Strategy and Results of MASTER Network Follow-Up Observations of LIGO and Virgo Gravitational Wave Events within the Observational Sets O1, O2, and O3

Abstract: We present the results of the participation of the MASTER Global Robotic Network in the program to support the aLIGO (O1) and LIGO/Virgo (O2 and O3) gravitational-wave experiments in the electromagnetic channel. This study covers the first observing run O1 from September 2015 to January 2016, the second observing run O2 from November 2016 to August 2017 (only LIGO in January–July, joint LIGO/VIRGO (LVC) in August) and the third observing run O3 from April 2019 to April 2020. The main goal of these observations was to, for the first time in the history of astronomy, perform precise localization of gravitational-wave sources, which successfully resulted in the independent discovery of the kilonova using MASTER telescopes in the process of searching for the source of the GW170817 event. In many other events, dozens of optical transients unrelated to gravitational waves have been detected. Nevertheless, the experience of optical localization of gravitational waves is of exceptional importance for the development of a future successful strategy for the localization of gravitational wave events involving relativistic stars. In addition, objects detected in the analysis of huge areas in the sky, determined by the localization errors of the GW source, have been studied in particular detail by telescopes around the world. Objects such as supernovae, novae, active galactic nuclei, dwarf novae and other explosive phenomena in the Universe have been found and analyzed. More than 220 000 deg2 within the region of the most probable localization of a gravitational wave source have been explored by the MASTER Global Robotic Network. This paper reports on the observations of the MA-STER Global Robotic Network for all alert events from the O1, O2, and O3 observing runs.