- GCN/BACODINE POSITION NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Tue 24 Jan 06 15:55:13 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-BAT GRB Position
TRIGGER_NUM: 178750, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 77.043d {+05h 08m 10s} (J2000),
77.210d {+05h 08m 50s} (current),
75.672d {+05h 02m 41s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +69.709d {+69d 42' 33"} (J2000),
+69.717d {+69d 43' 01"} (current),
+69.644d {+69d 38' 37"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR: 3.00 [arcmin radius, statistical only]
GRB_INTEN: 5042 [cnts] Image_Peak=166 [image_cnts]
TRIGGER_DUR: 1.024 [sec]
TRIGGER_INDEX: 146 E_range: 25-100 keV
BKG_INTEN: 33516 [cnts]
BKG_TIME: 57279.02 SOD {15:54:39.02} UT
BKG_DUR: 8 [sec]
GRB_DATE: 13759 TJD; 24 DOY; 06/01/24
GRB_TIME: 57291.82 SOD {15:54:51.82} UT
GRB_PHI: -158.29 [deg]
GRB_THETA: 37.83 [deg]
SOLN_STATUS: 0x83
RATE_SIGNIF: 10.72 [sigma]
IMAGE_SIGNIF: 6.59 [sigma]
MERIT_PARAMS: +1 +0 +0 +0 +2 +0 +0 +0 +51 +1
SUN_POSTN: 306.86d {+20h 27m 27s} -19.13d {-19d 07' 47"}
SUN_DIST: 121.29 [deg] Sun_angle= -8.7 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 235.25d {+15h 40m 60s} -23.78d {-23d 46' 46"}
MOON_DIST: 132.25 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 30 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 141.99, 17.05 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
ECL_COORDS: 83.51, 46.56 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
COMMENTS: SWIFT-BAT GRB Coordinates.
COMMENTS: This is a rate trigger.
COMMENTS: A point_source was found.
COMMENTS: This does not match any source in the on-board catalog.
COMMENTS: This does not match any source in the ground catalog.
COMMENTS: This is a GRB.
COMMENTS: Since the IMAGE_SIGNIF is less than 7 sigma, this is a questionable detection.
COMMENTS: This trigger occurred at longitude,latitude = 74.05,1.72 [deg].
- red DSS finding chart
ps-file
- GCN NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Tue 24 Jan 06 15:56:46 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-XRT Nack-Position
TRIGGER_NUM: 178750, Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA: 76.916d {+05h 07m 40s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC: +69.728d {+69d 43' 39"} (J2000)
IMG_START_DATE: 13759 TJD; 24 DOY; 06/01/24
IMG_START_TIME: 57397.94 SOD {15:56:37.94} UT, 106.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
COUNTS: 6 Min_needed= 20
STD_DEV: 0.00 Max_StdDev_for_Good=28.44 [arcsec]
PH2_ITER: 1 Max_iter_allowed= 4
ERROR_CODE: 1
COMMENTS: SWIFT-XRT Nack Position.
COMMENTS: No source found in the image.
- GCN NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Tue 24 Jan 06 15:58:38 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-BAT GRB Lightcurve
TRIGGER_NUM: 178750, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 77.043d {+05h 08m 10s} (J2000),
77.210d {+05h 08m 50s} (current),
75.672d {+05h 02m 41s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +69.709d {+69d 42' 33"} (J2000),
+69.717d {+69d 43' 01"} (current),
+69.644d {+69d 38' 37"} (1950)
GRB_DATE: 13759 TJD; 24 DOY; 06/01/24
GRB_TIME: 57291.82 SOD {15:54:51.82} UT
TRIGGER_INDEX: 146
GRB_PHI: -158.29 [deg]
GRB_THETA: 37.83 [deg]
DELTA_TIME: 0.00 [sec]
TRIGGER_DUR: 1.024 [sec]
LC_URL: sw00178750000msb.lc
SUN_POSTN: 306.86d {+20h 27m 27s} -19.13d {-19d 07' 45"}
SUN_DIST: 121.29 [deg] Sun_angle= -8.7 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 235.28d {+15h 41m 08s} -23.79d {-23d 47' 17"}
MOON_DIST: 132.27 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 30 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 141.99, 17.05 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
ECL_COORDS: 83.51, 46.56 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
COMMENTS: SWIFT-BAT GRB Lightcurve.
COMMENTS:
COMMENTS: The next comments were copied from the BAT_POS Notice:
COMMENTS: This is a rate trigger.
COMMENTS: A point_source was found.
COMMENTS: This does not match any source in the on-board catalog.
COMMENTS: This does not match any source in the ground catalog.
COMMENTS: This is a GRB.
COMMENTS: Since the IMAGE_SIGNIF is less than 7 sigma, this is a questionable detection.
COMMENTS: This trigger occurred at longitude,latitude = 74.05,1.72 [deg].
- GCN Circular #4570
S. T. Holland (GSFC/USRA), S. Barthelmy (GSFC), D. N. Burrows (PSU),
N. Gehrels (GSFC), S. Hunsberger (PSU), J. Kennea (PSU),
V. La Parola (INAF-IASF/Palermo), C. Markwardt (GSFC/UMD),
K. Page (U Leicester), D. Palmer (LANL), and
T. Sakamoto (GSFC) report on behalf of the Swift team:
At 15:54:52 UT, Swift-BAT triggered and located GRB 060124 (trigger=178750).
