How would a nearby kilonova look on camera?. (arXiv:1905.01594v1 [astro-ph.HE])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gupte_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nihar Gupte</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bartos_I/0/1/0/all/0/1">Imre Bartos</a>
Kilonovae are cosmic optical flashes produced in the aftermath of the merger
of two neutron stars. While the typical radiant flux of a kilonova can be as
high as $10^{34}$,W, they typically occur at cosmological distances, requiring
meter-class or larger telescopes for their observation. Here we explore how a
kilonova would look like from Earth if it occurred in the Solar System’s
backyard, 1000 light years from Earth. This is a small distance on cosmological
scales, with only one neutron-star merger expected to occur this close every
100,000,000 years. While humans will likely only see kilonovae at much greater
distances, showing how such a nearby event would look on camera can help
visualize these events, and demonstrate their unique spectral evolution.
Kilonovae are cosmic optical flashes produced in the aftermath of the merger
of two neutron stars. While the typical radiant flux of a kilonova can be as
high as $10^{34}$,W, they typically occur at cosmological distances, requiring
meter-class or larger telescopes for their observation. Here we explore how a
kilonova would look like from Earth if it occurred in the Solar System’s
backyard, 1000 light years from Earth. This is a small distance on cosmological
scales, with only one neutron-star merger expected to occur this close every
100,000,000 years. While humans will likely only see kilonovae at much greater
distances, showing how such a nearby event would look on camera can help
visualize these events, and demonstrate their unique spectral evolution.
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