Discovery of the First Electromagnetic Counterpart to a Gravitational Wave Source

I will present observations of GW170817/SSS17a from the One-Meter, Two-Hemispheres (1M2H) collaboration. Our team, using the Swope Telescope, discovered the optical counterpart, Swope Supernova Survey 2017a (SSS17a). I will describe that discovery as well as observations of SSS17a and its host galaxy made over the following several weeks. From the electromagnetic data alone, we can independently and definitively say that GW170817 came from the merger of a binary neutron star system, that its luminosity is consistent with being powered by the decay of radioactive r-process material, and that it likely originates from an older stellar population. I will discuss future observational plans for O3 starting later in 2018.