Abstract
On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO1 and Virgo2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system3. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source4-6. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities7, resulting in the identification8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren'14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder'19: the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements20,21, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 85-98 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Nature |
| Volume | 551 |
| Issue number | 7678 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Nov 2017 |
Cite this
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A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant. / The 1M2H Collaboration; The Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration and the DES Collaboration; The DLT40 Collaboration; The Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration; The VINROUGE Collaboration; The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration; The MASTER Collaboration.
In: Nature, Vol. 551, No. 7678, 02.11.2017, p. 85-98.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant
AU - Ackley, Kendall Danielle
AU - Biscoveanu, Sylvia
AU - Goncharov, Boris
AU - Lasky, Paul Daniel
AU - Levin, Yuri
AU - McNeill, Lucy Olivia
AU - Sammut, Letizia Maria
AU - Smith, RJE
AU - Talbot, Colm Michael
AU - Thrane, Eric
AU - Whittle, Chris
AU - Zhu, Xingjiang
AU - The 1M2H Collaboration
AU - The Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration and the DES Collaboration
AU - The DLT40 Collaboration
AU - The Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration
AU - The VINROUGE Collaboration
AU - Rol, Evert
AU - Steeghs, Daniel
AU - The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration
AU - The MASTER Collaboration
PY - 2017/11/2
Y1 - 2017/11/2
N2 - On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO1 and Virgo2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system3. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source4-6. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities7, resulting in the identification8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren'14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder'19: the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements20,21, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.
AB - On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO1 and Virgo2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system3. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source4-6. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities7, resulting in the identification8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren'14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder'19: the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements20,21, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85033578549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nature24471
DO - 10.1038/nature24471
M3 - Article
VL - 551
SP - 85
EP - 98
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
SN - 0028-0836
IS - 7678
ER -