Abstract:  The discovery of the gravitational wave transient GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterparts ushered in a new era of multi-messenger. astrophysics, in which both gravitational waves and light provide complementary views of the same source. These observations gave astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to probe the merger of two neutron stars, solving decade-long mysteries about the origin of short duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the production of elements heavier than iron. In this talk, I will present the long-term evolution of GW170817 across the electromagnetic spectrum, and discuss its similarities with the sample of short GRBs at cosmological distances.

Host:  Derek Fox