The spacecraft slewed immediately. The BAT on-board calculated location is
RA,Dec 77.043d,+69.709d {05h 08m 10s,+69d 42' 33"} (J2000), with an
uncertainty
of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, stat+sys). The BAT light curve shows an
~30-sec duration with at least two peaks. The peak count rate was ~1700
counts/sec
(15-350 keV) at the trigger time.
XRT began observing the field at 15:56:38, 106 sec after the BAT trigger.
No source was found by the onboard centroiding algorithm. The lightcurve has a
hint of a fading source, but more data are needed in order to assess the
presence
of a source in the field.
No UVOT data are available at this time.
- GCN Circular #4572
V. Lipunov, V.Kornilov, D.Kuvshinov, N.Tyurina, A.Belinski, E.Gorbovskoy,
A.Krylov, G.Borisov, A.Sankovich, G.Antipov, V.Vladimirov
Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow Union 'Optic'
MASTER robotic system
(http://observ.pereplet.ru)
responded to
Swift GRB060124 (GRB_TIME is 15:54:52UT, GCNCirc 4570) under the bad
weather conditions.
The first image was at 2006-01-24 17:30:07 UT, 96 min after the GRB time
(without socket alert information).
The unfiltered image is calibrated relative to USNO A2.0 (0.8 R + 0.2 B).
The robot not find OT-candidate in error box.
Our upper limit is about 14.4 m.
The reduction is continuing.
This work is supported by RFFI 04-02-16411 grant.
This message can be cited.
Mailto: lipunov@sai.msu.ru
- GCN Circular #4574
D. A. Kann reports on behalf of the Tautenburg GRB Team:
I observed the field of Swift GRB 060124 (S. T. Holland et al., GCN 4570) with the
Tautenburg 1.34m Schmidt telescope equipped with the 2k x 2k Schmidt CCD
camera. Observations were obtained under good conditions and low airmass,
beginning at 16:54:54 UT, i.e. one hour after the burst, in twilight.
I obtained 6 x 180 sec frames each in V, Rc and Ic.
A visual inspection of the Swift BAT error circle in comparison to the DSS 2 infrared
plate reveals no obvious afterglow candidate to the following rough limits:
t (mid) UT Filter Limit
0.0427 Ic > 17
0.0559 Ic > 18
0.0587 Rc > 20
0.0746 V > 20
These values are not corrected for the moderate Galactic extinction (E(B-V)=0.135).
Further analysis is in progress.
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4575
A. Tomita (Wakayama Univ.), S. Nishiura (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.)
Y. Urata (RIKEN), K-Y. Huang (NCU) on behalf of EAFON report;
"We have imaged entire error region of GRB 060124 (Holland et al. #
4570) using Kiso 1.05 m Schmidt telescope from 25 min after the burst.
Comparison with DSS II image, there is no new object down to R=20.4
magnitude (S/N=3). "
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4576
E.Sonoda,S.Maeno,Y.Nakamura,S.Masuda,M.Yamauchi
(University of Miyazaki)
"We have observed the field covering the error circle of
GRB060124 (GCN 4570) with the unfiltered CCD camera on
the 30-cm telescope at University of Miyazaki.
The observation was started 16:21:08 UT on Jan.24.
After co-adding a set of 23 images (16:21:08 - 16:59:35 UT)
of 30 sec exposures, we have compared with the USNO A2.0 catalog.
Preliminary analysis shows there is no new source brighter
than 15.7 mag."
- GCN Circular #4577
D. A. Kann reports on behalf of the Tautenburg GRB team:
Further inspection of the Tautenburg images (Kann, GCN 4574) reveals an optical
afterglow candidate within a preliminary XRT error circle (E. Rol, private
communication) at
R.A. 05 08 25.5
Dec: +69 44 26
with an error of 2" in comparison with the DSS infrared plate.
The candidate is detected in all single frames and does not seem to fade upon
visual inspection. On the other hand, the object does not move over one hour of
observation.
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4578
V. Mangano, G. Cusumano, V. La Parola, T. Mineo (INAF-IASFPA),
D.N. Burrows (PSU) on behalf of the Swift XRT team:
We have analyzed the first orbit of XRT data from GRB 060124
(trigger 178750; Holland et al., GCN 4570).
The observation consists of an 865 s exposure in Windowed Timing
mode interruped by a 15 s exposure in Photon Counting mode because
of mode switching.
The Photon Counting mode image provides a source XRT position:
RA(J2000) = 05h 08m 27.27s
Dec(J2000) = +69d 44' 25.7"
with an uncertainty of 5.6 arcsec (90% containment). This position includes
the latest XRT boresight correction. This position is 2.4 arcmin from the
BAT position and 9 arcseconds from the candidate optical counterpart found
by Kann (GCN 4577).
The Windowed Timing light curve of this source shows an initial flat
behaviour
followed by three bright flares after the first 100 s of observation.
A more detailed analysis will be distributed later.
- GCN Circular #4579
D. A. Kann, M. Henze & U. Laux report on behalf of the Tautenburg GRB team:
We reobserved the candidate optical afterglow (D. A. Kann, GCN 4577) of Swift
GRB 060124 (S. T. Holland et al., GCN 4570) with the Tautenburg 1.34m Schmidt
telescope under worsening weather conditions (thin haze) in V, Rc and Ic for 300
sec each, starting at about 20:35 UT.
