- GCN/BACODINE POSITION NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Sat 20 Oct 07 07:02:44 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-BAT GRB Position
TRIGGER_NUM: 294835, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 119.664d {+07h 58m 39s} (J2000),
119.788d {+07h 59m 09s} (current),
118.866d {+07h 55m 28s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +32.861d {+32d 51' 40"} (J2000),
+32.840d {+32d 50' 23"} (current),
+32.997d {+32d 59' 50"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR: 3.00 [arcmin radius, statistical only]
GRB_INTEN: 9170 [cnts] Image_Peak=1245 [image_cnts]
TRIGGER_DUR: 0.512 [sec]
TRIGGER_INDEX: 127 E_range: 25-100 keV
BKG_INTEN: 25590 [cnts]
BKG_TIME: 25333.69 SOD {07:02:13.69} UT
BKG_DUR: 8 [sec]
GRB_DATE: 14393 TJD; 293 DOY; 07/10/20
GRB_TIME: 25346.94 SOD {07:02:26.94} UT
GRB_PHI: -63.26 [deg]
GRB_THETA: 15.06 [deg]
SOLN_STATUS: 0x3
RATE_SIGNIF: 180.44 [sigma]
IMAGE_SIGNIF: 22.19 [sigma]
MERIT_PARAMS: +1 +0 +0 +1 +2 +30 +0 +0 +2 +1
SUN_POSTN: 204.59d {+13h 38m 22s} -10.23d {-10d 13' 33"}
SUN_DIST: 91.22 [deg] Sun_angle= 5.7 [hr] (West of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 310.67d {+20h 42m 42s} -20.62d {-20d 37' 09"}
MOON_DIST: 164.41 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 60 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 188.10, 27.62 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
ECL_COORDS: 115.15, 11.98 [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: This trigger occurred at longitude,latitude = 332.05,18.62 [deg].
- red DSS finding chart
ps-file
- GCN NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Sat 20 Oct 07 07:04:02 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-XRT Image
TRIGGER_NUM: 294835, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 119.6657d {+07h 58m 39.7s} (J2000),
119.7900d {+07h 59m 09.5s} (current),
118.8679d {+07h 55m 28.2s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +32.8608d {+32d 51' 38.8"} (J2000),
+32.8393d {+32d 50' 21.3"} (current),
+32.9969d {+32d 59' 48.8"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR: 5.0 [arcsec, radius, statistical plus systematic]
GRB_INTEN: 77 [cnts]
IMG_START_DATE: 14393 TJD; 293 DOY; 07/10/20
IMG_START_TIME: 25408.18 SOD {07:03:28.18} UT, 61.2 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
CENTROID_X: 278.07, raw= 278 [pixels]
CENTROID_Y: 299.37, raw= 299 [pixels]
ROLL: 101.29 [deg]
GAIN: 1
MODE: 3, Long Image mode
WAVEFORM: 134
EXPO_TIME: 2.50 [sec]
GRB_POS_XRT_Y: 3.24
GRB_POS_XRT_Z: -57.11
IMAGE_URL: sw00294835000msxps_rw.img
SUN_POSTN: 204.59d {+13h 38m 22s} -10.23d {-10d 13' 34"}
SUN_DIST: 91.22 [deg] Sun_angle= 5.7 [hr] (West of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 310.69d {+20h 42m 45s} -20.62d {-20d 36' 55"}
MOON_DIST: 164.40 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 60 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 188.10, 27.62 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
ECL_COORDS: 115.15, 11.98 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
COMMENTS: SWIFT-XRT Image.
- GCN NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Sat 20 Oct 07 07:04:08 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-XRT Processed Image
TRIGGER_NUM: 294835, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 119.6657d {+07h 58m 39.7s} (J2000),
119.7900d {+07h 59m 09.5s} (current),
118.8679d {+07h 55m 28.2s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +32.8608d {+32d 51' 38.8"} (J2000),
+32.8393d {+32d 50' 21.3"} (current),
+32.9969d {+32d 59' 48.8"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR: 5.0 [arcsec, radius, statistical plus systematic]
GRB_INTEN: 77 [cnts]
IMG_START_DATE: 14393 TJD; 293 DOY; 07/10/20
IMG_START_TIME: 25408.18 SOD {07:03:28.18} UT, 61.2 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
CENTROID_X: 278.07, raw= 278 [pixels]
CENTROID_Y: 299.37, raw= 299 [pixels]
ROLL: 101.29 [deg]
GAIN: 1
MODE: 3, Long Image mode
WAVEFORM: 134
EXPO_TIME: 2.50 [sec]
GRB_POS_XRT_Y: 3.24
GRB_POS_XRT_Z: -57.11
IMAGE_URL: sw00294835000msxps_rw.img
SUN_POSTN: 204.59d {+13h 38m 22s} -10.23d {-10d 13' 34"}
SUN_DIST: 91.22 [deg] Sun_angle= 5.7 [hr] (West of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 310.69d {+20h 42m 45s} -20.62d {-20d 36' 53"}
MOON_DIST: 164.40 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 60 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 188.10, 27.62 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
ECL_COORDS: 115.15, 11.98 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
COMMENTS: SWIFT-XRT Processed Image.
