UV signatures of magnetar formation and their crucial role for Gravitational Wave detection

Understand

The emission from shock breakouts (SBOs) represents the earliest electromagnetic (EM) signal emitted by cataclysmic events involving the formation or the merger of neutron stars (NSs).

• As such, SBOs carry unique information on the structure of their progenitors and on the explosion energy.
• The characteristic~SBO emission is expected in the UV range, and its detection is one of the key targets of~the ULTRASAT satellite.
• Among SBO sources, we focus on a specific class involving the formation of fast spinning magnetars in the core-collapse (CC) of massive stars.