Kilonova constraints for the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA neutron star merger candidate S250206dm: GW-MMADS observations

TL;DR

This paper reports on follow-up observations of a neutron star-black hole merger candidate GW event, constraining kilonova models and marking the first such high-significance candidate observed by multiple GW detectors.

Contribution

It presents the first high-significance neutron star-black hole merger candidate observed by multiple GW detectors with follow-up constraints on kilonova models.

Findings

No kilonova counterpart was detected.

Constraints rule out 100% of certain kilonova models.

Follow-up observations significantly limit possible kilonova brightness.

Abstract

Gravitational wave (GW) neutron star mergers with an associated electromagnetic counterpart constitute powerful probes of binary evolution, the production sites of heavy elements, general relativity, and the expansion of the universe. Only a handful of candidate GW binary mergers during the fourth LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA observing run (O4) so far are believed to include a neutron star. We present optical-near infrared follow-up observations of the candidate neutron-star black hole GW merger S250206dm. This is the first high-significance mass gap neutron star-black hole candidate observed by multiple GW detectors (thus having a significantly smaller sky localization than one-detector events), offering the first opportunity to effectively follow up a GW event of this kind. Our GW MultiMessenger Astronomy DECam Survey (GW-MMADS) campaign consisted of a wide-field search using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) and T80-South (T80S), as well as galaxy-targeted observations using the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) imager and the Wendelstein 2.1m 3-channel camera. No viable kilonova counterpart was found in our observations. We use our observation depths to place competitive constraints on kilonova models similar to or brighter than the GW170817 kilonova AT 2017gfo within our observed fields, ruling out 100\% of such models with SOAR galaxy-targeted observations and $\sim43$\% (48\%) with DECam (DECam and T80S).