- GCN NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Sat 20 Oct 07 07:04:01 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-XRT Position
TRIGGER_NUM: 294835, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 119.6657d {+07h 58m 39.7s} (J2000),
119.7900d {+07h 59m 09.5s} (current),
118.8679d {+07h 55m 28.2s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +32.8608d {+32d 51' 38.8"} (J2000),
+32.8393d {+32d 50' 21.3"} (current),
+32.9969d {+32d 59' 48.8"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR: 5.0 [arcsec radius, statistical plus systematic, 90% containment]
GRB_INTEN: 1.79e-09 [erg/cm2/sec]
GRB_SIGNIF: 8.77 [sigma]
IMG_START_DATE: 14393 TJD; 293 DOY; 07/10/20
IMG_START_TIME: 25408.18 SOD {07:03:28.18} UT, 61.2 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
TAM[0-3]: 327.67 237.26 261.33 243.74
AMPLIFIER: 2
WAVEFORM: 134
SUN_POSTN: 204.59d {+13h 38m 22s} -10.23d {-10d 13' 34"}
SUN_DIST: 91.22 [deg] Sun_angle= 5.7 [hr] (West of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 310.69d {+20h 42m 45s} -20.62d {-20d 36' 55"}
MOON_DIST: 164.40 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 60 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 188.10, 27.62 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
ECL_COORDS: 115.15, 11.98 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
COMMENTS: SWIFT-XRT Coordinates.
- GCN NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Sat 20 Oct 07 07:05:55 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-BAT GRB Lightcurve
TRIGGER_NUM: 294835, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 119.664d {+07h 58m 39s} (J2000),
119.788d {+07h 59m 09s} (current),
118.866d {+07h 55m 28s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +32.861d {+32d 51' 40"} (J2000),
+32.840d {+32d 50' 23"} (current),
+32.997d {+32d 59' 50"} (1950)
GRB_DATE: 14393 TJD; 293 DOY; 07/10/20
GRB_TIME: 25346.94 SOD {07:02:26.94} UT
TRIGGER_INDEX: 127
GRB_PHI: -63.26 [deg]
GRB_THETA: 15.06 [deg]
DELTA_TIME: -44.00 [sec]
TRIGGER_DUR: 0.512 [sec]
SOLN_STATUS: 0x3
RATE_SIGNIF: 180.44 [sigma]
IMAGE_SIGNIF: 22.19 [sigma]
LC_URL: sw00294835000msb.lc
SUN_POSTN: 204.59d {+13h 38m 22s} -10.23d {-10d 13' 35"}
SUN_DIST: 91.23 [deg] Sun_angle= 5.7 [hr] (West of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 310.70d {+20h 42m 49s} -20.61d {-20d 36' 34"}
MOON_DIST: 164.38 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 60 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 188.10, 27.62 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
ECL_COORDS: 115.15, 11.98 [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: This trigger occurred at longitude,latitude = 332.05,18.62 [deg].
- GCN Circular #6948
B. E. Schaefer (Louisiana State), T.A. McKay (U Mich), F. Yuan (U Mich),
report on behalf of the ROTSE collaboration:
ROTSE-IIIb, located at McDonald Observatory, Texas, responded to GRB
071020A (Swift trigger 294835). The first image was at 07:02:52.5 UT, 25.6
s after the burst (9.5 s after the GCN notice time). The unfiltered images
are calibrated relative to USNO A2.0. We detect a 13.6 magnitude, fading
source with coordinates:
07:58:39.9 +32:51:41.4 (J2000), with positional uncertainty
of 1" or better
start UT mag mlim(of image)
----------------------------------
07:02:52.9 13.6 16.4
This source is not visible in DSS (second epoch), 2MASS or the MPChecker
database.
