Compact radio emission indicates a structured jet was produced by a binary neutron star merger
Journal article, 2019
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 by using a global network of 32 radio telescopes. The apparent source size is constrained to be smaller than 2.5 milli-arc seconds 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.
Author
G. Ghirlanda
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
University of Milano-Bicocca
O. S. Salafia
University of Milano-Bicocca
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
Z. Paragi
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
M. Giroletti
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Jun Yang
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
Chinese Academy of Sciences
B. Marcote
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
J. Blanchard
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
I. Agudo
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
T. An
Chinese Academy of Sciences
M. G. Bernardini
Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier
R. J. Beswick
University of Manchester
M. Branchesi
Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI)
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
S. Campana
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
C. Casadio
Max Planck Society
E. Chassande-Mottin
Paris Diderot University
M. Colpi
University of Milano-Bicocca
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
S. Covino
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
P. D'Avanzo
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
V. D'Elia
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
S. Frey
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
M. P. Gawroński
Nicolaus Copernicus University
G. Ghisellini
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
L. I. Gurvits
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
Delft University of Technology
P. G. Jonker
Radboud University
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
H. J. van Langevelde
Leiden University
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE)
A. Melandri
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
J. Moldon
University of Manchester
L. Nava
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
A. Perego
National Institute for Nuclear Physics
M.A. Pérez-Torres
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
University of Zaragoza
C. Reynolds
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
R. Salvaterra
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
G. Tagliaferri
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
T. Venturi
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
S. D. Vergani
Observatoire de Paris-Meudon
M. Zhang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Science
00368075 (ISSN) 10959203 (eISSN)
Vol. 363 6430 968-971Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
DOI
10.1126/science.aau8815
PubMed
30792360