Kilonova Parameter Estimation with LSST at Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Abstract

The upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) opens a new opportunity to rapidly survey the southern sky at optical wavelengths (i.e., ugrizy bands). In this study, we aim to test the possibility of using LSST observations to constrain the mass and velocity of different kilonova (KN) ejecta components from the observation of a combined set of light curves from afterglows of γ-ray bursts and KNe. We used a sample of simulated light curves from the aforementioned events as they would have been seen during the LSST survey to study how the choice of observing strategies impacts the parameter estimation. We found that the design of observing strategy that is the best compromise between light-curve coverage, observed filters, and reliability of the fit involves a high number of visits with long-gap pairs of about 4 hr every two nights in the same or different filters. The features of the observing strategy will allow us to recognize the different stages of the evolution of the light curve and gather observations in at least three filters.