The object has significantly faded, being near the detection limit of the images. We
thus confirm the afterglow nature of the candidate we reported earlier.
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4580
GRB 060124: Swift/UVOT Observation
S. T. Holland (GSFC/USRA), P. Smith (UCL-MSSL), H. Huckle (UCL-MSSL),
and N. Gehrels (GSFC) on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team
The optical transient detected by Kann (2006, GCN Circular 4577)
is detected in the Swift/UVOT V-band exposures taken 184 and 629 s
after the BAT Trigger (Holland et al., 2006, GCN Circular 4570). The
V-band magnitudes, uncorrected for Galactic extinction are.
Start UTC EXPOSURE Filter Mag Err t-t0
(s) (s)
2006-01-24T15:56:39 153 V 17.08 0.08 184
2006-01-24T15:59:18 725 V 16.88 0.03 629
The Galactic reddening in the direction of the transient is
E_{B-V) = 0.14 mag. The Harvard Minor Planet Checker shows no known
minor planets at the location of the optical transient.
- GCN Circular #4581
Klotz, A. (CESR-OMP), Boer M. (OHP), Atteia J.L. (LATT-OMP) report:
We imaged the field of GRB 060124 detected by SWIFT
(trigger 178750) with the TAROT robotic telescope (D=25cm)
located at the Calern observatory, France.
First image was acquired 1.98h after the GCN trigger.
The field elevation increased from
51 degrees above horizon and weather conditions
were good.
We do not detected an OT source.
According to the limiting magnitude: R>18.5
Magnitudes were estimated with the nearby USNO-A2 stars
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4586
E. Fenimore (LANL), L. Barbier (GSFC), S. Barthelmy (GSFC),
J. Cummings (GSFC/NRC), N. Gehrels (GSFC), D. Hullinger (GSFC/UMD),
H. Krimm (GSFC/USRA), C. Markwardt (GSFC/UMD), T. McMahon (Langston U.),
D. Palmer (LANL), A. Parsons (GSFC), T. Sakamoto (GSFC/NRC),
G. Sato (ISAS), J. Tueller (GSFC), N. White (GSFC)
on behalf of the Swift-BAT team:
Using the data set from T-50.0 to T+1000.0 sec from the recent telemetry
downlink, we report further analysis of BAT GRB 060124 (trigger #178750)
(Holland, et al., GCN 4570). The BAT ground-calculated position is
(RA,Dec) = 77.128, 69.724 deg {5h 8m 30.6s, 69d 43' 27.9"} (J2000)
+- 1.6 arcmin, (radius, sys+stat, 90% containment). The partial coding
was 62%.
The BAT mask-weighted lightcurve has a precursor from T-3 to T+13 sec,
then three major peaks: T+520 to T+550 sec, T+560 to T+580 sec (with the
largest flux), and T+690 to T+710 sec. Thus the total duration is one of
the longest recorded by BATSE or Swift.
The spectrum of the main peaks appears slightly harder than the precursor,
but so far we have detailed data for the precursor only. The spectrum of
the precursor from T-1.2 to T+13.2 is best fit by a simple power-law model
with a photon index of 1.89 +- 0.19. The fluence of the precursor emission
in the 15-150 keV band is (4.6 +- 0.5) x 10^-07 erg/cm2. The peak flux in
the 15-150 keV band was about 4.5 +- 0.5 counts/cm2/sec at T+570.
We have made a preliminary estimate of the total fluence in the BAT
energy range for this burst by scaling the fluence of the precursor
by the mask-weighted counts ratio between the entire burst and the
precursor. This estimated total fluence is ~7 x 10^-6 erg/cm2 in the
15-150 keV band.
- GCN Circular #4587
N. Masetti, E. Palazzi, E. Maiorano (INAF-IASF, Bologna),
E. Pian (INAF - Astron. Obs. of Trieste), E. Giro
(INAF - Astron. Obs. of Asiago), C. Bonoli (INAF - Astron.
Obs. of Padova) and D. Malesani (SISSA, Trieste),
on behalf of a larger Italian collaboration, report:
"We have obtained R-band imaging and an optical spectrum of
the OT (Kann, GCN 4577) of GRB060124 (Holland et al. GCN 4570;
Mangano et al., GCN 4578) with the 1.82-m "Copernico" telescope
(plus AFOSC) of the Astronomical Observatory of Asiago (Italy).
The seeing was ~2.5 arcsec during the observations.
The R-band observation started on January 24.970 UT,
i.e. 0.31 days after the GRB, and lasted 600 s.
The OT was well detected; we measure for it a magnitude
R = 18.5 +- 0.1 with respect to USNO-A2.0 star U1575_02242799,
which has coordinates (J2000) RA = 05 08 31.05,
Dec = +69 44 27.9 and magnitude R = 17.3.
The 1-hour spectrum, acquired starting on January 24.917 UT,
is characterized by a smooth and basically featureless
continuum. No emission lines are detected; absorption
features are possibly present, but their low S/N prevents
us to confirm their reality.
This message is citeable."
- GCN Circular #4588
C.K Lu, Y. Qiu (BAO), Y.Q. Lou (THCA)
Y. Urata (RIKEN), K-Y Huang (NCU) on behalf of EAFON report:
GRB 060124 : Optical observation at Xinglong and Kiso
"We started R and I band imaging observation of GRB 060124 field at
16:21 (UT) using 0.8-m telescope at Xinglong observatory, China. The
OT reported by (Kann # 4577) was detected clearly at RA = 05:08:25.9
Dec +69:44:27.
