FLAMINGOS-2: the facility near-infrared wide-field imager and multi-object spectrograph for Gemini

Eikenberry, S. S.; Bandyopadhyay, Reba M.; Bennett, John G.; Bessoff, Aaron; Branch, Matt; Charcos, Miguel; Corley, Richard A.; DeWitt, Curtis; Eriksen, John-David; Elston, R.; Frommeyer, Skip; Gonzalez, Anthony H.; Hanna, Kevin; Herlevich, Michael D.; Hon, David; Julian, Jeff; Julian, Roger; Lasso, N.; Marín-Franch, A.; Martí, José; Murphey, Charlie; Raines, S. N.; Rambold, William; Rashkind, David; Warner, C.; Leckie, Brian; Gardhouse, W. R.; Fletcher, Murray J.; Hardy, Tim; Dunn, Jennifer B.; Wooff, Robert; Pazder, John

doi:10.1117/12.925679

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…We used FLAMINGOS-2 on the 8 m Gemini-South telescope (F2; Eikenberry et al 2012) to obtain a sequence of 7 NIR spectra from 1.5 to 10.5 d after the GW trigger. All observations used the same setup with the JH grism and JH filter to cover the wavelength range of 0.9-1.8 µm, at an average dispersion of ∼6.5 Å per pixel.…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. IV. Detection of Near-infrared Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis with Gemini-South

Chornock

Berger

Kasen

et al. 2017

ApJL

555

466

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We present a near-infrared spectral sequence of the electromagnetic counterpart to the binary neutron star merger GW170817 detected by Advanced LIGO/Virgo. Our dataset comprises 7 epochs of J + H spectra taken with FLAMINGOS-2 on Gemini-South between 1.5-10.5 days after the merger. In the initial epoch, the spectrum is dominated by a smooth blue continuum due to a high-velocity, lanthanide-poor blue kilonova component. Starting the following night, all subsequent spectra instead show features that are similar to those predicted in model spectra of material with a high concentration of lanthanides, including spectral peaks near 1.07 and 1.55 µm. Our fiducial model with 0.04 M of ejecta, an ejection velocity of v = 0.1c, and a lanthanide concentration of X lan =10 −2 provides a good match to the spectra taken in the first five days, although it over-predicts the late-time fluxes. We also explore models with multiple fitting components, in each case finding that a significant abundance of lanthanide elements is necessary to match the broad spectral peaks that we observe starting at 2.5 d after the merger. These data provide direct evidence that binary neutron star mergers are significant production sites of even the heaviest r-process elements.

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Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. IV. Detection of Near-infrared Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis with Gemini-South

Chornock

Berger

Kasen

et al. 2017

ApJL

555

466

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“…The first spectrum was obtained on 2017 April 21 (i.e., 2 months after the transient detection), with the FIRE instrument on the Magellan-Baade telescope at the Las Campanas observatory 76 . The second spectrum was obtained on May 31 (99 days after detection), with the FLAMINGOS-2 instrument on the Gemini-South telescope 77 . Both spectra are shown in Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Near-ir Spectroscopymentioning

