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.

Abstract.Using the Effelsberg 100-m telescope, detections of four extragalactic water vapor masers are reported. Isotropic luminosities are ∼50, 1000, 1 and 230 L for Mrk 1066 (UGC 2456), Mrk 34, NGC 3556 and Arp 299, respectively. Mrk 34 contains by far the most distant and one of the most luminous water vapor megamasers so far reported in a Seyfert galaxy. The interacting system Arp 299 appears to show two maser hotspots separated by approximately 20 . With these new results and even more recent data from Braatz et al. (2004, ApJ, 617, L29), the detection rate in our sample of Seyferts with known jet-Narrow Line Region interactions becomes 50% (7/14), while in star forming galaxies with high (S 100 µm > 50 Jy) far infrared fluxes the detection rate is 22% (10/45). The jet-NLR interaction sample may not only contain "jet-masers" but also a significant number of accretion "disk-masers" like those seen in NGC 4258. A statistical analysis of 53 extragalactic H 2 O sources (excluding the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds) indicates (1) that the correlation between IRAS Point Source and H 2 O luminosities, established for individual star forming regions in the galactic disk, also holds for AGN-dominated megamaser galaxies; (2) that maser luminosities are not correlated with 60 µm/100 µm color temperatures; and (3) that only a small fraction of the luminous megamasers (L H 2 O > 100 L ) detectable with 100-m sized telescopes have so far been identified. The H 2 O luminosity function (LF) suggests that the number of galaxies with 1 L < L H 2 O < 10 L , the transition range between "kilomasers" (mostly star formation) and "megamasers" (active galactic nuclei), is small. The overall slope of the LF, ∼−1.5, indicates that the number of detectable masers is almost independent of their luminosity. If the LF is not steepening at very high maser luminosities and if it is possible to find suitable candidate sources, H 2 O megamasers at significant redshifts should be detectable even with present day state-of-the-art facilities.

Water masers are found in dense molecular clouds closely associated with supermassive black holes at the centres of active galaxies. On the basis of the understanding of the local water-maser luminosity function, it was expected that masers at intermediate and high redshifts would be extremely rare. However, galaxies at redshifts z> 2 might be quite different from those found locally, not least because of more frequent mergers and interaction events. Here we use gravitational lensing to search for masers at higher redshifts than would otherwise be possible, and find a water maser at redshift 2.64 in the dust- and gas-rich, gravitationally lensed type-1 quasar MG J0414+0534 (refs 6-13). The isotropic luminosity is 10,000 (, solar luminosity), which is twice that of the most powerful local water maser and half that of the most distant maser previously known. Using the locally determined luminosity function, the probability of finding a maser this luminous associated with any single active galaxy is 10(-6). The fact that we see such a maser in the first galaxy we observe must mean that the volume densities and luminosities of masers are higher at redshift 2.64.