1. LIGO-G030687-00-W Death Star Redux: 35-year mystery solved Fred Raab October 28, 2005

2. LIGO-G030687-00-W LIGO Science2 GRB050509 and GRB050709 featured in Nature, 6Oct05 GRB050509B = Gamma Ray Burst, occurring in year 05, month 05, day 09; B means 2 nd GRB that day »discovered by Swift satellite »first X-ray afterglow detected from a Short GRB, located to with 10 arc-sec within one minute of the burst »astronomical alert released on cell phones, beepers and e-mail GRB050709 = Gamma Ray Burst, occurring in year 05, month 07, day 09 »discovered by High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE2) satellite »Afterglows in X-ray and optical »Could trace afterglow for days

3. LIGO-G030687-00-W LIGO Science3 Zooming in on GRB050709…

4. LIGO-G030687-00-W LIGO Science4 GRB050509 and GRB050709 …the dogs that didn’t bark. GRBs localized to old galaxies with little star formation  progenitors old Decay of afterglow too fast for a supernova; search for supernova in host galaxies comes up empty Energy release too small for a supernova GRB050709 is way outside the host galaxy; consistent with a binary, kicked hard by a long-ago supernova of one of the partners Shortness of burst  small fireball region Too powerful for a magnetar flare

5. LIGO-G030687-00-W LIGO Science5 Merger of two neutron stars

6. LIGO-G030687-00-W LIGO Science6 A possible merger of a neutron star with a black hole?