Swift/UVOT follow-up of gravitational wave alerts in the O3 era

Oates, S. R.; Marshall, F. E.; Breeveld, A. A.; Kuin, N. P. M.; Laha, S.; et al

Swift/UVOT follow-up of gravitational wave alerts in the O3 era

dc.contributor.author	Oates, S. R.
dc.contributor.author	Marshall, F. E.
dc.contributor.author	Breeveld, A. A.
dc.contributor.author	Kuin, N. P. M.
dc.contributor.author	Laha, S.
dc.contributor.author	et al
dc.date.accessioned	2022-08-22T20:49:15Z
dc.date.available	2022-08-22T20:49:15Z
dc.date.issued	2021-08-05
dc.description	Authors: S. R. Oates, F. E. Marshall, A. A. Breeveld, N. P. M. Kuin , P. J. Brown, M. De Pasquale, P. A. Evans , A. J. Fenney, C. Gronwall,, J. A. Kennea , N. J. Klingler, M. J. Page , M. H. Siegel, A. Tohuvavohu, E. Ambrosi, S. D. Barthelmy, A. P. Beardmore , M. G. Bernardini, S. Campana, R. Caputo, S. B. Cenko,, G. Cusumano , A. D’A`ı, P. D’Avanzo, V. D’Elia,, P. Giommi , D. H. Hartmann, H. A. Krimm, S. Laha,, D. B. Malesani, A. Melandri , J. A. Nousek, P. T. O’Brien, J. P. Osborne, C. Pagani, K. L. Page , D. M. Palmer, M. Perri,, J. L. Racusin, T. Sakamoto, B. Sbarufatti,, J. E. Schlieder, G. Tagliaferri and E. Troja	en_US
dc.description.abstract	In this paper, we report on the observational performance of the Swift Ultra-violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) in response to the gravitational wave (GW) alerts announced by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory and the Advanced Virgo detector during the O3 period. We provide the observational strategy for follow-up of GW alerts and provide an overview of the processing and analysis of candidate optical/UV sources. For the O3 period, we also provide a statistical overview and report on serendipitous sources discovered by Swift/UVOT. Swift followed 18 GW candidate alerts, with UVOT observing a total of 424 deg2. We found 27 sources that changed in magnitude at the 3σ level compared with archival u- or g-band catalogued values. Swift/UVOT also followed up a further 13 sources reported by other facilities during the O3 period. Using catalogue information, we divided these 40 sources into five initial classifications: 11 candidate active galactic nuclei (AGNs)/quasars, three cataclysmic variables (CVs), nine supernovae, 11 unidentified sources that had archival photometry, and six uncatalogued sources for which no archival photometry was available. We have no strong evidence to identify any of these transients as counterparts to the GW events. The 17 unclassified sources are likely a mix of AGN and a class of fast-evolving transient, and one source may be a CV.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	We thank the referee and M. Nicholl for useful discussion and suggestions that improved the paper. This research has made use of data obtained from the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) and the Leicester Database and Archive Service (LEDAS), provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, UK, respectively. This research has also made use of a number of public services: the VizieR catalogue access tool, CDS, Strasbourg, France (DOI: 10.26093/cds/vizier); the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center, which is hosted by the Center for Astrophysics at the Harvard & Smithsonian and is funded by NASA; and data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium). The CSS survey is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under grant no. NNG05GF22G issued through the Science Mission Directorate Near-Earth Objects Observations Program. The CRTS survey is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grants AST-0909182 and AST-1313422. This publication makes use of data products from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, which is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The CFHTLS data are based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/IRFU, at the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Science de l’Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is based in part on data products produced at Terapix available at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology. The Pan-STARRS1 Surveys (PS1) and the PS1 public science archive have been made possible through contributions by the Institute for Astronomy, the University of Hawaii, the Pan-STARRS Project Office, the Max-Planck Society and its participating institutes, the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, The Johns Hopkins University, Durham University, the University of Edinburgh, the Queen’s University Belfast, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network Incorporated, the National Central University of Taiwan, the Space Telescope Science Institute, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under grant no. NNX08AR22G issued through the Planetary Science Division of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, the National Science Foundation grant no. AST-1238877, the University of Maryland, Eotvos Lorand University (ELTE), the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. SRO gratefully acknowledges the support of the Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship. AAB, NPMK, MJP, KLP, PAE, APB, and JPO acknowledge funding from the UK Space Agency. MDP acknowledges support for this work by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBITAK), grant no: MFAG-119F073. EA, MGB, SC, GC, AD, PDA, AM, and GT acknowledge funding from the Italian Space Agency, contract ASI/INAF n. I/004/11/4. This work is also partially supported by a grant from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Nr. MAE0065741. PDA acknowledges support from PRIN-MIUR 2017 (grant 20179ZF5KS). DBM is supported by research grant 19054 from Villum Fonden.	en_US
dc.description.uri	https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/507/1/1296/6342133	en_US
dc.format.extent	22 pages	en_US
dc.genre	journal articles	en_US
dc.identifier	doi:10.13016/m2h4eq-tqnk
dc.identifier.citation	S R Oates, F E Marshall, A A Breeveld, N P M Kuin, P J Brown, M De Pasquale, P A Evans, A J Fenney, C Gronwall, J A Kennea, N J Klingler, M J Page, M H Siegel, A Tohuvavohu, E Ambrosi, S D Barthelmy, A P Beardmore, M G Bernardini, S Campana, R Caputo, S B Cenko, G Cusumano, A D’Aì, P D’Avanzo, V D’Elia, P Giommi, D H Hartmann, H A Krimm, S Laha, D B Malesani, A Melandri, J A Nousek, P T O’Brien, J P Osborne, C Pagani, K L Page, D M Palmer, M Perri, J L Racusin, T Sakamoto, B Sbarufatti, J E Schlieder, G Tagliaferri, E Troja, Swift/UVOT follow-up of gravitational wave alerts in the O3 era, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 507, Issue 1, October 2021, Pages 1296–1317, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2189	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2189
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/11603/25545
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.publisher	Royal Astronomical Society	en_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAt	The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartof	UMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology
dc.relation.ispartof	UMBC Faculty Collection
dc.relation.ispartof	UMBC Physics Department
dc.rights	This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.	en_US
dc.rights	Public Domain Mark 1.0	*
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/	*
dc.title	Swift/UVOT follow-up of gravitational wave alerts in the O3 era	en_US
dc.type	Text	en_US