Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar: Neutron star mergers and ULTRASAT

Abstract:

The electromagnetic radiation observed following the neutron star (NS) merger event, that was recently detected by LIGO, provides stringent constraints on the dynamics and properties of the material ejected during the merger process. These constraints will be discussed in the first part of the talk. The second part of the talk will be devoted to the ULTRASAT space UV mission. ULTRASAT will revolutionize our ability to study transient astrophysical sources and, in particular,  will enable us to detect, localize and follow-up the electromagnetic emission of NS-NS and NS-black hole mergers over the entire sky (excluding the Sun’s direction), on a time scale of minutes, out to a distance exceeding the horizon of gravitational wave detectors. The UV measurements and the rapid detection and localization of a large fraction of the merger events will provide crucial constraints on the physics of the mergers, which would not be obtained by other methods.

Seminar Organizer: Prof. Sara Beck