A Joint Search for the Electromagnetic Counterpart to the Gravitational-Wave Binary Black-Hole Merger Candidate S250328ae with the Dark Energy Camera and the Prime Focus Spectrograph

TL;DR

This study conducted a joint search using DECam and PFS to find optical counterparts to a gravitational wave event from a binary black hole merger, but found no definitive counterpart, providing a framework for future multi-messenger efforts.

Contribution

It demonstrates a coordinated approach combining wide-field imaging and spectroscopy for gravitational wave counterpart searches, highlighting the methodology and challenges involved.

Findings

No confident optical counterpart was identified.

36 high-confidence transient candidates were found with DECam.

Spectroscopic follow-up characterized numerous transient objects, but none confirmed as the event's counterpart.

Abstract

The first detection of an optical counterpart to a gravitational wave signal revealed that collaborative efforts between instruments with different specializations provide a unique opportunity to acquire impactful multi-messenger data. We present results of such a joint search with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) and Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) for the optical counterpart of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA event S250328ae, a binary black hole merger candidate of high significance detected at a distance of 511$\pm$82 Mpc and localized within an area of 3 (15) square degrees at 50% (90%) confidence. We observed the 90% confidence area with DECam and identified 36 high-confidence transient candidates after image processing, candidate selection, and candidate vetting. We observed with PFS to obtain optical spectra of DECam candidates, Swift-XRT candidates, and potential host galaxies of S250328ae. In total, 3897 targets were observed by seven pointings covering ~50% of the 90% confidence area. After template fitting and visual inspection, we identified 12 SNe, 159 QSOs, 2975 galaxies, and 131 stars. With the joint observations of DECam and PFS, we found variability in 12 SNe, 139 QSOs, 37 galaxies, and 2 stars. We do not identify any confident optical counterparts, though the association is not ruled out for three variable candidates that are not observed by PFS and 6 QSO candidates without clear variability if the optical counterpart of S250328ae is faint. Despite the lack of confident optical counterparts, this paper serves as a framework for future collaborations between wide-field imagers and multi-object spectrographs to maximize multi-messenger analyses.