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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
by 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 agoIs 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 agoYes, 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 agoThere will be more info on this and the possibility of observing it (Via Fermi), but those papers haven't been released yet.