A jpeg image is available at
http://www.rotse.net/images/gsb294835_3b00_img.jpg
Continuing observations are in progress.
- GCN Circular #6949
S. T. Holland (CRESST/USRA/GSFC), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC),
W. H. Baumgartner (GSFC/UMBC), A. P. Beardmore (U Leicester),
P. A. Evans (U Leicester), N. Gehrels (NASA/GSFC),
C. Guidorzi (Univ Bicocca&INAF-OAB), C. Pagani (PSU),
K. L. Page (U Leicester), D. M. Palmer (LANL), A. M. Parsons (GSFC),
T. Sakamoto (NASA/UMBC), R. L. C. Starling (U Leicester) and
T. N. Ukwatta (GSFC/GWU) report on behalf of the Swift Team:
At 07:02:26 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 071020 (trigger=294835). Swift slewed immediately to the burst.
The BAT on-board calculated location is
RA, Dec 119.664, +32.861 which is
RA(J2000) = 07h 58m 39s
Dec(J2000) = +32d 51' 40"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including
systematic uncertainty). The BAT light curve shows a double peak
structure with a duration of about 5 sec. The peak count rate
was ~22000 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~0 sec after the trigger.
The XRT began observing the field at 07:03:28 UT, 61 seconds after the
BAT trigger. In 268 s of promptly downlinked data XRT found a bright, fading,
uncatalogued X-ray source located at RA, Dec 119.6656, 32.8611 which is
RA(J2000) = 07 58 39.74
Dec(J2000) = +32 51 40.0
with an uncertainty of 4.3 arcsec (radius, 90% containment).
This location is 5 arcseconds from the BAT on-board position,
within the BAT error circle. The initial flux in the 2.5s image
was 1.8e-09 erg/cm2/s (0.2-10 keV).
There will be no UVOT data products for this burst, because it is still in
engineering mode after the recent recovery to the new 3-gyro mode.
Burst Advocate for this burst is S. T. Holland (sholland AT milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov).
Please contact the BA by email if you require additional information
regarding Swift followup of this burst. In extremely urgent cases, after
trying the Burst Advocate, you can contact the Swift PI by phone (see
Swift TOO web site for information: http://www.swift.psu.edu/too.html
- GCN NOTICE
TITLE: GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE: Sat 20 Oct 07 07:21:38 UT
NOTICE_TYPE: Swift-XRT Position UPDATE
TRIGGER_NUM: 294835, Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA: 119.6658d {+07h 58m 39.7s} (J2000),
119.7901d {+07h 59m 09.6s} (current),
118.8680d {+07h 55m 28.3s} (1950)
GRB_DEC: +32.8607d {+32d 51' 38.5"} (J2000),
+32.8392d {+32d 50' 21.0"} (current),
+32.9968d {+32d 59' 48.5"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR: 4.0 [arcsec radius, statistical plus systematic, 90% containment]
GRB_INTEN: 1.00e-10 [erg/cm2/sec]
GRB_SIGNIF: 10.00 [sigma]
IMG_START_DATE: 14393 TJD; 293 DOY; 07/10/20
IMG_START_TIME: 25666.00 SOD {07:07:46.00} UT, 319.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
TAM[0-3]: 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
AMPLIFIER: 1
WAVEFORM: 31
SUN_POSTN: 204.60d {+13h 38m 25s} -10.23d {-10d 13' 50"}
SUN_DIST: 91.24 [deg] Sun_angle= 5.7 [hr] (West of Sun)
MOON_POSTN: 310.85d {+20h 43m 23s} -20.56d {-20d 33' 40"}
MOON_DIST: 164.27 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM: 60 [%]
GAL_COORDS: 188.10, 27.62 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
ECL_COORDS: 115.15, 11.98 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
COMMENTS: SWIFT-XRT Coordinates.
COMMENTS: This Notice was ground-generated -- not flight-generated.
COMMENTS: This is an Update Notice -- the RA,Dec values herein supersede the previous XRT_POS Notice.
COMMENTS: TAM values, flux and significance fields are not valid
COMMENTS: This position was automatically generated on the ground using
COMMENTS: Photon Counting data telemetered via TDRSS (SPER data).
COMMENTS: See http://www.swift.ac.uk/sper.php for details.