confidence: 99%

A new class of flares from accreting supermassive black holes

et al. 2019

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Accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can exhibit variable emission across the electromagnetic spectrum and over a broad range of time-scales. The variability of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the ultra-violet (UV) and optical is usually at the few tens of percent level over time-scales of hours to weeks 1 . Recently, rare, more dramatic changes to the emission from accreting SMBHs have been observed, including tidal disruption events (TDEs) 2-5 , "changing look" AGN 6-9 , and other extreme variability objects 10,11 . The physics behind the "re-ignition", enhancement, and "shutdown" of accretion onto SMBHs is not entirely understood. Here we present a rapid increase in ultraviolet-optical emission in the centre of a nearby galaxy marking the onset of sudden increased accretion onto a SMBH. The optical spectrum of this flare, dubbed AT 2017bgt, exhibits a mix of emission features. Some are typical of luminous, unobscured AGN, but others are likely driven by Bowen fluorescence -robustly linked here, for the first time, with highvelocity gas in the vicinity of the accreting SMBH. The spectral features and increased UV flux show little evolution over a period of at least 14 months. This disfavours the tidal disruption of a star as their origin, and instead suggests a longer-term event of intensified accretion. Together with two other recently reported events with similar properties, we define a new class of SMBH-related flares. This has important implications for the classification of different types of enhanced accretion onto SMBHs.AT 2017bgt was discovered by the All Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN 12 ) as ASASSN-17cv on 2017 February 21 in the early-type galaxy 2MASX J16110570+0234002, at z=0.064 (ref. 13; see Methods §). The long-term ASAS-SN optical data show that the total emission from the galaxy brightened by a factor of ∼50% over a period of about two months, with half of the rise occurring within three weeks (see Supplementary Fig. 1). Follow-up Swift observations show that the UV emission increased by a factor of ∼75 compared to GALEX data from 2004, reaching a luminosity of νLν (NUV) 8.9×10 44 erg s −1 , and that the X-ray emission increased by a factor of ∼2−3 compared to ROSAT data from 1990 August (see 'Detection and photometric monitoring' and 'Archival multi-wavelength data' in Methods for details on all new and archival data). The archival X-ray luminosity, of L(2−10 keV) 7×10 42 erg s −1 , and the archival UV to X-ray luminosity ratio are consistent with what is commonly observed in AGN (that is, a UV-to-X-ray spectral slope of αox≈ − 1.2; see Methods §). Archival detections in the radio (from 1998; obtained by the Very Large Array) and in the mid-infrared (from 2010; obtained with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) can be accounted for by star formation in the host galaxy. Thus, AT 2017bgt experienced a dramatic increase in its UV emission, accompanied by a smaller increase in optical and X-ray emission, sometime between 2004 and 2017.The X-ray spectral energy distribution...

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“…This can be accomplished through spectroscopy. We have observations from EMIR (Especrografo Multiobjeto Infra-Rojo; Garzón & EMIR Team 2016) and FLAMINGOS-2 (Eikenberry et al 2012), where we will search for spectral variability. We plan to determine which part of the spectrum is varying: the continuum, the Brγ line (which would indicate variations in the accretion disk), or the CO bands (which would indicate that the companion star is varying).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Rapidly Varying Red Supergiant X-Ray Binary in the Galactic Center

Gottlieb

Eikenberry

Ackley

et al. 2020

ApJ

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We analyzed multiwavelength observations of the previously identified Galactic center X-ray binary CXO 174528.79-290942.8 (XID 6592) and determine that the near-infrared counterpart is a red supergiant based on its spectrum and luminosity. Scutum X-1 is the only previously known X-ray binary with a red supergiant donor star and closely resembles XID 6592 in terms of X-ray luminosity (L X), absolute magnitude, and IR variability (L IR,var), supporting the conclusion that XID 6592 contains a red supergiant donor star. The XID 6592 infrared counterpart shows variability of ∼0.5 mag in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer-1 band (3.4 μm) on timescales of a few hours. Other infrared data sets also show large-amplitude variability from this source at earlier epochs but do not show significant variability in recent data. We do not expect red supergiants to vary by ∼50% in luminosity over these short timescales, indicating that the variability should be powered by the compact object. However, the X-ray luminosity of this system is typically ∼1000× less than the variable luminosity in the infrared and falls below the Chandra detection limit. While X-ray reprocessing can produce large-amplitude fast infrared variability, it typically requires >> L X L IR,var to do so, indicating that another process must be at work. We suggest that this system may be a supergiant fast X-ray transient (SFXT), and that a large (∼10 38 ergs s −1), fast (10 2-4 s) X-ray flare could explain the rapid IR variability and lack of a long-lasting X-ray outburst detection. SFXTs are normally associated with blue supergiant companions, so if confirmed, XID 6592 would be the first red supergiant SFXT, as well as the second X-ray red supergiant binary.

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FLAMINGOS-2: the facility near-infrared wide-field imager and multi-object spectrograph for Gemini

Cited by 17 publications

References 1 publication

The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. IV. Detection of Near-infrared Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis with Gemini-South

The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. IV. Detection of Near-infrared Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis with Gemini-South

A new class of flares from accreting supermassive black holes

A Rapidly Varying Red Supergiant X-Ray Binary in the Galactic Center

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