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Register a new userXMM-Newton Slew Survey observations of the gravitational wave event GW150914
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The detection of the first gravitational wave (GW) transient GW150914 prompted an extensive campaign of follow-up observations at all wavelengths. Although no dedicated XMM-Newton observations have been performed, the satellite passed through the GW150914 error box during normal operations. Here we report the analysis of the data taken during these satellite slews performed two hours and two weeks after the GW event. Our data cover 1.1 square degrees and 4.8 square degrees of the final GW localization region. No credible X-ray counterpart to GW150914 is found down to a sensitivity of 6E-13 erg/cm2/s in the 0.2-2 keV band. Nevertheless, these observations show the great potential of XMM-Newton slew observations for the search of the electromagnetic counterparts of GW events. A series of adjacent slews performed in response to a GW trigger would take <1.5 days to cover most of the typical GW credible region. We discuss this scenario and its prospects for detecting the X-ray counterpart of future GW detections.
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We report the results of an extensive search in the AGILE data for a gamma-ray counterpart of the LIGO gravitational wave event GW150914. Currently in spinning mode, AGILE has the potential of covering with its gamma-ray instrument 80 % of the sky more than 100 times a day. It turns out that AGILE came within a minute from the event time of observing the accessible GW150914 localization region. Interestingly, the gamma-ray detector exposed about 65 % of this region during the 100 s time intervals centered at -100 s and +300 s from the event time. We determine a 2-sigma flux upper limit in the band 50 MeV - 10 GeV, $UL = 1.9 times 10^{-8} rm , erg , cm^{-2} , s^{-1}$ obtained about 300 s after the event. The timing of this measurement is the fastest ever obtained for GW150914, and significantly constrains the electromagnetic emission of a possible high-energy counterpart. We also carried out a search for a gamma-ray precursor and delayed emission over timescales ranging from minutes to days: in particular, we obtained an optimal exposure during the interval -150 / -30 s. In all these observations, we do not detect a significant signal associated with GW150914. We do not reveal the weak transient source reported by Fermi-GBM 0.4 s after the event time. However, even though a gamma-ray counterpart of the GW150914 event was not detected, the prospects for future AGILE observations of gravitational wave sources are decidedly promising.
With an instantaneous view of 70% of the sky, the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is an excellent partner in the search for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) events. GBM observations at the time of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) event GW150914 reveal the presence of a weak transient above 50 keV, 0.4~s after the GW event, with a false alarm probability of 0.0022 (2.9$sigma$). This weak transient lasting 1 s was not detected by any other instrument and does not appear connected with other previously known astrophysical, solar, terrestrial, or magnetospheric activity. Its localization is ill-constrained but consistent with the direction of GW150914. The duration and spectrum of the transient event are consistent with a weak short Gamma-Ray Burst arriving at a large angle to the direction in which Fermi was pointing, where the GBM detector response is not optimal. If the GBM transient is associated with GW150914, this electromagnetic signal from a stellar mass black hole binary merger is unexpected. We calculate a luminosity in hard X-ray emission between 1~keV and 10~MeV of $1.8^{+1.5}_{-1.0} times 10^{49}$~erg~s$^{-1}$. Future joint observations of GW events by LIGO/Virgo and Fermi GBM could reveal whether the weak transient reported here is a plausible counterpart to GW150914 or a chance coincidence, and will further probe the connection between compact binary mergers and short Gamma-Ray Bursts.
We present optical spectroscopy of candidate AGN pinpointed by a Swift follow-up campaign on unidentified transients in the XMM-Newton Slew Survey, increasing the completeness of the identifications of AGN in the Survey. Our Swift follow-up campaign identified 17 XRT-detected candidate AGN, of which nine were selected for optical follow-up and a further two were confirmed as AGN elsewhere. Using data obtained at the William Herschel Telescope, Very Large Telescope and New Technology Telescope, we find AGN features in seven of the candidates. We classify six as Seyfert types 1.0 to 1.5, with broad-line region velocities spanning 2000--12000 km s$^{-1}$, and identify one as a possible Type II AGN, consistent with the lack of a soft band X-ray detection in the Slew Survey. The Virial black hole mass estimates for the sample lie between 1$times$10$^{8}$ M$_{odot}$ and 3$times$10$^9$ M$_{odot}$, with one source likely emitting close to its Eddington rate, $L_{rm Bol}/L_{rm Edd} sim 0.9$. We find a wide redshift range of $0.08<z<0.9$ for the nine now confirmed AGN drawn from the unidentified Slew Survey sample. One source remaining unclassified shows outbursts rarely seen before in AGN. We conclude that AGN discovered in this way are consistent with the largely non-varying, Slew-selected, known AGN population. We also find parallels with XMM-Newton Bright Serendipitous Survey AGN selected from pointed observations, and postulate that shallow X-ray surveys select AGN drawn from the same populations that have been characterised in deeper X-ray selected samples.
XMM-Newton, with the huge collecting area of its mirrors and the high quantum efficiency of its EPIC detectors, is the most sensitive X-ray observatory ever flown. This is strikingly evident during slew exposures, which, while yielding only at most 14 seconds of on-source exposure time, actually constitute a 2-10 keV survey ten times deeper than all other all-sky surveys. The current (April 2005) XMM archive contains 374 slew exposures which give a uniform coverage over around 10,000 square degrees (approx. 25% of the sky). Here we describe the results of pilot studies, the current status of the XMM-Newton Slew Survey, up-to-date results and our progress towards constructing a catalogue of slew detections in the full 0.2-12 keV energy band.
The era of gravitational-wave astronomy began on 14 September 2015, when the LIGO Scientific Collaboration detected the merger of two $sim 30 M_odot$ black holes at a distance of $sim 400$ Mpc. This event has facilitated qualitatively new tests of gravitational theories, and has also produced exciting information about the astrophysical origin of black hole binaries. In this review we discuss the implications of this event for gravitational physics and astrophysics, as well as the expectations for future detections. In brief: (1) because the spins of the black holes could not be measured accurately and because mergers are not well calculated for modified theories of gravity, the current analysis of GW150914 does not place strong constraints on gravity variants that change only the generation of gravitational waves, but (2) it does strongly constrain alterations of the propagation of gravitational waves and alternatives to black holes. Finally, (3) many astrophysical models for the origin of heavy black hole binaries such as the GW150914 system are in play, but a reasonably robust conclusion that was reached even prior to the detection is that the environment of such systems needs to have a relatively low abundance of elements heavier than helium.
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