A luminous blue kilonova and an off-axis jet from a compact binary merger at z = 0.1341

E. Troja; G. Ryan; L. Piro; H. van Eerten; S. B. Cenko; Y. Yoon; S. K. Lee; M. Im; T. Sakamoto; P. Gatkine; A. Kutyrev; S. Veilleux

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06558-7

A luminous blue kilonova and an off-axis jet from a compact binary merger at z = 0.1341

E. Troja, G. Ryan, L. Piro, H. van Eerten, S. B. Cenko, Y. Yoon, S. K. Lee, M. Im, T. Sakamoto, P. Gatkine, A. Kutyrev, S. Veilleux

School of Earth System Sciences

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111 Scopus citations

Abstract

The recent discovery of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) coincident with the gravitational-wave (GW) event GW170817 revealed the existence of a population of low-luminosity short duration gamma-ray transients produced by neutron star mergers in the nearby Universe. These events could be routinely detected by existing gamma-ray monitors, yet previous observations failed to identify them without the aid of GW triggers. Here we show that GRB150101B is an analogue of GRB170817A located at a cosmological distance. GRB150101B is a faint short burst characterized by a bright optical counterpart and a long-lived X-ray afterglow. These properties are unusual for standard short GRBs and are instead consistent with an explosion viewed off-axis: the optical light is produced by a luminous kilonova, while the observed X-rays trace the GRB afterglow viewed at an angle of ~13°. Our findings suggest that these properties could be common among future electromagnetic counterparts of GW sources.

Original language	English
Article number	4089
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06558-7
State	Published - 1 Dec 2018

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title = "A luminous blue kilonova and an off-axis jet from a compact binary merger at z = 0.1341",

abstract = "The recent discovery of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) coincident with the gravitational-wave (GW) event GW170817 revealed the existence of a population of low-luminosity short duration gamma-ray transients produced by neutron star mergers in the nearby Universe. These events could be routinely detected by existing gamma-ray monitors, yet previous observations failed to identify them without the aid of GW triggers. Here we show that GRB150101B is an analogue of GRB170817A located at a cosmological distance. GRB150101B is a faint short burst characterized by a bright optical counterpart and a long-lived X-ray afterglow. These properties are unusual for standard short GRBs and are instead consistent with an explosion viewed off-axis: the optical light is produced by a luminous kilonova, while the observed X-rays trace the GRB afterglow viewed at an angle of ~13°. Our findings suggest that these properties could be common among future electromagnetic counterparts of GW sources.",

author = "E. Troja and G. Ryan and L. Piro and {van Eerten}, H. and Cenko, {S. B.} and Y. Yoon and Lee, {S. K.} and M. Im and T. Sakamoto and P. Gatkine and A. Kutyrev and S. Veilleux",

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T1 - A luminous blue kilonova and an off-axis jet from a compact binary merger at z = 0.1341

AU - Troja, E.

AU - Ryan, G.

AU - Piro, L.

AU - van Eerten, H.

AU - Cenko, S. B.

AU - Yoon, Y.

AU - Lee, S. K.

AU - Im, M.

AU - Sakamoto, T.

AU - Gatkine, P.

AU - Kutyrev, A.

AU - Veilleux, S.

PY - 2018/12/1

Y1 - 2018/12/1

N2 - The recent discovery of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) coincident with the gravitational-wave (GW) event GW170817 revealed the existence of a population of low-luminosity short duration gamma-ray transients produced by neutron star mergers in the nearby Universe. These events could be routinely detected by existing gamma-ray monitors, yet previous observations failed to identify them without the aid of GW triggers. Here we show that GRB150101B is an analogue of GRB170817A located at a cosmological distance. GRB150101B is a faint short burst characterized by a bright optical counterpart and a long-lived X-ray afterglow. These properties are unusual for standard short GRBs and are instead consistent with an explosion viewed off-axis: the optical light is produced by a luminous kilonova, while the observed X-rays trace the GRB afterglow viewed at an angle of ~13°. Our findings suggest that these properties could be common among future electromagnetic counterparts of GW sources.

AB - The recent discovery of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) coincident with the gravitational-wave (GW) event GW170817 revealed the existence of a population of low-luminosity short duration gamma-ray transients produced by neutron star mergers in the nearby Universe. These events could be routinely detected by existing gamma-ray monitors, yet previous observations failed to identify them without the aid of GW triggers. Here we show that GRB150101B is an analogue of GRB170817A located at a cosmological distance. GRB150101B is a faint short burst characterized by a bright optical counterpart and a long-lived X-ray afterglow. These properties are unusual for standard short GRBs and are instead consistent with an explosion viewed off-axis: the optical light is produced by a luminous kilonova, while the observed X-rays trace the GRB afterglow viewed at an angle of ~13°. Our findings suggest that these properties could be common among future electromagnetic counterparts of GW sources.

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A luminous blue kilonova and an off-axis jet from a compact binary merger at z = 0.1341

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