Using ISS telescopes for electromagnetic follow-up of gravitational wave detections of NS-NS and NS-BH mergers

The International Space Station offers a unique platform for rapid and inexpensive deployment of space telescopes. A scientific opportunity of great potential later this decade is the use of telescopes for the electromagnetic follow-up of ground-based gravitational wave detections of neutron star and black hole mergers. We describe this possibility for OpTIIX, an ISS technology demonstration of a 1.5 m diffraction limited optical telescope assembled in space, and ISS-Lobster, a wide-field imaging X-ray telescope now under study as a potential NASA mission. Both telescopes will be mounted on pointing platforms, allowing rapid positioning to the source of a gravitational wave event. Electromagnetic follow-up rates of several per year appear likely, offering a wealth of complementary science on the mergers of black holes and neutron stars.

国际空间站为太空望远镜的快速且低成本部署提供了一个独特的平台。在本十年后期，一个具有巨大潜力的科学机遇是利用望远镜对中子星和黑洞合并的地基引力波探测进行电磁后续观测。我们描述了OpTIIX的这种可能性，它是在太空中组装的1.5米衍射极限光学望远镜在国际空间站上的技术演示，以及ISS - 龙虾（ISS - Lobster），一种广域成像X射线望远镜，目前作为美国国家航空航天局（NASA）的一个潜在任务正在研究中。这两架望远镜都将安装在指向平台上，能够快速定位到引力波事件的源头。每年似乎有可能进行数次电磁后续观测，为黑洞和中子星的合并提供大量的互补性科学研究。