Properties of the binary neutron star merger GW170817

Understand

On August 17, 2017, the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors observed a low-mass compact binary inspiral.

• The initial sky localization of the source of the gravitational-wave signal, GW170817, allowed electromagnetic observatories to identify NGC 4993 as the host galaxy.
• In this work, we improve initial estimates of the binary's properties, including component masses, spins, and tidal parameters, using the known source location, improved modeling, and recalibrated Virgo data.
• We extend the range of gravitational-wave frequencies considered down to 23 Hz, compared to 30 Hz in the initial analysis.