On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ∼ 1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40 − 8 + 8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 M ⊙ . An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ∼ 40 Mpc ) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ∼ 9 and ∼ 16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.

We discuss the photometric performance and calibration of the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The stability and accuracy of WFPC2 photometric measurements is discussed, with particular attention given to charge-transfer efficiency (CTE) effects, contamination effects in the ultraviolet (UV), and flat-field accuracy and normalization. Observational data are presented from both WFPC2 observations and ground observations using a system similar to that flown. WFPC2 photometric systems are defined both for the ground and flight systems. Transformations between these systems and the Landolt UBVRI system are presented. These transformations are sensitive to details in the spectra being transformed, and these sensitivities are quantified and discussed. On-orbit observations are used to revise the prelaunch estimates of response curves to best match synthetic photometry results with observations, and the accuracy of the resulting synthetic photometry is discussed. Synthetic photometry is used to determine zero points and transformations for all of the flight filters, and also to derive interstellar extinction values for the WFPC2 system. Using stellar interior and atmosphere models, isochrones in the WFPC2 system are calculated and compared with several observations.

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HH 30 in Taurus has been imaged with the Hubble Space T elescope WFPC2. The images show in reÑected light a Ñared disk with a radius of about 250 AU that obscures the protostar. The disk resembles detailed accretion disk models that constrain its density distribution and show that its inclination is less than 10¡. There are bipolar emission-line jets perpendicular to the disk, a very clear demonstration of the standard paradigm for accretion disk and jet systems. However, asymmetries in the light distribution show that the disk has not completely settled into a quasi-equilibrium accretion state, or that some of the observed scattering is from an asymmetric envelope. The emission-line jet itself is resolved into a number of knots with typical lengths and separations of much smaller and more numerous than 0A .4, indicated by lower resolution ground-based studies. There are indications of still Ðner structures in the jet all the way to the resolution limit ofThe knots have proper motions ranging from 100 to 300 0A .1. km s~1 and are therefore generated at the surprisingly high rate of about 0.4 knots per jet per year. The jet appears to be collimated within a cone of opening angle 3¡ and can be seen to within 30 AU of the star.Both single-and multiple-scattering disk models have a range of possible solutions, but by requiring pressure support and temperature equilibrium, a self-consistent model emerges. There is evidence for pressure support because the disk appears to have a Gaussian height proÐle. The temperature at each point in the disk is determined by the disk geometry, which in turn Ðxes the temperature in a selfconsistent manner. The extinction to the protostar is unknown but constrained to be greater than 24 mag. The optical properties of the scattering grains in the disk are determined and found to imply a large scattering asymmetry, but they seem to follow the interstellar reddening law. The absolute magnitude and colors of the unseen protostar, which has a brightness in the I bandpass of about 0.16 times solar and is very red, are obtained. The disk mass is about 0.006 times solar and has an expected lifetime of about 105 yr.

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