The I band image is available at
http://cosmic.riken.jp/grb/eafon/GRB060124_Xinglong_Iband.jpg
Based on our preliminary R and I band photometry for Xinglong data,
the OT light curve do not show clear decay in our observational phase.
We have also checked R-band data obtained under bad seeing
condition at Kiso observatory (Tomita et al. #4575). Due to
contamination from nearby bright star (USNOB: 1597.0077413), it is
hard to identify the OT by visual inspection. However, we also found
the OT in Kiso R band images."
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4589
Kuntal Misra (ARIES, Nainital) on behalf of a larger Indian GRB
collaboration
We observed the field of GRB 060124 (SWIFT trigger 178750; GCN 4570)
with the 104-cm Telescope at ARIES, Nainital in Rc band on
January 24.7016 UT under good sky conditions. The OT is well detected in
our single image of 300 sec exposure at a magnitude of ~ 17, one hour
after the burst, in comparison to 4 nearby USNO-A2.0 stars.
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4590
A. Kong (MIT)
We have analyzed a follow-up XRT observation of GRB 060124 taken 9.5 hours
after the first BAT detection (Holland et al. GCN 4570). The
observation lasted for 12.6 ksec and the effective Photon Counting mode
exposure time is 4.8 ksec. The X-ray afterglow (Mangano et al. GCN 4578)
is clearly detected with a count rate of 0.16 c/s. The refined position is
R.A.(J2000) = 05h 08m 26.11s
Dec. (J2000) = +69d 44m 26.9s
with an uncertainty of 3.6 arcsec (90% containment). This position
includes the latest XRT boresight correction. The refined position is
6.1 arcsec from the first XRT observation (Mangano et al. GCN 4578) and
1 arcmin from the refined BAT observation (Fenimore GCN 4586).
The time averaged X-ray spectrum can be well fitted with an absorbed
power-law with a photon index of 2.1+/-0.2 (90% confidence level) and a
column density of (2.0+/-0.6)e21 cm^-2, slightly higher than the
Galactic value (9.3e20 cm-2). The time averaged unabsorbed 0.5-10 keV flux
is 9.3e-12 ergs cm^-2 s^-1.
- GCN Circular #4591
N. Mirabal (U. Michigan) and J. P. Halpern (Columbia U.) report for the
MDM GRB follow-up team:
"We have obtained a low-resolution spectrum of the afterglow of
GRB 060124 using the MDM 2.4m telescope and Boller & Chivens (CCDS)
spectrograph. The observations consist of three 30-minute spectra
beginning on Jan 25.13. Preliminary analysis reveals one significant
absorption feature, possibly a doublet, at 5105 A. Assuming that this
corresponds to Mg II 2795,2802, the inferred redshift (or lower limit)
is z=0.82. Alternatively, if this feature is C IV 1548,1550, then
z=2.30, and a marginally significant absorption feature that we see
at 4008 A could be Lyman alpha. Independent confirmation of these
features is required."
- GCN Circular #4592
S. B. Cenko (Caltech), E. Berger (Carnegie Observatories) and J. Cohen
(Caltech) report on behalf of a larger collaboration:
"We obtained two 1800 sec spectra of GRB 060124 (Holland et al., GCN 4570)
with the Echellette Spectrograph and Imager (ESI) on the Keck 10-m
telescope starting on 2006 Jan. 25.23 UT. We detect the broad absorption
feature detected by Mirabal and Halpern (GCN 4591), which is clearly a
doublet, and identify it as CIV 1548,1550 at z=2.297. We also detect the
MgII 2796,2803 at the same redshift. At this redshift and given a
fluence of about 7e-6 erg/cm^2 (Fenimore et al., GCN 4586) we find an
isotropic-equivalent gamma-ray energy of 8.9e52 erg."
- GCN Circular #4593
J. X. Prochaska (UCO-Lick/UCSC), R. Foley (UCB),
H. Tran (Keck), J. S. Bloom (UCB), H.-W. Chen (MIT),
report on behalf of the GRAASP collaboration:
"We have obtained Keck/LRIS spectra of the afterglow
of GRB 060124 starting at UT Jan 25 07:15 in polarimetry
mode under poor observing conditions. We confirm the absorption
features at ~5105A reported by Mirabal et al. (GCN 4591)
and rule out MgII on the basis of their separation.
Instead, we identify these features as CIV corresponding to
z=2.296 and we note a weak absorption feature consistent with
this redshift corresponding to AlII 1670. We also
identify an absorption line at ~4000Ang consistent with
Lya absorption and indicating log N(HI) < 20.5.
Although we may also detect a weak feature consistent with
SiII 1526 at 5030Ang, this afterglow spectrum is notable
for exhibiting very weak low-ion features (e.g. non-detections
of FeII 1608, OI 1302, CII 1334) and relatively low HI column density.
In this respect the spectrum is similar to the afterglows
of GRB 050908 and GRB 021004.
Finally, we note a strong absorption feature at ~4840Ang
which could be MgII at z=0.73.
