Multi-messenger astronomy
Multi-messenger astronomy is astronomy based on the coordinated observation and interpretation of disparate "messenger" signals. The four messengers are electromagnetic radiation, gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays. They are created by different astrophysical processes, and thus reveal different information about their sources.
The main multi-messenger sources outside the heliosphere 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-threshold" events which are not perceptible to any single instrument. It is based at Pennsylvania State University.
Milestones
- 1940s: Some cosmic rays are identified as forming in solar flares.[7]
- 1987: Supernova SN 1987A, which was first detected with an optical telescope, also emitted neutrinos that were detected at the Kamiokande-II, IMB and Baksan neutrino observatories.
- August 2017: A neutron star collision that occurred in the galaxy NGC 4993 produced the gravitational wave signal GW170817, which was observed by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. After 1.7 seconds, it was observed as the gamma ray burst GRB 170817A by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and INTEGRAL, and its optical counterpart SSS17a was detected 11 hours later at the Las Campanas Observatory. Further optical observations e.g. by the Hubble space telescope and the Dark Energy Camera, ultraviolet observations by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission, X-ray observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and radio observations by the 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.[8] Non-observation of neutrinos is attributed to the jets being strongly off-axis.[9] On 9 December 2017, astronomers reported a brightening of X-ray emissions from GW170817/GRB 170817A/SSS17a.[10][11]
- September 2017: On September 22, the extremely-high-energy neutrino event EHE170922A[12] was recorded by the IceCube Collaboration. Consistent detections of gamma rays above 100 MeV by the Fermi-LAT Collaboration[13] and above 100 GeV by the MAGIC Collaboration[14] were announced. The signal is consistent with ultra-high-energy protons accelerated in blazar jets, producing neutral pions (decaying into gamma rays) and charged pions (decaying into neutrinos).[15]
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.
- ^ Spurio, Maurizio (2015). Particles and Astrophysics: A Multi-Messenger Approach. Springer. p. 46. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08051-2. ISBN 978-3-319-08050-5.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Albert, A.; et al. (ANTARES, IceCube, and the Pierre Auger Observatory) (16 Oct 2017). "Search for high-energy neutrinos from binary neutron star merger GW170817 with ANTARES, IceCube, and the Pierre Auger Observatory". arXiv:1710.05839.
- ^ Haggard, Daryl; Ruan, John J.; Nynka, Melania; Kalogera, Vicky; Evans, Phil (December 9, 2017). "LIGO/Virgo GW170817: Brightening X-ray Emission from GW170817/GRB170817A/SSS17a - ATel #11041". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ^ Margutti, R.; Fong, W.; Eftekharl, T.; Alexander, E.; Chornock, R. (December 7, 2017). "LIGO/Virgo GW170817: Chandra X-ray brightening of the counterpart 108 days since merger - ATel #11037". The Astronomer's Telegram. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ^ https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/21916.gcn3
- ^ http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=10791
- ^ http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=10817
- ^ De Angelis, Alessandro; Pimenta, Mario (2016). Introduction to particle and astroparticle physics. Springer.
External links
- AMON website