ENGRAVE
ENGRAVE is a international collaboration bringing together astronomers who use the ESO facilities to research gravitational wave events. It collects over 250 researchers, with both theoretical and observational expertise.
On 17th August 2017, a gravitational wave signal lasting for more than 50 seconds was discovered by the Ligo-Virgo Science Collaboration and just 1.7 seconds later a short burst of gamma rays was detected by the Fermi and INTEGRAL satellites. A new optical and infrared source was identified in the galaxy NGC 4993 that was unlike any other transient ever reported. This was AT2017gfo, a kilonova from the merger of two neutron stars, powered by the radioactive decay of r-processed heavy elements. The European Southern Observatory’s telescopes played a central role in the discovery and we have formed ENGRAVE to use ESO’s powerful resources during the ongoing LIGO-Virgo observing run in 2019-2020.
I joined the ENGRAVE collaboration after its founding in 2017. I contribute to the collaboration from within the Spectroscopy and Public Outreach groups.
Andreas Flörs
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
My research interests include supernova observations and simulations, and how we can combine the two fields.