- GCN Circular #6950
Richard J. Cool (Arizona), Daniel J. Eisenstein (Arizona),
David W. Hogg (NYU), Michael R. Blanton (NYU), David J. Schlegel
(LBNL), J. Brinkmann (APO), Donald Q. Lamb (Chicago), Donald
P. Schneider (PSU), and Daniel E. Vanden Berk (PSU) report:
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaged the field of burst
GRB071020 prior to the burst. As these data should be useful
as a pre-burst comparison and for calibrating photometry,
we are supplying the images and photometry measurements for
this GRB field to the community.
Data from the SDSS, including 5 FITS images, 3 JPGS, and
3 files of photometry and astrometry, are being placed at
http://mizar.as.arizona.edu/~grb/public/GRB071020
We supply FITS images in each of the 5 SDSS bands of a 8'x8'
region centered on the GRB position (ra=119.664 (07:58:39.4),
dec=32.8610 (32:51:39.6); Swift-BAT TRIGGER 294835), as well
as 3 gri color-composite JPGs (with different stretches). The
units in the FITS images are nanomaggies per pixel. A pixel
is 0.396 arcsec on a side. A nanomaggie is a flux-density unit
equal to 10^-9 of a magnitude 0 source or, to the extent that
SDSS is an AB system, 3.631e-6 Jy. The FITS images have WCS
astrometric information.
In the file GRB071020_sdss.calstar.dat, we report photometry
and astrometry of 741 bright stars (r<20.5) within 15' of the
burst location. The magnitudes presented in this file are asinh
magnitudes as are standard in the SDSS (Lupton 1999, AJ, 118,
1406). Beware that some of these stars are not well-detected
in the u-band; use the errors and object flags to monitor
data quality.
In the files GRB071020_sdss.objects_flux.dat and
GRB071020_sdss.objects_magnitudes.dat, we report photometry
of 975 objects detected within 6' of the GRB position.
We have removed saturated objects and objects with model
magnitudes fainter than 23.0 in the r-band. The fluxes listed
in GRB071020_sdss.objects_flux.dat are in nanomaggies while
the magnitudes listed in GRB071020_sdss.objects_magnitudes.dat
are asinh magnitudes.
All quantities reported are standard SDSS photometry, meaning
that they are very close to AB zeropoints and magnitudes are
quoted in asinh magnitudes. Photometric zeropoints are known
to about 2% rms. None of the photometry is corrected for
dust extinction. The Schlegel, Finkbeiner, and Davis (1998)
predictions for this region are A_U=0.335 mag, A_g=0.246 mag,
A_r = 0.179 mag, A_i=0.135 mag, and A_z=0.096 mag.
The file GRB071020_sdss.spectro.dat contains a list of the
3 objects with SDSS spectroscopy within 6 arcminutes of the
GRB position. In addition to the redshift and 1-sigma error
for each object, this file also lists the object spectroscopic
classification.
SDSS astrometry is generally better than 0.1 arcsecond per
coordinate. Users requiring high precision astrometry should
take note that the SDSS astrometric system can differ from
other systems such as those used in other notices; we have
not checked the offsets in this region.
More detailed information pertaining to our SDSS GRB releases
can be found in our initial data release paper (Cool et
al. 2006, PASP 118, 733). See the SDSS DR4 documentation for
more details: http://www.sdss.org/dr5
These data have been reduced using a slightly different
pipeline than that used for SDSS public data releases.
We cannot guarantee that the values here will exactly match
those in the data release in which these data are included.
In particular, we expect the photometric calibrations to differ
by of order 0.01 mag.
This note may be cited, but please also cite the SDSS data
release paper, Adelman-McCarthy et al. (2006, ApJS, 172, 634),
when using the data or referring to the technical documentation.
- GCN Circular #6951
F. Yuan (U Mich), E.S. Rykoff (UCSB), T.A. McKay (U Mich), B. E.
Schaefer (Louisiana State), R. Quimby (Caltech), H. Swan (U Mich),
report on behalf of the ROTSE collaboration:
ROTSE-IIIb, located at McDonald Observatory, Texas, responded to GRB
071020 (Swift trigger 294835; Holland, et al., GCN6949) and detected the
optical counterpart (Schaefer, et al., GCN 6948). During our first 80
seconds observation (starting 25.6 sec after the burst), the OT faded
with a decay index of 1.52 +/- 0.03.
We notice that the burst location is 9.7h^-1 kpc from the central bulge
of SDSS J075843.38+325141.7, a galaxy with an old stellar population
located at z=0.0166. DR6 SDSS data suggest this galaxy as M_r ~ -19.4,
and a central velocity dispersion of 135 km/s.
