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Register a new userMFB: A Mid-Frequency-Band Space Gravitational Wave Observer for the 2020 Decade
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We make the case for the early development of a Mid-Frequency-Band (MFB) gravitational wave (GW) observatory in geosynchronous orbit (73,000 km arm), optimized for the frequency band 10 mHz to 1 Hz. MFB bridges the science acquisition frequencies between the ground observatories LIGO/VIRGO (4/3 km arm - as well as future planned ones 10/40 km arm), and the milli-hertz band of LISA (2.5 Gm arm)- with usable sensitivity extending to 10 Hz. We argue that this band will enable the timely development of this game-changing field of astrophysics, with observations of medium mass Binary Black Holes (BBH) and Binary Neutron Stars (BNS) sources prior to their mergers in the LIGO frequency range as well as Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals (EMRI)s and mergers of supermassive BBH within the main detection band. MFB is better placed than LISA to access this exciting frequency region.
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Over the last three decades, an exceptionally good science case has been made for pursuing gravitational wave (GW) astronomy. This has engendered a worldwide effort to detect the extremely weak signals generated by expected sources. With the next round of upgrades the ground based instruments are likely to make the first detections of the sources, and a new era of astronomy will begin, possibly as early as 2017. Inconveniently, due to seismic noise and baseline length issues, the low frequency (<10Hz) part of the spectrum, where the most interesting events are expected, will not be accessible. The space-based detector, LISA1, was conceived to fill this gap extending the observational capability to about 10-4 Hz. Due to mission cost growth and severe budget constraints, a flight prior to 2030 now seems very unlikely. This paper examines the case for a scaled down mission that is comparable in cost and duration to medium scale astrophysics missions such as the 1978 ($630M) Einstein (HEAO 2) x-ray Observatory2, the 1989 ($680M) COBE Cosmic Background Explorer3, and the 1999 ($420M) FUSE Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer4. We find that a mission of this class is possible if the measurement requirements are somewhat relaxed and a baseline smaller than LISA is used. It appears that such a mission could be launched by 2020 using a conventional program development plan, possibly including international collaboration. It would enable the timely development of this game-changing field of astrophysics, complementing the expected ground results with observations of massive black hole collisions. It would also serve as a stepping stone to LISA, greatly reducing the risk profile of that mission.
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is a wide-field telescope project focused on detecting optical counterparts to gravitational-wave sources. GOTO uses arrays of 40 cm unit telescopes (UTs) on a shared robotic mount, which scales to provide large fields of view in a cost-effective manner. A complete GOTO mount uses 8 unit telescopes to give an overall field of view of 40 square degrees, and can reach a depth of 20th magnitude in three minutes. The GOTO-4 prototype was inaugurated with 4 unit telescopes in 2017 on La Palma, and was upgraded to a full 8-telescope array in 2020. A second 8-UT mount will be installed on La Palma in early 2021, and another GOTO node with two more mount systems is planned for a southern site in Australia. When complete, each mount will be networked to form a robotic, dual-hemisphere observatory, which will survey the entire visible sky every few nights and enable rapid follow-up detections of transient sources.
We assess the science reach and technical feasibility of a satellite mission based on precision atomic sensors configured to detect gravitational radiation. Conceptual advances in the past three years indicate that a two-satellite constellation with science payloads consisting of atomic sensors based on laser cooled atomic Sr can achieve scientifically interesting gravitational wave strain sensitivities in a frequency band between the LISA and LIGO detectors, roughly 30 mHz to 10 Hz. The discovery potential of the proposed instrument ranges from from observation of new astrophysical sources (e.g. black hole and neutron star binaries) to searches for cosmological sources of stochastic gravitational radiation and searches for dark matter.
The detection of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave signal in August 2017 marked the start of a new era of multi-messenger astrophysics. An unprecedented number of telescopes around the world were involved in hunting for the source of the signal, and although more gravitational-wave signals have been since detected, no further electromagnetic counterparts have been found. In this thesis, I present my work to help build a telescope dedicated to the hunt for these elusive sources: the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO). I detail the creation of the GOTO Telescope Control System, G-TeCS, which includes the software required to control multiple wide-field telescopes on a single robotic mount. G-TeCS also includes software that enables the telescope to complete a sky survey and transient alert follow-up observations completely autonomously, whilst monitoring the weather conditions and automatically fixing any hardware issues that arise. I go on to describe the routines used to determine target priorities, as well as how the all-sky survey grid is defined, how gravitational-wave and other transient alerts are received and processed, and how the optimum follow-up strategies for these events were determined. The GOTO prototype, situated on La Palma, saw first light in June 2017. I detail the work I carried out on the site to help commission the prototype, and how the control software was developed during the commissioning phase. I also analyse the GOTO CCD cameras and optics, building a complete theoretical model of the system to confirm the performance of the prototype. Finally, I describe the results of simulations I carried out predicting the future of the GOTO project, with multiple robotic telescopes on La Palma and in Australia, and how G-TeCS might be modified to operate these telescopes as a single, global observatory.
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is a wide-field telescope project aimed at detecting optical counterparts to gravitational wave sources. The prototype instrument was inaugurated in July 2017 on La Palma in the Canary Islands. We describe the GOTO Telescope Control System (G-TeCS), a custom robotic control system written in Python which autonomously manages the telescope hardware and nightly operations. The system comprises of multiple independent control daemons, which are supervised by a master control program known as the pilot. Observations are decided by a just-in-time scheduler, which instructs the pilot what to observe in real time and provides quick follow-up of transient events.
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