The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society (천문학회보)

The Korean Astronomical Society (한국천문학회)
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GECKO Optical Follow-up Observation of Three Binary Black Hole Merger Events

  • Kim, Joonho (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Im, Myungshin (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Paek, Gregory S.H. (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Chung-Uk (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Kim, Seung-Lee (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) ;
  • Chang, Seo-Won (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Choi, Changsu (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Hwang, Sungyong (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Kang, Wonseok (Deokheung Optical Astronomical Observatory, National Youth Space Center) ;
  • Kim, Sophia (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Kim, Taewoo (Deokheung Optical Astronomical Observatory, National Youth Space Center) ;
  • Lee, Hyung Mok (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lim, Gu (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Seo, Jinguk (Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Sung, Hyun-Il (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute)
  • Published : 2021.04.13
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Abstract

We present optical follow-up observation results of three binary black hole merger (BBH) events, GW190408 181802, GW190412, and GW190503 185404, which were detected by the Advanced Ligo and Virgo gravitational wave (GW) detectors. Electromagnetic (EM) counterparts are generally not expected for BBH merger events, however, some theoretical models suggest that EM counterparts of BBH can possibly arise in special environments. To identify EM counterparts of the three BBH merger events, we observed high-credibility regions of the sky with telescopes of the Gravitational-wave EM Counterpart Korean Observatory (GECKO), including the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). Our observation started as soon as 100 minutes after the GW event alert and covered roughly 29 - 63 deg2 for each event with a depth of 22.5 mag in R-band within hours of observation. No plausible EM counterparts were found for these events. Our result gives a great promise for the GECKO facilities to find EM counterparts within few hours from GW detection in future GW observation runs.

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