- GCN Circular #6952
Pall Jakobsson (U. Hertfordshire), Paul M. Vreeswijk,
Jens Hjorth, Daniele Malesani, Johan P.U. Fynbo and
Christina C. Thoene (DARK, NBI) report:
Using FORS2 on the Very Large Telescope, we have obtained
a 10 min spectrum (grism 300V) of the optical afterglow
(OA) of GRB 071020 (Holland et al., GCN 6949). The acquisition
image shows the proposed OA (Schaefer et al., GCN 6948) to
have R ~ 20.4 on Oct 20.377 (2.0 hours post burst).
The spectrum displays Fe II (2586,2600) and the Mg II
doublet (2796,2803) in absorption corresponding to a redshift
of z = 2.145 (based on a preliminary wavelength calibration).
Hence, the GRB is unrelated to the nearby z = 0.0166 galaxy
reported by Yuan et al. (GCN 6951).
We note that this is a lower limit to the GRB redshift.
There is some indication of a flux drop in the OA spectrum
around 4300 A, implying that the GRB redshift could be
z ~ 2.5 if due to the Ly-alpha break.
We thank the Paranal staff for excellent support,
especially Emanuela Pompei.
- GCN Circular #6953
J. S. Bloom, D. A. Perley (UC Berkeley) and D. L. Starr (UC Berkeley,
LCOGT) report:
"We observed the field of the optical transient (Schaefer et al. GCN
6948) of GRB 071020A (Holland et al. GCN 6949) with the 1.3m PAIRITEL
on Mt. Hopkins starting at 2007-10-20 09:18 UT (~2h16m after the GRB,
once the field was within telescope limits). In a stack of 2190 sec
total integration time (mean time = 2007-10-20 09:46 UT), we detect
the source in the J-band at position:
ra= 07:58:39.78 dec = +32:51:40.4
(J2000; rms uncertainty relative to 2MASS of 250 mas in each
coordinate) with J=19.06 +/- 0.23 mag and H=18.71 +/- 0.30 (only
marginally detected). The source appears to have faded in subsequent
imaging."
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #6954
J. Tueller (GSFC), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), J. Cummings (GSFC/UMBC),
E. Fenimore (LANL), N. Gehrels (GSFC), S. T. Holland (CRESST/USRA/GSFC),
H. Krimm (GSFC/USRA), C. Markwardt (GSFC/UMD), J. Norris (U. Denver),
D. Palmer (LANL), A. Parsons (GSFC), T. Sakamoto (GSFC/UMBC),
G. Sato (GSFC/ISAS), M. Stamatikos (GSFC/ORAU), T. Ukwatta (GWU)
(i.e. the Swift-BAT team):
Using the data set from T-239 to T+625 sec from recent telemetry downlinks,
we report further analysis of BAT GRB 071020 (trigger #294835)
(Holland, et al., GCN Circ. 6949). The BAT ground-calculated position is
RA, Dec = 119.666, 32.857 deg, which is
RA(J2000) = 07h 58m 39.9s
Dec(J2000) = 32d 51' 25"
with an uncertainty of 1.0 arcmin, (radius, sys+stat, 90% containment).
The partial coding was 90%.
The mask-weighted lightcurve shows at least 8 overlapping pulses in the initial
burst. They all have approximately the same peak flux values. This emission
starts at ~T-3 sec, peaks at ~T-1.5 sec, and ends at ~T+0.9 sec.
T90 (15-350 keV) is 4.2 +- 0.2 sec (estimated error including systematics).
The spectral lag for this burst is:
59 +7-9 msec for the 150-300 to 25-50 keV bands, and
10 +8-7 msec for the 50-100 to 15-25 keV bands.
The time-averaged spectrum from T-3.0 to T+7.4 sec is best fit by a simple
power-law model. The power law index of the time-averaged spectrum is
1.11 +- 0.05. The fluence in the 15-150 keV band is 2.3 +- 0.1 x 10^-6 erg/cm2.
The 1-sec peak photon flux measured from T-0.36 sec in the 15-150 keV band
is 8.4 +- 0.3 ph/cm2/sec. All the quoted errors are at the 90% confidence
level.
Folding in the borderline results of the T90, the hardness ratio,
the spectral lag, and very marginal detection of extended emission in the lightcurve;
we think this is a Long burst, but we can not rule out the possibility
of a SHB classification.
