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.

Neutrinos with energies above 1017 eV are detectable with the Surface Detector Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The identification is efficiently performed for neutrinos of all flavors interacting in the atmosphere at large zenith angles, as well as for Earth-skimming τ neutrinos with nearly tangential trajectories relative to the Earth. No neutrino candidates were found in ∼ 14.7 years of data taken up to 31 August 2018. This leads to restrictive upper bounds on their flux. The 90% C.L. single-flavor limit to the diffuse flux of ultra-high-energy neutrinos with an Eν−2 spectrum in the energy range 1.0 × 1017 eV –2.5 × 1019 eV is E2 dNν/dEν < 4.4 × 10−9 GeV cm−2 s−1 sr−1, placing strong constraints on several models of neutrino production at EeV energies and on the properties of the sources of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.

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We report a measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic rays for energies above 2.5 × 10 18 eV based on 215,030 events recorded with zenith angles below 60°. A key feature of the work is that the estimates of the energies are independent of assumptions about the unknown hadronic physics or of the primary mass composition. The measurement is the most precise made hitherto with the accumulated exposure being so large that the measurements of the flux are dominated by systematic uncertainties except at energies above 5 × 10 19 eV. The principal conclusions are (1) The flattening of the spectrum near 5 × 10 18 eV, the so-called "ankle," is confirmed. (2) The steepening of the spectrum at around 5 × 10 19 eV is confirmed. (3) A new feature has been identified in the spectrum: in the region above the ankle the spectral index γ of the particle flux (∝ E −γ) changes from 2.51 AE 0.03 ðstatÞ AE 0.05 ðsystÞ to 3.05 AE 0.05 ðstatÞ AE 0.10 ðsystÞ before changing sharply to 5.1 AE 0.3 ðstatÞ AE 0.1 ðsystÞ above 5 × 10 19 eV. (4) No evidence for any dependence of the spectrum on declination has been found other than a mild excess from the Southern Hemisphere that is consistent with the anisotropy observed above 8 × 10 18 eV.

We present a detailed study of the large-scale anisotropies of cosmic rays with energies above 4 EeV measured using the Pierre Auger Observatory. For the energy bins [4, 8] EeV and E ≥ 8 EeV, the most