Compact radio emission indicates a structured jet was produced by a binary neutron star merger

G. Ghirlanda; O.S. Salafia; Z. Paragi; M. Giroletti; J. Yang; B. Marcote; J. Blanchard; I. Agudo; T. An; M.G. Bernardini; R. Beswick; M. Branchesi; S. Campana; C. Casadio; E. Chassande-Mottin; M. Colpi; S. Covino; P. d'Avanzo; V. d'Elia; S. Frey; M. Gawronski; G. Ghisellini; L.I. Gurvits; P.G. Jonker; H.J. van Langevelde; A. Melandri; J. Moldon; L. Nava; A. Perego; M.A. Perez-Torres; C. Reynolds; R. Salvaterra; G. Tagliaferri; T. Venturi; S.D. Vergani; M. Zhang

doi:10.1126/science.aau8815

Journal article

Compact radio emission indicates a structured jet was produced by a binary neutron star merger

G. Ghirlanda, O.S. Salafia, Z. Paragi, M. Giroletti, J. Yang, B. Marcote, J. Blanchard, I. Agudo, T. An, M.G. Bernardini, …

Science, Vol.363

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau8815

Abstract

jet: relativistic

neutron star: binary

radiation: electromagnetic

gravitational radiation: emission

detector: resolution

gravitational radiation detector

gravitational radiation

gravitational radiation: direct detection

electromagnetic field: production

The binary neutron star merger event GW170817 was detected through both electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves. Its afterglow emission may have been produced by either a narrow relativistic jet or an isotropic outflow. High spatial resolution measurements of the source size and displacement can discriminate between these scenarios. We present Very Long Baseline Interferometry observations, performed 207.4 days after the merger, using a global network of 32 radio telescopes. The apparent source size is constrained to be smaller than 2.5 milliarcseconds at the 90% confidence level. This excludes the isotropic outflow scenario, which would have produced a larger apparent size, indicating that GW170817 produced a structured relativistic jet. Our rate calculations show that at least 10% of neutron star mergers produce such a jet.

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Title: Compact radio emission indicates a structured jet was produced by a binary neutron star merger
Creators - without role: G. Ghirlanda - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Bicocca
O.S. Salafia - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Bicocca
Z. Paragi - Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
M. Giroletti - Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna
J. Yang - Chalmers University of Technology
B. Marcote - Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
J. Blanchard - Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
I. Agudo - Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
T. An - Shanghai Astronomical Observatory
M.G. Bernardini - Université de Montpellier, Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier - LUPM
R. Beswick - University of Manchester
M. Branchesi - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
S. Campana - Brera Astronomical Observatory
C. Casadio - Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
E. Chassande-Mottin - Université Paris Cité
M. Colpi - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Bicocca
S. Covino - Brera Astronomical Observatory
P. d'Avanzo
V. d'Elia
S. Frey - Konkoly Observatory
M. Gawronski - Nicolaus Copernicus University
G. Ghisellini - Brera Astronomical Observatory
L.I. Gurvits - Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
P.G. Jonker - Radboud University Nijmegen
H.J. van Langevelde - Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
A. Melandri - Brera Astronomical Observatory
J. Moldon - University of Manchester
L. Nava - Brera Astronomical Observatory
A. Perego - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano Bicocca
M.A. Perez-Torres
C. Reynolds - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
R. Salvaterra - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano
G. Tagliaferri - Brera Astronomical Observatory
T. Venturi - Istituto di Radioastronomia di Bologna
S.D. Vergani - Galaxies, Etoiles, Physique et Instrumentation
M. Zhang - Chinese Academy of Sciences
Publication Details: Science, Vol.363
Identifiers: 9938940809311
Academic Unit: Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier - LUPM
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: hal-01886091