- GCN Circular #6955
A.P. Beardmore, K.L. Page, P.A. Evans (U. Leicester) and S.T. Holland
(CRESST/USRA/GSFC) report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team:
The Swift-XRT began observing the BAT GRB 071020 (trigger #294835) at
07:03:28 UT, 61 seconds after the BAT trigger. In a 1.23ks
exposure Photon Counting mode image obtained during the first orbit
we find a refined XRT position of RA, Dec (J2000) = 119.66521, 32.86079
which is
RA(J2000) = 07:58:39.65
Dec(J2000) = +32:51:38.8
with an estimated uncertainty of 4.0 arcsec (radius, 90 percent
containment). This is 13.9 arcsec from the refined BAT position
(Tueller et al., GCN 6954), 4.1 arcsec from the position
of the ROTSE-IIIb afterglow (Schaefer et al., GCN 6948), and
2.3 arcsec from the PAIRITEL position (Bloom et al., GCN 6953).
Due to a high CCD operating temperature caused by the unfavourable sky
position of the burst, along with bright Earth activated hot-pixels,
the XRT remained in Windowed Timing mode for orbits 2 to 5 at which
point the initial Swift observations were halted for today. However,
using the XRT data available at these times, the 0.3-10.0keV X-ray
light curve from T+68s to T+17.6ks shows a powerlaw decline with a
decay index of 1.11+/0.02.
The Windowed Timing mode spectrum from the first orbit (T+68s to
T+315s) is well fit by an absorbed powerlaw with a photon index of
1.86+/-0.07 and a redshifted column density of (4.3+/-1.7)e21 cm^-2
(at z=2.145, Jakobsson et al., GCN 6952), in addition to the 5.1e20
cm^-2 galactic column density in this direction. The observed 0.3-10.0
keV flux during this time is (6.1+/-0.2)e-10 erg cm^-2 s^-1.
Assuming the X-ray light curve decays at the same rate we predict an
XRT count rate of 0.014 count s^-1 at T+24 hours, which corresponds to an
observed 0.3-10keV flux of 6.0e-13 erg cm^-2 s^-1.
This circular is an official product of the Swift-XRT team.
- GCN Circular #6956
L.P. Xin, M. Zhai, Y.L. Qiu, J.Y. Wei, J.Y. Hu, J.S. Deng,
J. Wang, Y. Urata and W.K. Zheng on behalf of EAFON report:
We have imaged the field of GRB071020A (Barthelymy et al=20
GCN6949) using the TNT 0.8 telescope at Xinglong observatory.
A series of R-band images were obtained from 17:08:19.4,=20
10.1 hours after the burst.=20
In our 15*600s combined image, =A0we detected afterglow=20
(Schaefer et al GCN6947, Beardmore et al GCN 6955),=20
The estimated brightness derived from USNO-B1.0 was=20
R=3D21.14 +/- 0.08 at 11.5 hours after the burst
(mean time of the stacked image).
Further observations are encouraging.
This message may be cited.
- GCN Circular #6960
S. Golenetskii, R.Aptekar, E. Mazets, V. Pal'shin, D. Frederiks,
and T. Cline on behalf of the Konus-Wind team report:
The long GRB 071020 (Swift-BAT trigger #294835:
Holland et al., GCN 6949, Tueller et al., GCN 6954) triggered
Konus-Wind at T0=25346.637 s UT (07:02:26.637).
The burst light curve shows a multipeaked structure
with a duration of ~3.5 s.
As observed by Konus-Wind the burst
had a fluence of 7.71(-4.76, +0.39)x10^-6 erg/cm2,
and a 64-ms peak flux measured from T0+2.416 s
of 6.04(-3.88, +1.12)x10^-6 erg/cm2/s
(both in the 20 keV - 2 MeV energy range).
The time-integrated spectrum of the burst
(from T0 to T0+8.448 s) is well fitted (in the 20 keV - 2 MeV range)
by a power law with exponential cutoff model:
dN/dE ~ E^(-alpha)*exp(-E*(2-alpha)/Ep)
with alpha = 0.65(-0.32, +0.27)
and Ep = 322(-53, +80) keV (chi2 = 64.4/61 dof).
Fitting by GRBM (Band) model yields only an upper limit
on the high energy photon index: beta < -1.97.
All the quoted errors are at the 90% confidence level.
Assuming z = 2.145 (Jakobsson et al., GCN 6952)
and a standard cosmology model with H_0 = 70 km/s/Mpc,
Omega_M = 0.3, Omega_\Lambda = 0.7,
the isotropic bolometric energy release is E_iso ~8x10^52 erg, and
the maximum bolometric luminosity is (L_iso)_max ~2x10^53 erg/s.
The Konus-Wind light curve of this GRB is available
at http://www.ioffe.rssi.ru/LEA/GRBs/GRB071020_T25346/
- GCN Report 94.1
GCN_Report 94.1 has been posted:
http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/reports/report_94_1.pdf
by S.T. Holland
at CRESST/USRA/GSFC
titled: "Swift Observations of GRB 071020"
- GCN Circular #6970
M. Im, I. Lee (Seoul National University), and Y. Urata
(Saitama University) on behalf of the EAFON team:
Using the Mt. Lemmon (Arizona, US) 1.0m telescope
operated by the Korea Astronomy Space Science Institute,
we observed GRB071020 (GCN 6949, Holland et al.),
beginning at 09:01:45 UT on Oct 21. (1.0825 days after the burst).
We confirm the afterglow (GCN6948 Schaefer, McKay, & Yuan; GCN6956,
Xin et al.; GCN6953, Bloom et al.).
Compared with the photometry in the report by Xin et al. (GCN6956),
our data suggest that the afterglow is not fading signficiantly over
the 12 hrs span and may even be brightenning by a small amount.
Since the target is still bright enough for small telescopes,
we encourage the further observations of this object.
Photometry of the object is given below.
t_start (UT) Filter exp (sec) R-mag err
-----------------------------------------------------
Oct. 21,
09:01:45 R 15x300 20.93 0.09
This message may be cited.
We acknowldege the help for a series of LOAO GRB
observations by the LOAO operators, J.H. Yoon and I.K. Baek.
- GCN Circular #6978
P. Chandra (UVA/NRAO) and D. A. Frail (NRAO) report on behalf of the
Caltech-NRAO-Carnegie GRB Collaboration:
"We observed the field centered on the XRT position of the Swift burst
GRB 071020 (GCN 6949) using the VLA at a frequency of 8.46 GHz.
The observations were taken at a mean time of 11.21 UT on 22nd Oct 07.
We detect the radio afterglow of GRB 071020 at the following position:
RA(J2000) 07 58 39.78
Dec(J2000) +32 51 39.56
The flux density of the GRB is 186+/-26 uJy.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National
Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated
Universities, Inc."
- GCN Circular #6979
Adria C. Updike, Dieter H. Hartmann (Clemson University) and Todd
Hillwig (Valparaiso University) report on behalf of the Clemson GRB
Follow-Up Team:
We observed the field of GRB 071020 (GCN 6949, Holland et al.) beginning
1 hour after the trigger with the SARA 0.9m telescope on Kitt Peak. In
48 minutes of stacked exposures, we detect the afterglow (GCN 6948,
Schaefer et al.) in the R band at 19.7 +/- 0.2, calibrated relative to
10 field stars in the USNO B1.0 catalog. Observations ended at 2 hours
and 11 minutes after the burst.
This message may be cited.
Information on the SARA observatory may be found at
http://astro.fit.edu/sara/sara.html
- GCN Circular #6981
Veli-Pekka Hentunen (Taurus Hill Observatory, Varkaus, Finland) reports to
the AAVSO International High Energy Network the following optical
observations of GRB071020 (GCN #6979, Holland et al.):
Markku Nissinen, Henri Taino and Veli-Pekka Hentunen report the detection
of the optical afterglow of GRB 071020 (Holland et al., GCN 6949; Schaefer
et al., GCN 6948; Yuan et al., GCN 6951; Xin et al., GCN 6956). The
afterglow was observed unfiltered approximately 17 hours post-burst, using
a 0.3-meter Meade LX200 at Taurus Hill Observatory. The source was
detected with marginal signal to noise at an unfiltered magnitude of 20.9
+/- 0.3, with an observational mid-point time of 2007 October 20, 23:54:37
UT. The magnitude is calibrated relative to GSC 0247201072 (GSC1.2) with
a magnitude of 13.54. The afterglow magnitude is consistent with an
earlier observation by Xin et al. (GCN 6956) as well as with a later
observation by Im et al. (GCN 6970).
The AAVSO thanks the Curry Foundation for their continued support of the
AAVSO International High Energy Network.
- GCN Circular #6984
T. A. Fatkhullin, V. V. Sokolov (SAO-RAS Nizhnij Arkhyz), S. Guziy=20
(Nikolaev St. Univ.), A. de Ugarte Postigo (ESO Santiago), D.=20
P=E9rez-Ram=EDrez (Univ. de Ja=E9n and U. Leicester), J. Gorosabel, M. Je=
l=EDnek=20
and A. J. Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC Granada), on behalf of a larger=20
collaboration, report:
"Following the detection of GRB 071020 by SWIFT (Holland et al. GCN=20
Circ. 6949) we obtained optical spectroscopy with the 6.0m BTA=20
telescope (+SCORPIO) of the SAO-RAS. In spite of poor weather=20
conditions (dense cirrus) we managed to get 4 x 1200s spectra of the=20
proposed optical afterglow (Schaefer et al. GCN Circ. 6948). The data=20
were taken on Oct 21.05 U.T. (i.e. 18 hr after the event), with the VPHG=20
400 grism (range 3700-9000 A).
We identify absorption lines from Fe II (2344, 2586 and 2600) and=20
possibly C IV (1548-1550) and Fe II (1608), at z = 2.142 =B1 0.002. This=20
confirms the lower limit to the GRB 071020 redshift derived from VLT=20
spectroscopy (Jakobsson et al., GCN Circ. 6952). Moreover, we do not=20
see any flux drop in the OA spectrum around 4300 A as the VLT spectrum=20
may suggest. However, there are indications of a flux drop at ~3870A but
the low S/N ratio in this range prevents us to draw any further=20
conclusion."
This message can be quoted.
- GCN Circular #7006
R. Hara, E.Sonoda, H.hayasi, N.Ohmori, K.Kono H. Tanaka, M.Yamauchi
(University of Miyazaki)
We have observed the field covering the error circle of
GRB071020 (GCN 6954, J. Tueller et al.) with
the unfiltered CCD camera on the 30-cm telescope at
University of Miyazaki.
The observation was started 15:29:35 UT, ~507 min.
after the Swift trigger time.
We have compared our data of 30 sec exposures
with the USNO-A2.0 catalog,there is no new source
at the reported position (GCN 6948, B.E.Schaefer et al.
GCN 6949, S.T.Holland et al. GCN 6978, P. Chandra et al.)
the upper limits are as follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Start(UT) End(UT) Num. of frames Limit (mag.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
15:31:27 15:31:57 1 ~16.5
15:31:27 16:24:39 20 ~17.0
---------------------------------------------------------------
- GCN Circular #7026
T. Ishimura, Y. Yatsu, T. Shimokawabe, N. Kawai (Tokyo Tech) and
M. Yoshida (NAOJ) report on behalf of the MITSuME collaboration:
We observed the field of GRB 071020 (Holland et al. , GCN6949) with
the 3-color 50cm MITSuME Telescope at Akeno, Japan from UT 16:21 to
UT 19:53 on Oct. 20, 9.3 hours after the trigger.
In the co-added images of Ic and Rc bands, we detected the optical
afterglow reported by Schaefer et al. (GCN 6948). Photometric
calibration was done using the USNO-B1.0 (Ic-band) and NOMAD (g'- and
Rc-bands) catalogs. The results are following:
Filter start end Exposure Mag
------------------------------------------------------
g' 16:21:13 19:53:55 149 x 60s >21.1 (3 sigma upper limit)
Rc 16:21:13 19:53:55 149 x 60s 21.2 +/- 0.3
Ic 16:21:13 19:53:55 149 x 60s 19.8 +/- 0.3
------------------------------------------------------
- GCN Report 94.2
GCN_Report 94.2 has been posted:
http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/reports/report_94_2.pdf
by S.T. Holland
at CRESST/USRA/GSFC
titled: "Final Swift Observations of GRB 071020"
Correction: Fixed the aurguments
- GCN Circular #7146
S. Sergeev, V. Rumyantsev (CrAO), A. Pozanenko (IKI) report on behalf of
larger GRB follow-up collaboration:
We observed the optical afterglow (Schaefer et al. GCN 6948) of GRB071020
(Tueller et al. GCN 6954) in I and B bands on Oct.10-11 between (UT)
23:51:34 - 01:11:47 with AZT-8 telescope of CrAO. We detected the afterglow
in I-band, and not detected it in B-band. Based on SDSS stars (Cool et al.
GCN 6950) RA=119.66618, Dec=32.84706; RA=119.68899, Dec=32.84803;
RA=119.66782, Dec=32.85465 we estimated brightness of the optical
afterglow on a stacked images:
T0+, Exposure, Filter, mag., UL
(mid time)
0.730 d 12x90 s I 20.5 +/-0.3 20.5
0.728 d 12x180 s B n/d 21.0
The message may be cited.
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