We report on behalf of the MeerLICHT Consortium:
"The MeerLICHT 0.65m wide-field telescope, located at the Sutherland Observatory, followed up on the 90% confidence region localilsation of LVK event S230518h between 2023-05-19T16:43 UT - 2023-05-20T03:06 UT. Seventy-four tiles of 2.7 square degrees each were covered in the MeerLICHT u,q,i bands with 60s exposures within the visibility limits. Of these, 38 tiles were covered twice.
Typical 5-sigma AB limiting magnitudes throughout the night were q<20.8, i<19.6, u<19.1
Real-time analysis of the data reveals two extragalactic transients that have not been previously identified/reported: AT2023ixg and AT2023iyb. Their host galaxies do not have reported redshifts.
Further analysis is ongoing and follow-up observations are encouraged.
On the night of May 18-19, the MeerLICHT telescope was closed due to high humidity.
MeerLICHT is built and run by a consortium consisting of Radboud University, University of Cape Town, the South African Astronomical Observatory, the University of Oxford, the University of Manchester and the University of Amsterdam.
| Catalog | Name | Reported RA | Reported DEC | Reported Obj-Type | Reported Redshift | Host Name | Host Redshift | Remarks | TNS RA | TNS DEC | TNS Obj-Type | TNS Redshift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNS | 2023ixg [MLT J074824.10-703558.7] | 07:48:24.101 | -70:35:58.78 | LEDA 272869 | 07:48:24.256 | -70:35:58.89 | ||||||
| TNS | 2023iyb [MLT J111035.64-873800.2] | 11:10:35.450 | -87:38:00.42 | HyperLEDA 215607 | 11:10:35.450 | -87:38:00.42 |