We thank the Keck Observatory for acquiring these observations
during Director's discretionary time. The data will be made
publically available at www.graasp.org"
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4596
K. Torii (Osaka U.) reports on behalf of the ART collaboration:
The error region of GRB 060124 (Holland et al., GCN 4570) was imaged
with the two Automated Response Telescopes in Toyonaka, Osaka, under
cloudy condition. The observations started before the arrivals of the
three major gamma-ray pulses (Fenimore et al. GCN 4586).
The older 14 inch telescope, ART-3a, imaged the field starting at
15:55:59 UT (67 s after the BAT trigger). 60 s integrations were
repeated through each of the four linear polarizers (effective in
400-700 nm) in the filter wheel. The relative position angles between
the filters are 45 degrees. We did not detect any optical flare at the
position of the optical afterglow (Kann, GCN 4577; Kann, Henze, &
Laux, GCN 4579), in the first two frames, before the field was
completely clouded after ~15:58 UT (3.5 minutes after the trigger).
A new 0.35m f/6 telescope, ART-3b, observed the field starting at
15:56:11 UT (79 s after the BAT trigger). Repeated 60 s integrations
were made through the standard Ic filter. We did not detect any
optical flare either, in the first two frames, and the later frames
were clouded.
The following 3-sigma limits are derived for an optical transient
during the gamma-ray burst. The ART-3a and ART-3b magnitudes were
calculated with reference to USNO-B1.0 R2 and I magnitudes,
respectively.
-----------------------------
StartUT Limits
=============================
15:55:59 >14.6R
15:56:11 >14.9I
=============================
- GCN Circular #4597
B.C. Bhatt, D.K. Sahu, S. Srividya and N.K. Chakradhari (Indian Institute
of Astrophysics, Bangalore, India) communicate on behalf of a larger
Indian collaboration:
We observed the central 10x10 arcmin region of the error circle of the
Swift-BAT trigger(Holland et al. GCN 4570) in Bessell R filter with the
2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope, Hanle, India, starting from 2006 January
24.715 UT.
The OT of GRB 060124 detected by Kann (GCN 4577) and confirmed by Kann
et al (GCN 4579) was also detected in our individual frames of 600 s each.
Priliminary R band brightness was about 17 mag with respect to the nearby
USNO A2 stars. Further analysis is in progress.
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4598
T. Mineo (INAF-IASF), V. Mangano (INAF-IASF), V. La Parola=20
(INAF-IASF),G. Cusumano (INAF-IASF), J. Kennea (PSU), S. T. Holland=20
(GSFC/USRA), S.Hunsberger (PSU), J.Racusin (PSU), D. N. Burrows (PSU)
report on behalf of the Swift XRT team:
We have analyzed the Swift XRT data up to 0.55 days after the trigger
of GRB 060124 (Holland et al. GCN 4570) for a total exposure of about 11=20
ks.
The refined coordinates of the X-ray afterglow are:
Ra(2000) =3D 05 08 26.0=20
Dec (2000) =3D +69 44 26.7
with an estimated uncertainty is of 3.6 arcseconds radius (90%=20
containment).
This new position is 2.3 arcmin from BAT postion (Holland et al. GCN
4570); 6.7 arcsec from the position given by Mangano et al. (GCN 4578 )
based on 15 s observation in PC mode, and 0.6" from the position
given by Kong et al (GCN 4590). Moreover the refined coordinates are 2.7"
from the optical counterpart detected by Kann (GCN 4577).
The 0.2-10 keV light curve shows intense flaring activity during the
first orbit and a fading behaviour 10 ks after the trigger.
The light curve decay index in the interval 10-50 ks is -1.04+/-0.07.
The average spectrum accumulated during the first orbit (from 100 s to
1000 s after the trigger) is well fitted with a power law of photon=20
index 1.40+/-0.01, absorbed at lower energies by a column of (0.172 =B1
0.005)X10^22 cm^-2, higher than the galactic value (9.2X10^20 cm^-2) and
a 0.2-10 keV unabsorbed flux of 6.6E-09 ergs/cm^2/s. The average
spectrum accumulated during the decay part of the light curve (from 11
ks to 47 ks after the trigger) is well fitted with a power law with
photon index 2.1+/-0.1 and a 0.2-10 keV unabsorbed flux of 1.3E-11
ergs/cm2/s. If the burst continues decaying at the current rate we
estimate an XRT count rate of 0.05 counts/s at T+48hr, which corresponds
to an unabsorbed 0.2-10 keV flux of 3e-12 ergs/cm^2 s/1.
- GCN Circular #4599
S. Golenetskii, R.Aptekar, E. Mazets, V. Pal'shin, D. Frederiks, and
T. Cline on behalf of the Konus-Wind team report:
The most intense part of the very long GRB 060124 (Swift-BAT trigger
#178750; Holland et al., GCN 4570; Fenimore et al., GCN 4586)
triggered Konus-Wind at T0=57853.894 s UT (16:04:13.894).
The propagation delay from Swift to Wind is 3.0 s for this GRB, i.e.,
correcting for this factor, one sees that the K-W trigger time
corresponds to the Swift-BAT trigger time T0(S-B) + 558.9 s.
The Konus-Wind light curve, recorded prior T0 in the waiting mode, shows
a weak precursor corresponding to the Swift-BAT trigger time,
no statistically significant emission in any K-W energy band from
~T0(S-B)+20 s to ~T0(S-B)+340 s, resuming emission at ~T0(S-B)+340 s, a
pulse at ~T0(S-B)+500 sec, the main double-peaked pulse from
~T0(S-B)+550 s to ~T0(S-B)+590 s, weaker pulses up to T0(S-B)+800 s.
