WoU-MMA: Collaborative Research: All-Sky Automated Survey for -Supernovae in the Era of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

Gravitation Waves (GW) have recently been detected with LIGO/VIRGO and high energy neutrino events by IceCube. The era of monitoring this emission in two of the three (electromagnetic is the third) "windows" is now open. The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) uses robotically operated telescopes at globally distributed observing sites to survey the visible sky on faster than a daily cadence and is ideal for discovering, identifying and monitoring electromagnetic emission from the two other ""windows". The coordination of monitoring events in two or more "windows" will accelerate progress in our understanding of the cosmos in fundamentally new ways. The ASAS-SN program will continue to provide critical training for the next generation time-domain astronomers and postdocs by their participation in the research sponsored by this grant. A Citizen Science" project will be undertaken to classify the 1,000,000 variable stars present in the ASAS-SN data. An ASAS-AN inspired planetarium show will be developed initially for the OSU Planetarium and later, distributed to other planetaria. This grant supports the operation of the ASAS-SN survey. With robotically controlled telescopes distributed in both hemispheres it maps the visible sky on a daily basis, making it ideal for the study of variable optical phenomena such as Galactic novae, galactic transients, Supernovae, variable stars. The data is made available to the astronomical community and the public shortly after observation. It has already accumulated data over several years and will continue with its present operations. With the detection of Gravitational Waves by LIGO/VIRGO and high energy neutrinos by IceCube, and followed by ASAS-SN's detecting, and localizing the electromagnetic counterpart and distributing its location to the astronomical community, ASAS-SN will make an invaluable contribution to obtaining the multiwavelength data needed to interpret the physical mechanisms giving rise to events in several "windows" and will lead to their understanding. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.