Abstract

A remarkable combination of astronomical facilities will soon produce novel time domain surveys of the sky across the electromagnetic spectrum. These will be joined by gravitational wave detectors reaching their final design sensitivity in 2025. As we approach the 4th gravitational wave observing run, I will review results from the electromagnetic follow-up community and prospects for multi-messenger science. This is sensitively dependent on the volumetric rate of binary neutron star mergers and their redshift distribution. Wide field optical surveys can comfortably cover the large sky maps produced by the interferometers, detecting transients within minutes. I will review prospects for 2023 and the upcoming developments. The 5th observing run is likely to finally see the full promise and realisation of multi-messenger astronomy, when combined with the Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time.