The burst light curve resembles the light curves of two previously
detected very long bursts: GRB 041219a (Vestrand et al., Nature, 435,
178 (2005)), and GRB 050820a (Golenetskii et al., GCN 3852).
The spectrum integrated over the most intense part of the burst
(from T0 to T0+24.832 s) is well fitted (in the 20 keV - 2 MeV range)
by GRBM (Band) model for which:
the low-energy photon index is alpha = -1.29(-0.11,+0.14),
the high energy photon index beta = -2.25(-0.88,+0.27),
the break energy E0 = 335(-120,+177) keV (chi2 = 66/61 dof).
The fitting by a power law with exponential cutoff model:
dN/dE ~ E^(-alpha)*exp(-E*(2-alpha)/Ep)
in the same energy range gives
alpha = 1.355(-0.075,+0.085)
and Ep = 285(-56,+63) keV (chi2 = 70/62 dof).
As observed by Konus-Wind the burst had
a peak flux measured from T0+11.440 sec on 64 msec time scale
2.66(-0.69,+0.74)x10^-6 erg/cm2/sec,
and a fluence of the most intense part of the burst
1.43(-0.24,+0.28)x10^-5 erg/cm2
(both in the 20 keV - 2 MeV energy range).
All the quoted errors are at the 90% confidence level.
A preliminary estimation of the total burst fluence is ~2.80x10^-5
erg/cm2/sec (20 keV - 2 MeV). This value was derived by scaling the
fluence of the most intense part by the ratio between G2+G3 counts of
entire burst and the most intense part. Such scaling is justified
because G2/G3 hardness ratio is the same for the entire burst and the
most intense part (G2: 30-300 keV, G3: 300-1160 keV).
Assuming z = 2.297 (Cenko, Berger, and Cohen, GCN 4592 ) and a standard
cosmology model with H_0 = 70 km/s/Mpc, Omega_M = 0.3, Omega_\Lambda =
0.7, the isotropic energy release is E_iso ~3.4x10^53 erg,
the maximum luminosity is (L_iso)_max ~1.1x10^54 erg/s.
The Konus-Wind light curve of this GRB will be available
at http://www.ioffe.rssi.ru/LEA/GRBs/GRB060124_T57853/
- GCN Circular #4601
GRB 060124: HETE detection and spectrum of the main peak
D. Lamb, G. Ricker, J-L. Atteia, N. Kawai, and S. Woosley, on behalf of
the HETE Science Team;
M. Arimoto, T. Donaghy, E. Fenimore, M. Galassi, C. Graziani,
N. Ishikawa, A. Kobayashi, J. Kotoku, M. Maetou, M. Matsuoka,
Y. Nakagawa, T. Sakamoto, R. Sato, T. Shimokawabe, Y. Shirasaki,
S. Sugita, M. Suzuki, T. Tamagawa, K. Tanaka, and A. Yoshida, on behalf
of the HETE WXM Team;
N. Butler, G. Crew, J. Doty, G. Prigozhin, R. Vanderspek,
J. Villasenor, J. G. Jernigan, A. Levine, G. Azzibrouck, J. Braga,
R. Manchanda, G. Pizzichini, and S. Gunasekera, on behalf of the HETE
Operations and HETE Optical-SXC Teams;
M. Boer, J-F Olive, A. Pelangeon, J-P Dezalay, and K. Hurley, on behalf
of the HETE FREGATE Team;
report:
The main peak of GRB 060124 (SWIFT trigger 178750, Fenimore et al.
GCN 4586) triggered the FREGATE instrument on HETE at 16:04:09.5 UTC
(57849.5 SOD) on 24 January 2006 (HETE trigger 4012). This time is
557.7 s after the Swift trigger time. The burst occurred at an angle
of about 60 degrees from the HETE boresight. The main peak is the only
peak of this long GRB that was sufficiently bright to be seen by the
FREGATE instrument despite the large angle between the direction of the
source and the HETE boresight.
The burst locations provided by the Swift BAT and XRT instruments
(Holland et al. GCN 4570, Fenimore et al. GCN 4586) are within the
FREGATE FOV but outside the WXM FOV. Consequently, we have FREGATE
data, but not WXM data, for this event.
The main peak is detected in FREGATE in the 7-40, 7-80, and 30-400 keV
bands. It is highly structured in time, exhibiting two maxima at 13s
and 23s after the HETE trigger time.
The spectrum in the 7-400 keV energy band is best fit with a power-law
times exponential spectrum. The best-fit values and the 90% confidence
intervals for the low-energy photon number index alpha and Epk are
alpha: 1.17 (-0.27/+0.23)
Epk: 305 (-118/+756) keV.
These parameter estimates are consistent with the KONUS results
reported by Golenetskii et al. (GCN 4599).
The extrapolated fluence in the 2-30 keV energy band is=20
(1.8 =B1 0.5) x 10-6 erg cm-2, the fluence in the 30-400 keV energy
band is (9.5 =B1 1) x 10-6 erg cm-2, and the extrapolated fluence in the=20
2-400 keV energy band is (11 =B1 1) x 10-6 erg cm-2. The ratio of the=20
2-30 keV fluence and the 30-400 keV fluence is 0.19; therefore, the=20
hardness of the main peak of GRB 060124 corresponds to that of a=20
classical hard GRB.
