[en] We present for the first time metallicity maps generated using data from the Wide Field Spectrograph on the ANU 2.3 m of 10 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) and discuss the abundance gradients and distribution of metals in these systems. We have carried out optical integral field spectroscopy (IFS) of several LIRGs in various merger phases to investigate the merger process. In a major merger of two spiral galaxies with preexisting disk abundance gradients, the changing distribution of metals can be used as a tracer of gas flows in the merging system as low-metallicity gas is transported from the outskirts of each galaxy to their nuclei. We employ this fact to probe merger properties by using the emission lines in our IFS data to calculate the gas-phase metallicity in each system. We create abundance maps and subsequently derive a metallicity gradient from each map. We compare our measured gradients to merger stage as well as several possible tracers of merger progress and observed nuclear abundances. We discuss our work in the context of previous abundance gradient observations and compare our results to new galaxy merger models that trace metallicity gradient. Our results agree with the observed flattening of metallicity gradients as a merger progresses. We compare our results with new theoretical predictions that include chemical enrichment. Our data show remarkable agreement with these simulations.

[en] During their violent merger, two neutron stars can shed a few percent of their mass. As this ejecta expands, it collides with the surrounding interstellar gas, producing a slowly fading radio flare that lasts for years. Radio flares uniquely probe the neutron star merger populations as many events from past decades could still be detectable. Nonetheless, no radio flare observation has been reported to date. Here we show that the radio transient FIRST J1419+3940, first observed in 1993 and still detectable, could have originated from a neutron star merger. We carry out numerical simulations of neutron star merger ejecta to demonstrate that the observed radio light curve is well reproduced by a merger model with astrophysically expected parameters. We examine the observed radio data, as well as the host galaxy, to find clues that could differentiate the transient’s neutron star merger origin from the alternative explanation—the afterglow of an off-axis long gamma-ray burst. Near-future observations could find further evidence for the FIRST J1419+3940 radio transient’s origin. We show that existing radio surveys likely already recorded multiple radio flares, informing us of the origin and properties of neutron star mergers and their role in the nucleosynthesis of the heaviest elements in the universe.