Follow up of GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart by Australian-led observing programmes

The discovery of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave signal has generated follow-up observations by over 50 facilities world-wide, ushering in the new era of multi-messenger astronomy. In this paper, we present follow-up observations of the gravitational wave event GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart SSS17a/DLT17ck (IAU label AT2017gfo) by 14 Australian telescopes and partner observatories as part of Australian-based and Australian-led research programs. We report early- to late-time multi-wavelength observations, including optical imaging and spectroscopy, mid-infrared imaging, radio imaging, and searches for fast radio bursts. Our optical spectra reveal that the transient source emission cooled from approximately 6 400 K to 2 100 K over a 7-d period and produced no significant optical emission lines. The spectral profiles, cooling rate, and photometric light curves are consistent with the expected outburst and subsequent processes of a binary neutron star merger. Star formation in the host galaxy probably ceased at least a Gyr ago, although there is evidence for a galaxy merger. Binary pulsars with short (100 Myr) decay times are therefore unlikely progenitors, but pulsars like PSR B1534+12 with its 2.7 Gyr coalescence time could produce such a merger. The displacement (~2.2 kpc) of the binary star system from the centre of the main galaxy is not unusual for stars in the host galaxy or stars originating in the merging galaxy, and therefore any constraints on the kick velocity imparted to the progenitor are poor

National Aures Observatory: A new multimessenger facility

International audienceAlgeria has taken upon itself to build a new astronomical observatory in the Aliness region in the Aures Mountains in Eastern Algeria to serve the aspirations of the Algerian astronomical community and also to open up for international projects. This Observatory will be mainly dedicated to multimessenger astronomy and the study of transient astronomical phenomena (optical counterparts of gravitational waves, GRBs, asteroid tracking, …), but it will also have other secondary objectives such as the study of early phases of super novae, Space Situational Awareness like surveillance programs, variable stars, exoplanets … In this paper, we describe the main scientific objectives of the National Aures Observatory as well as the rational for the choice of the Aliness region as the main candidate site for setting up the observatory. We will also present statistical cloud coverage from the analysis of EUMETSAT cloud data and will conclude with the present statute of the Observatory and the different stages for its constructio

Solar FLAG hare and hounds: on the extraction of rotational p-mode splittings from seismic, Sun-as-a-star data

We report on results from the first solar Fitting at Low-Angular degree Group (solar FLAG) hare-and-hounds exercise. The group is concerned with the development of methods for extracting the parameters of low-l solar p-mode data ('peak bagging'), collected by Sun-as-a-star observations. Accurate and precise estimation of the fundamental parameters of the p modes is a vital pre-requisite of all subsequent studies. Nine members of the FLAG (the 'hounds') fitted an artificial 3456-d data set. The data set was made by the 'hare' (WJC) to simulate full-disc Doppler velocity observations of the Sun. The rotational frequency splittings of the l = 1, 2 and 3 modes were the first parameter estimates chosen for scrutiny. Significant differences were uncovered at l = 2 and 3 between the fitted splittings of the hounds. Evidence is presented that suggests this unwanted bias had its origins in several effects. The most important came from the different way in which the hounds modelled the visibility ratio of the different rotationally split components. Our results suggest that accurate modelling of the ratios is vital to avoid the introduction of significant bias in the estimated splittings. This is of importance not only for studies of the Sun, but also of the solar analogues that will be targets for asteroseismic campaigns