The pseudo-redshift estimate for this burst is pz = 2.3 1.2
- GCN Circular #4603
V.Rumyantsev (CrAO), A.Pozanenko (IKI), M. Ibrahimov (MAO) on behalf of
larger GRB follow up collaboration report:
We observed the GRB060124 error box (Holland et al., GCN 4570) with AT-64
telescope of CrAO observatory on Jan. 24 between (UT) 17:43:32 and 18:51:06.
The optical afterglow (Kann, GCNs 4577, 4579) is detected in our
unfiltered 36x60 sec stacked image.
The detailed photometry is underway and should take into account the tail of
nearby bright star. The 3 sigma upper limit of our stacked image is R ~ 20m.
This message can be cited.
- GCN Circular #4605
G. Greco, C. Bartolini, A. Guarnieri, A. Piccioni (Bologna University), G. Pizzichini (INAF IASF Bologna), R. Silvotti (INAF Napoli), D. Nanni, F. Terra (Second University of Rome "Tor Vergata") and I. Bruni (INAF Bologna) report:
On January 25, 2006 in spite of the unfavorable weather conditions (seeing=3.4 arcsec) we tried to observe the OT of GRB 060124 (Holland et al. GCN 4570; Mangano et al., GCN 4578) with the 152 cm Loiano Telescope and the BFOSC camera system. We obtained three images of 20 min in the Rc filter. The OT first reported by Kann (GCN 4577) was not detectable in our frames, which have the following limiting magnitudes derived from the USNO-A2.0 catalogue:
Mean time (UT) Mag
22:45:51 18.7
23:53:00 19.2
26:06:48 19.2
The third observation has been posted in our public directory from where it can be retrieved by sftp using hostname: ermione.bo.astro.it, username: publicGRB, password: GRB_bo.
- GCN Circular #4607
A. Henden (AAVSO/USNO) reports on behalf of the USNO GRB Team:
We have acquired BVRcIc all-sky photometry for an 11x11 arcmin
field centered on the coordinates of the optical afterglow
(Kann et al., GCN 4577) for the Swift burst GRB060124
(Holland et al., GCN 4570) with the USNOFS 1.0-m telescope
on one photometric night. Stars brighter than V=13.5 are
saturated and should be used with care. We have placed the
photometric data on our anonymous ftp site:
ftp://ftp.nofs.navy.mil/pub/outgoing/aah/grb/grb060124.dat
The astrometry in this file is based on linear plate solutions
with respect to USNO-A2. The external errors are about 300mas.
The estimated external photometric error is about 0.02mag.
As always, you should check the dates on the .dat file prior to
final publication to get the latest photometry. There is
a README file on the ftp directory to give you information
about the procedures used to calibrate these fields.
- GCN Circular #4609
V.Rumyantsev (CrAO), V.Biryukov (SAI, MSU), and A.Pozanenko (IKI) on behalf
of larger GRB follow up collaboration report:
We observed the afterglow (Kann, GCN 4577, 4579) of GRB060124 (Holland
et al. GCN 4570) with 2.6 m Shajn telescope of CrAO. The BVRI observation is
started on Jan.24 (UT)19:00. The afterglow is clearly visible in single 60
sec of R-band exposure. Preliminary brightness estimation of the OT at the
start of observation is R~19.5.
The observation is continuing.
The message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4610
V.Rumyantsev (CrAO), V.Biryukov (SAI, MSU), and A.Pozanenko (IKI) on behalf
of larger GRB follow up collaboration report:
We observed the afterglow (Kann, GCN 4577, 4579) of GRB060124 (Holland
et al. GCN 4570) with 2.6 m Shajn telescope of CrAO. The BVRI observation is
started on Jan.24 (UT)19:00. The afterglow is clearly visible in single 60
sec of R-band exposure. Preliminary brightness estimation of the OT at the
start of observation is R~20.1.
The observation is continuing.
The message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #4662
Dale A. Frail (NRAO) reports on behalf of a larger collaboration:
"We used the Very Large Array to observe the long Swift burst
GRB060124 (GCN 4586; GCN 4570) at a frequency of 8.46 GHz on 2006
February 3.91 UT. No radio emission is detected at the position of
the optical afterglow (GCN 4577) with a formal flux density value
of -3 +/- 31 uJy.
No further observations are planned.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National
Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated
Universities, Inc."
- astro-ph/0602497 from
23 Feb 2006
Romano:
We present observations of GRB 060124, the first event for which both the
prompt and the afterglow emission could be observed simultaneously and
completely by the three Swift instruments. Indeed, Swift-BAT triggered on a
precursor ~570s before the main burst peak, and this allowed Swift to repoint
the narrow field instruments to the burst position ~350s before the main burst
occurred. Thanks to these exceptional circumstances, the temporal and spectral
properties of the prompt emission can be studied in the optical, X-ray and
gamma-ray ranges. While the X-ray emission (0.2-10keV) clearly tracks the
gamma-ray burst, the optical component follows a different pattern, likely
indicating a different origin, possibly the onset of external shocks. The
prompt GRB spectrum shows significant spectral evolution, with both the peak
energy and the spectral index varying. As observed in several long GRBs,
significant lags are measured between the hard- and low-energy components,
showing that this behaviour extends over 3 decades in energy. The GRB peaks are
also much broader at soft energies. This is related to the temporal evolution
of the spectrum, and can be accounted for by assuming that the electron
spectral index softened with time. The burst energy (E_iso~5x10^{53} erg) and
average peak energy (E_p~300keV) make GRB 010624 consistent with the Amati
relation. The early X-ray and optical afterglows are characterized by an almost
flat phase, followed by a decay presenting a break at t_b~10^5s.
