Award Abstract # 2117236
MRI: Development of Telescope Arrays to Image the Optical Counterparts of Mergers within Two Seconds of Gravitational-Wave Detection and Observe Supernovae at the Time of Explosion

NSF Org: AST
Division Of Astronomical Sciences
Recipient: REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Initial Amendment Date: August 19, 2021
Latest Amendment Date: July 21, 2025
Award Number: 2117236
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Matthew Bershady
mbershad@nsf.gov
 (703)292-2686
AST
 Division Of Astronomical Sciences
MPS
 Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Start Date: September 1, 2021
End Date: August 31, 2026 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $999,853.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $1,046,433.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2021 = $999,853.00
FY 2025 = $46,580.00
History of Investigator:
  • Patrick Kelly (Principal Investigator)
    plkelly@umn.edu
  • Terry Jones (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Michael Coughlin (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
2221 UNIVERSITY AVE SE STE 100
MINNEAPOLIS
MN  US  55414-3074
(612)624-5599
Sponsor Congressional District: 05
Primary Place of Performance: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
116 Church St. SE
Minneapolis
MN  US  55455-0149
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
05
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): KABJZBBJ4B54
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES & INSTRM,
WoU-Windows on the Universe: T,
Major Research Instrumentation
Primary Program Source: 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 1207, 7697, 069Z
Program Element Code(s): 121800, 107Y00, 118900
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.049

ABSTRACT

The merger of a pair of black holes or neutron stars creates gravitational waves. Mergers that lead to explosions also emit light, which conveys information about the heavy elements that are created. Since 2015, astronomers have recorded the gravitational waves from fifty mergers. However, visible light from only a single merger has been clearly pinpointed. This project will develop telescopes in New Mexico and Greece that can image a large region of the sky within just two seconds of an alert. By searching more quickly than existing facilities can do, the telescopes will identify new, brightening sources on the sky and obtain early data. The project will also monitor nearby galaxies for very young supernovae. Undergraduates from Minnesota and New Mexico as well as citizen scientists will participate. The inclusion of underrepresented minorities, notably Native Americans and Hispanics, is planned in various aspects of the work that will provide broad training suitable for future academic or private industry careers.

At each site, the Total-Coverage Ultra-Fast Response to Binary Mergers Observatory (TURBO) will consist of large-format CMOS detectors mounted on sixteen 0.20-meter diameter optical telescopes. Within two seconds of a trigger alert, TURBO will begin obtaining continuous, multi-band images of up to 240 square degrees. A prototype telescope in St. Paul, Minnesota has been implemented that can acquire images within two seconds of an alert. Counterparts to gravitational-wave detections of mergers will multiply the information available from just the gravitational waves alone by revealing the mergers? distances, environments, and nucleosynthetic products. Given its unique sensitivity to prompt emission, TURBO may detect novel types of counterparts, yielding potential insights, for example, into the poorly understood observed population of binary black-hole mergers. Observations of supernovae in nearby galaxies at the time of explosion (4-6 events each year) can be expected to provide new understanding of their stellar progenitor populations and explosion mechanisms. The opportunity to included numerous undergraduate students in research projects and the use of Zooinverse in analysis of the data is planned.


This project advances the goals of the Windows on the Universe Big Idea.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.

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