Nathaniel Butler

About

Nathaniel Butler is an associate professor and associate director of undergraduate initiatives at the School of Earth and Space Exploration. He is an astrophysicist with a focus on the properties and evolution of the early universe. His current research involves experiments to observe and study astrophysical explosions, using these phenomena to probe the first stars and galaxies and their environments. Butler's educational background includes a Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Physics from Princeton University. His work contributes to understanding the early universe through observational and experimental approaches related to astrophysical transients and cosmic reionization.

Research topics

• Astronomy
• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Computer Science
• Mathematics

Selected publications

• Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

  2017 · 1398 citations

  On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg² at a luminosity distance of 40₋₈⁺⁸ Mpc a…

  DOI

• The TESS Objects of Interest Catalog from the TESS Prime Mission

  The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series · 2021 · 300 citations

  We present 2241 exoplanet candidates identified with data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its 2 yr Prime Mission. We list these candidates in the TESS Objects of Interest (TOI) Catalog, which includes both new planet candidates found by TESS and previously known planets recovered by TESS observations. We describe the process used to identify TOIs, investigate the characteristics of the new planet candidates, and discuss some notable TESS planet discoveries. The TOI c…

  DOI

• A nearby long gamma-ray burst from a merger of compact objects

  Nature · 2022 · 263 citations

  erg per second) kilonova possibly formed in the ejecta of a compact object merger.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A structured jet explains the extreme GRB 221009A

  Science Advances · 2023-06-07 · 102 citations

  articleOpen access

  Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are powerful cosmic explosions, signaling the death of massive stars. Among them, GRB 221009A is by far the brightest burst ever observed. Because of its enormous energy ( E iso ≈ 10 55 erg) and proximity ( z ≈ 0.15), GRB 221009A is an exceptionally rare event that pushes the limits of our theories. We present multiwavelength observations covering the first 3 months of its afterglow evolution. The x-ray brightness decays as a power law with slope ≈ t −1.66 ,…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An optical gamma-ray burst catalogue with measured redshift – I. Data release of 535 gamma-ray bursts and colour evolution

  Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · 2024-06-20 · 18 citations

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT We present the largest optical photometry compilation of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with redshifts (z). We include 64813 observations of 535 events (including upper limits) from 28 February 1997 to 18 August 2023. We also present a user-friendly web tool grbLC which allows users to visualize photometry, coordinates, redshift, host galaxy extinction, and spectral indices for each event in our database. Furthermore, we have added a Gamma-ray Coordinate Network (GCN) scraper that can be used…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• J. S. Bloom

  New York University

  428 shared

• E. Troja

  University of Rome Tor Vergata

  374 shared

• A. Kutyrev

  Goddard Space Flight Center

  366 shared

• A. M. Watson

  361 shared

• J. X. Prochaska

  328 shared

• E. Ramirez‐Ruiz

  University of California, Santa Cruz

  310 shared

• C. Román-Zúñiga

  310 shared

• M. G. Richer

  307 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  2003

• B.A.

  Princeton University

  1998

Similar researchers at Arizona State University

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