Multi-messenger astronomy
Multi-messenger astronomy is astronomy based on the coordinated observation and interpretation of disparate "messenger" signals. Electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays are created by different astrophysical processes, and thus reveal different information about their sources.
The main sources are expected to be compact binary pairs (black holes and neutron stars), supernovae, irregular neutron stars, gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, and relativistic jets.[1][2][3]
Detection from one messenger and non-detection from a different messenger can also be informative.[4]
Networks
The Supernova Early Warning System (SNEWS), established in 1999 at Brookhaven National Laboratory and automated since 2005, combines multiple neutrino detectors to generate supernova alerts,
The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON),[5] created in 2013,[6] is a broader and more ambitious project to facilitate the sharing of preliminary observations and to encourage the search for "sub-threshhold" events which are not perceptible to any single instrument. It is based at Pennsylvania State University.
Milestones
- 1987: Supernova SN 1987A, which was first detected with an optical telescope, also emitted neutrinos that were detected at Kamiokande-II, IMB and Baksan neutrino observatories.
- 2017: A neutron star collision that occurred in the galaxy NGC 4993 produced the gravitational wave signal GW170817 was observed by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. After 1.7 seconds, it was observed as the gamma ray burst GRB 170817A by Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the INTEGRAL, and its optical counterpart SSS17a was detected 11 hours later at the Las Campanas Observatory. Further optical observations by e.g. Hubble space telescope and Dark Energy Camera, and X-ray observations by Chandra X-ray Observatory and radio observations Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array complemented the detection. This was the first instance of a gravitational wave event that was observed to have a simultaneous electromagnetic signal, thereby marking a significant breakthrough for multi-messenger astronomy.[7][8][9] Unlike SN 1987A, the event was too distant to produce appreciable neutrino luminosity.
References
- ^ Bartos, Imre; Kowalski, Marek (2017). Multimessenger Astronomy. IOP Publishing. doi:10.1088/978-0-7503-1369-8.
- ^ Franckowiak, Anna (2017). "Multimessenger Astronomy with Neutrinos". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 888 (012009). doi:10.1088/1742-6596/888/1/012009.
- ^ Branchesi, Marica (2016). "Multi-messenger astronomy: gravitational waves, neutrinos, photons, and cosmic rays". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 718 (022004). doi:10.1088/1742-6596/718/2/022004.
- ^ Abadie, J.; et al. (The LIGO Collaboration) (2012), "Implications for the origins of GRB 051103 from the LIGO observations", The Astrophysical Journal, 755 (1), doi:10.1088/0004-637X/755/1/2
- ^ AMON home page
- ^ Smith, M.W.E.; et al. (May 2013). "The Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON)" (PDF). Astroparticle Physics. 45: 56–70. doi:10.1016/j.astropartphys.2013.03.003.
- ^ Landau, Elizabeth; Chou, Felicia; Washington, Dewayne; Porter, Molly (16 October 2017). "NASA Missions Catch First Light from a Gravitational-Wave Event". NASA. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ "Neutron star discovery marks breakthrough for 'multi-messenger astronomy'". csmonitor.com. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
- ^ "Hubble makes milestone observation of gravitational-wave source". slashgear.com. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
External links
- AMON website