- astro-ph/0610067 from 3 Oct 2006
Curran: The prompt emission & peculiar break of GRB 060124
Our multi-wavelength analysis of GRB 060124 shows the unusual behaviour of
the decaying lightcurve as well as supporting the recently proposed phenomenon
of long-lasting central engine activity. The prompt X-ray emission displays
uncommonly well resolved flaring behaviour, with spectral evolution -
indicative of central engine activity - which allows us to estimate the energy
injection time for each flare. The otherwise smooth X-ray & optical afterglows
demonstrate achromatic breaks at about 1 day which differ significantly from
the usual jet break in the blastwave model of afterglows.
- astro-ph/0612494 from 18 Dec 2006
Romano: Panchromatic study of GRB 060124: from precursor to afterglow
We present observations of GRB 060124, the first event for which both the
prompt and the afterglow emission could be observed simultaneously and in their
entirety by the three Swift instruments and by Konus-Wind. Thanks to these
exceptional circumstances, the temporal and spectral properties of the prompt
emission could be studied in the optical, X-ray and gamma-ray ranges (up to 2
MeV). While the X-ray emission (0.2-10 keV) clearly tracks the gamma-ray burst,
the optical component follows a different pattern, likely indicating a
different origin, possibly the onset of external shocks. The prompt GRB
spectrum shows significant spectral evolution, with both the peak energy and
the spectral index varying. As observed in several long GRBs, significant lags
are measured between the hard- and low-energy components, showing that this
behaviour extends over 3 decades in energy. The GRB peaks are also much broader
at soft energies. This is related to the temporal evolution of the spectrum,
and can be accounted for by the softening of the electron spectral index with
time. The burst energy (E_iso~5x10^{53} erg at z=2.297) and average peak energy
(E_p~300 keV) make GRB 060124 consistent with the Amati relation. The X-ray
afterglow is characterized by a decay which presents a break at t_b~10^5s.
- astro-ph/0701413 from 15 Jan 2007
Misra: Optical observations of GRB 060124 afterglow: A case for an injection break
We present broad band optical afterglow observations of a long duration GRB
060124 using the 1.04-m Sampurnanand Telescope at ARIES, Nainital and the
2.01-m HCT at IAO, Hanle, including the earliest ground based observations in R
band for this GRB. We determine the decay slope of the light curve at different
bands and examine the reality of a proposed jet break. We use data from our
observations as well as others reported in the literature to construct light
curves in different bands and make power law fits to them. The spectral slope
of the afterglow emission in the optical band is estimated. Our first R-band
observations were taken $\sim 0.038$~d after burst. We find that all available
optical data after this epoch are well fit by a single power law, with a
temporal flux decay index $\alpha\sim 0.94$. We do not find any evidence of a
jet break within our data, which extend till $\sim 2$~d after the burst. The
X-ray light curve, however, shows a distinct break around 0.6 day. We attribute
this break to a steepening of the electron energy spectrum at high energies. We
conclude that the above measurements are consistent with the picture of a
standard fireball evolution with no jet break within $t\sim 2$~days after the
burst. This sets a lower limit of $3\times 10^{50}$~erg to the total energy
released in the explosion.
- 0804.3983from 24 Apr 2008
Guida: Theoretical interpretation of GRB060124: preliminary results
Abstract: We show the preliminary results of the application of our "fireshell" model
to GRB060124. This source is very peculiar because it is the first event for
which both the prompt and the afterglow emission were observed simultaneously
by the three Swift instruments: BAT (15-350 keV), XRT (0.2-10 keV) and UVOT
(170-650 nm), due to the presence of a precursor ~ 570 s before the main burst.
We analyze GRB060124 within our "canonical" GRB scenario, identifying the
precursor with the P-GRB and the prompt emission with the afterglow peak
emission. In this way we reproduce correctly the energetics of both these two
components. We reproduce also the observed time delay between the precursor
(P-GRB) and the main burst. The effect of such a time delay in our model will
be discussed.
- 0806.1279 from 7 Jun 2008
Zhang: Relationship between pulse width and energy in GRB 060124: from X-ray to gamma-ray bands
Abstract: GRB 060124 is the first event that both prompt and afterglow emission were
observed simultaneously by the three \emph{Swift} instruments. Its main peak
also triggered Konus-Wind and HETE-II. Therefore, investigation on both the
temporal and spectral properties of the prompt emission can be extended to
X-ray bands. We perform a detailed analysis on the two well identified pulses
of this burst, and find that the pulses are narrower at higher energies, and
both X-rays and gamma-rays follow the same $w - E$ relation for an individual
pulse. However, there is no a universal power-law index of the $w - E$ relation
among pulses. We find also that the rise-to-decay ratio $r/d$ seems not to
evolve with $E$ and the $r/d$ values are well consistent with that observed in
typical GRBs. The broadband spectral energy distribution also suggest that the
X-rays are consistent with the spectral behavior of the gamma-rays. These
results indicates that the X-ray emission tracks the gamma-ray emission and the
emissions in the two energy bands are likely to be originated from the same
physical mechanism.
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