Speaker
Description
The first joint gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) signals detection in August 2017 marked the dawn of GW+EM multi-messenger astronomy. The GRAWITA collaboration has been at the forefront of this new era providing the most impressive spectro-photometric optical/near-infrared data set on the EM source. These observations secured the first compelling evidence for the existence of kilonovae.
The GRAWITA team has been awarded time at several observing facilities and the project is representing an efficient operational framework capable of fast reaction on large error box GW triggers and direct identification and characterization of detected EM counterpart candidates. I will describe the GRAWITA collaboration and its activities and the contribution that the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will provide to the discovery and understanding of transient EM sources associated to GW signals.
