Optimizing Cadences with Realistic Light-curve Filtering for Serendipitous Kilonova Discovery with Vera Rubin Observatory

Igor Andreoni, Michael W. Coughlin, Mouza Almualla, Eric C. Bellm, Federica B. Bianco, Mattia Bulla, Antonino Cucchiara, Tim Dietrich, Ariel Goobar, Erik C. Kool, Xiaolong Li, Fabio Ragosta, Ana Sagués-Carracedo, Leo P. Singer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Current and future optical and near-infrared wide-field surveys have the potential to find kilonovae, the optical and infrared counterparts to neutron star mergers, independently of gravitational-wave or high-energy gamma-ray burst triggers. The ability to discover fast and faint transients such as kilonovae largely depends on the area observed, the depth of those observations, the number of revisits per field in a given time frame, and the filters adopted by the survey; it also depends on the ability to perform rapid follow-up observations to confirm the nature of the transients. In this work, we assess kilonova detectability in existing simulations of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time strategy for the Vera C. Rubin Wide Fast Deep survey, with focus on comparing rolling to baseline cadences. Although currently available cadences can enable the detection of >300 kilonovae out to ∼1400 Mpc over the 10 year survey, we can expect only 3-32 kilonovae similar to GW170817 to be recognizable as fast-evolving transients. We also explore the detectability of kilonovae over the plausible parameter space, focusing on viewing angle and ejecta masses. We find that observations in redder izy bands are crucial for identification of nearby (within 300 Mpc) kilonovae that could be spectroscopically classified more easily than more distant sources. Rubin's potential for serendipitous kilonova discovery could be increased by gain of efficiency with the employment of individual 30 s exposures (as opposed to 2 × 15 s snap pairs), with the addition of red-band observations coupled with same-night observations in g or r bands, and possibly with further development of a new rolling-cadence strategy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number5
JournalAstrophysical Journal, Supplement Series
Volume258
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the . Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. National Science Foundation (NSF) https://doi.org/10.13039/100000001 PHY-2010970 Swedish Research Council 2020-03330 Swedish Research Council 2016-06012 Wenner-Gren Foundations Heising Simons Foundation 2021-2975 yes � 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

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