On August 17, 2017, the gravitational wave interferometers Advanced Ligo and Advanced Virgo recorded a signal from the merger of a binary neutron star system, a type of signal that had never been seen before. Complementing this exciting discovery, a large variety of electromagnetic observations were able to record signals from the same event. They range from the detection of a gamma-ray burst about 2 seconds after the gravitational wave event, over near-infrared, optical and UV emission from decay of radioactive nuclei created in the resulting kilonova to X-ray and radio emissions detected several days and weeks after the event. This first and extremely successful observation campaign is marking the beginning of multi-messenger astrophysics.

The gravitational wave event was localized within a region of about 30 square degrees, well beyond the H.E.S.S. field of view and requiring multiple pointings to cover the area. We (Monica, my PhD student and myself) rushed to apply the target selection algorithms that we had prepared and identified regions of high probability to find a counterpart of the gravitational wave event. We were able to request H.E.S.S. observations in record time (only 5minutes after the publication of the localisation of the gravitational wave event by Virgo/Ligo!!). Our observations thus started only 5.3h after the gravitational wave event GW170817. The covered regions already contained the counterpart SSS17a that has later been identified in the optical domain, several hours after our observations (see Figure below). As a result, H.E.S.S. was the first ground-based pointing instrument to obtain data on this object. A subsequent monitoring campaign with the H.E.S.S. telescopes extended over several days, covering timescales from 0.22 to 5.2 days and energy ranges between 270 GeV to 8.55 TeV. No significant gamma-ray emission has been found within this time interval. The derived upper limits on the very-high-energy gamma-ray flux for the first time constrain non-thermal, high-energy emission following the merger of a confirmed binary neutron star system, and further observations of this source will allow to check whether TeV energies are reached on a larger time scale. 

Following the observations, we rapidly transferred the data from Namibia to Europe for analysis. After some troubles due to hard-drives that were crushed during the shipping, we managed to carefully analyse the dataset in record time. In parallel we prepared a publication that (again in record time) has been submitted to ApJLetters right in time for the announcement of the gravitational wave event and the extensive follow-up campaign. The paper can be found on the arXiv tonight. For the very impatient ones it is already available on the H.E.S.S. website (incl. a short news article I wrote).

We also were able to contribute to a paper that has been prepared jointly by all observatories and collaborations contributing to these unprecedented observations. This paper can be found here: "Multi-messenger observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger". It is definitely a milestone in astrophysics and will be regarded as the birth of multi-messenger astrophysics...

After spending several years on the preparation of  the H.E.S.S. multi-messenger program (see Multimessenger searches for more details), this event together with the multi-messenger and multi-wavelength observation campaign and the successful H.E.S.S. participation is extremely exiting and rewarding for my colleagues, friends and me personally... The dreams we were chasing for the last years (and that have been treated as such by many within the more main-stream astrophysics community) have suddenly materialized and become a reality.

Exciting times ahead: the Virgo and Ligo interferometers are currently not taking data but are undergoing upgrades and further improvements. They should be restarting physics observations in summer 2018 with the prospect to detect many more events of this kind. After the frenzy of the weeks since the detection of GW170817, this break is obviously highly appreciated ;-)
​We'll also use it to further improve the response of high-energy gamma-ray instruments like H.E.S.S., CTA and HAWC to these events. You can even become part of this endeavor: see Team / open positions  for details and don't hesitate to contact me (Contact). Exciting times ahead...

No, not me... although close ;-)  The NASA/JPL Voyager satellites just had their 40th birthday!
The two spacecraft have been launched in August and September 1977 and are still sending data which allow unprecedented studies of the solar system and its boundary the heliosphere. The current status of the mission and the instruments onboard is given here: Voyager mission status
Voyager 1 crossed into "Interstellar space" in 2012 and Voyager 2 is currently in the "heliosheath", the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas but still present. Voyage 1 therefore provides the first direct measurements of galactic cosmic rays, unaffected by the solar wind. In addition to the science program, the voyager crafts also provided the first and only pictures of our solar system from the 'outside'. Looking back towards the sun in 1990, voyager 1 took a series of 60 snapshots showing this family picture of 6 planets:

From: NASA/JPL

Combining data from various observatories covering (almost) the full electromagnetic spectrum, a new, very detailed and beautiful image of the Crab Nebula has been produced. See the NASA website for details. The individual ingredients are highlighted in the video below:

The Crab Nebula was the first astrophysical object observed in TeV gamma-rays. This breakthrough measurement was performed with the Whipple Observatory (using a 10-meter mirror and a 37-pixel camera) and was announced in July 1989 ("Observation of TeV gamma rays from the Crab nebula using the atmospheric Cerenkov imaging technique" – APJ 342 (1989) 379-395). Until today the Crab nebula is used as 'standard candle' and calibration source in high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. A recent example can be found in this paper from the HAWC Collaboration: Observation of the Crab Nebula with the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory.