the first visual counterpart to a gravitational wave detection. (It's also very strong supporting evidence for the leading theory that neutron stars merging are sources of those gravitational waves.)

WD-42 9y ago

Yes, there have been optical counterparts to GRBs before. What is news here is the first optical counterpart to a gravitational wave detection, along with a GRB, which gives us the strongest evidence yet that these are neutron star mergers.

spuz 9y ago
Is there any new information gained from the optical observations in this particular instance? Did the initial gravitational wave detection allow us to capture the optical counterpart at an earlier stage than normal and therefore get more information as a result?
- WD-42 9y ago
  Yes, absolutely. This wasn't a very large gamma ray burst - as far as I know it may have not been followed up at all. GRBs are hard to localize - but the detection of the gravitational wave made it possible to search for the source quickly in a much smaller area of the sky. This got a lot of people looking, and a lot of good data collected.
  - batbomb 9y ago
    There will be more info on this and the possibility of observing it (Via Fermi), but those papers haven't been released yet.