Gamma-ray Burst 140318A

(All information courtesy of the instrument teams.)

Previous IAU Circulars

• none

• GCN/BACODINE POSITION NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:26:38 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-BAT GRB Position
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  GRB_RA:          184.053d {+12h 16m 13s} (J2000),
                   184.233d {+12h 16m 56s} (current),
                   183.419d {+12h 13m 41s} (1950)
  GRB_DEC:         +20.207d {+20d 12' 27"} (J2000),
                   +20.129d {+20d 07' 43"} (current),
                   +20.485d {+20d 29' 07"} (1950)
  GRB_ERROR:       3.00 [arcmin radius, statistical only]
  GRB_INTEN:       44591 [cnts]    Image_Peak=622 [image_cnts]
  TRIGGER_DUR:     12.160 [sec] 
  TRIGGER_INDEX:   478     E_range: 25-100 keV
  BKG_INTEN:       218794 [cnts]
  BKG_TIME:        452.22 SOD {00:07:32.22} UT
  BKG_DUR:         64 [sec]
  GRB_DATE:        16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  GRB_TIME:        547.97 SOD {00:09:07.97} UT
  GRB_PHI:         125.53 [deg]
  GRB_THETA:        28.48 [deg]
  SOLN_STATUS:     0x3
  RATE_SIGNIF:     12.24 [sigma]
  IMAGE_SIGNIF:    8.50 [sigma]
  MERIT_PARAMS:     +1  +0  +0  +4  +2  -1  +0  +0 +93  +0 
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 12s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 39"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.84 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.87d {+12h 43m 29s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 31"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.25 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.72, 79.38 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.08 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-BAT GRB Coordinates.  
  COMMENTS:        This Notice was delayed by more than 60 sec past the end of the trigger integration interval;  
  COMMENTS:        probably due to it occurring during a Malindi downlink session.  
  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 = 77.13,16.97 [deg].  
  

• red DSS finding chart ps-file
  
  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:27:23 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Position
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  GRB_RA:          184.0906d {+12h 16m 21.74s} (J2000),
                   184.2705d {+12h 17m 04.92s} (current),
                   183.4569d {+12h 13m 49.65s} (1950)
  GRB_DEC:         +20.2080d {+20d 12' 28.7"} (J2000),
                   +20.1291d {+20d 07' 44.7"} (current),
                   +20.4858d {+20d 29' 08.8"} (1950)
  GRB_ERROR:       6.9 [arcsec radius, statistical plus systematic, 90% containment]
  GRB_INTEN:       3.63e-10 [erg/cm2/sec]
  GRB_SIGNIF:      4.58 [sigma]
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  672.72 SOD {00:11:12.72} UT,   124.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  TAM[0-3]:        327.67 237.21 261.57 243.68
  AMPLIFIER:       2
  WAVEFORM:        134
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 12s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 38"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.83 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.88d {+12h 43m 31s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 38"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.24 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.84, 79.41 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
  ECL_COORDS:      175.36, 20.09 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Coordinates.  
  COMMENTS:        The XRT position is 2.13 arcmin from the BAT position.  
  

• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:27:36 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  GRB_RA:          184.0906d {+12h 16m 21.7s} (J2000),
                   184.2705d {+12h 17m 04.9s} (current),
                   183.4569d {+12h 13m 49.6s} (1950)
  GRB_DEC:         +20.2080d {+20d 12' 28.7"} (J2000),
                   +20.1291d {+20d 07' 44.7"} (current),
                   +20.4858d {+20d 29' 08.8"} (1950)
  GRB_ERROR:       6.8 [arcsec, radius, statistical plus systematic]
  GRB_INTEN:       21 [cnts]
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  672.72 SOD {00:11:12.72} UT,   124.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  CENTROID_X:      315.20,  raw= 315  [pixels]
  CENTROID_Y:      257.52,  raw= 258  [pixels]
  ROLL:            19.18 [deg]
  GAIN:            1
  MODE:            3, Long Image mode
  WAVEFORM:        134
  EXPO_TIME:       2.50 [sec]
  GRB_POS_XRT_Y:   -94.95
  GRB_POS_XRT_Z:   23.35
  IMAGE_URL:       sw00592204000msxps_rw.img
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 12s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 38"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.83 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.88d {+12h 43m 31s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 40"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.24 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.84, 79.41 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
  ECL_COORDS:      175.36, 20.09 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Image.  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:27:46 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  GRB_RA:          184.0906d {+12h 16m 21.7s} (J2000),
                   184.2705d {+12h 17m 04.9s} (current),
                   183.4569d {+12h 13m 49.6s} (1950)
  GRB_DEC:         +20.2080d {+20d 12' 28.7"} (J2000),
                   +20.1291d {+20d 07' 44.7"} (current),
                   +20.4858d {+20d 29' 08.8"} (1950)
  GRB_ERROR:       6.8 [arcsec, radius, statistical plus systematic]
  GRB_INTEN:       21 [cnts]
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  672.72 SOD {00:11:12.72} UT,   124.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  CENTROID_X:      315.20,  raw= 315  [pixels]
  CENTROID_Y:      257.52,  raw= 258  [pixels]
  ROLL:            19.18 [deg]
  GAIN:            1
  MODE:            3, Long Image mode
  WAVEFORM:        134
  EXPO_TIME:       2.50 [sec]
  GRB_POS_XRT_Y:   -94.95
  GRB_POS_XRT_Z:   23.35
  IMAGE_URL:       sw00592204000msxps_rw.img
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 12s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 37"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.83 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.88d {+12h 43m 32s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 42"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.24 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.84, 79.41 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
  ECL_COORDS:      175.36, 20.09 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Processed Image.  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:28:18 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Source List
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:        184.066d {+12h 16m 16s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       +20.223d {+20d 13' 23"} (J2000)
  POINT_ROLL:      19.180d
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  680.08 SOD {00:11:20.08} UT,   132.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          10, White
  BKG_MEAN:        2.551
  N_STARS:         15
  X_OFFSET:        328 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        568 [pixels]
  X_MAX:           1287 [pixels]
  Y_MAX:           1527 [pixels]
  DET_THRESH:      13
  PHOTO_THRESH:    7
  SL_URL:          sw00592204000msufc0132.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 13s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 37"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.83 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.89d {+12h 43m 33s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 47"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.27 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.70, 79.40 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.10 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Source List.  
  

• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:28:01 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-BAT GRB Lightcurve
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  GRB_RA:          184.053d {+12h 16m 13s} (J2000),
                   184.233d {+12h 16m 56s} (current),
                   183.419d {+12h 13m 41s} (1950)
  GRB_DEC:         +20.207d {+20d 12' 27"} (J2000),
                   +20.129d {+20d 07' 43"} (current),
                   +20.485d {+20d 29' 07"} (1950)
  GRB_DATE:        16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  GRB_TIME:        547.97 SOD {00:09:07.97} UT
  TRIGGER_INDEX:   478
  GRB_PHI:         125.53 [deg]
  GRB_THETA:        28.48 [deg]
  DELTA_TIME:      26.00 [sec]
  TRIGGER_DUR:     12.160 [sec] 
  SOLN_STATUS:     0x3
  RATE_SIGNIF:     12.24 [sigma]
  IMAGE_SIGNIF:    8.50 [sigma]
  LC_URL:          sw00592204000msb.lc
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 12s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 37"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.84 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.88d {+12h 43m 32s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 44"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.25 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.72, 79.38 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.08 [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 = 77.13,16.97 [deg].  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:28:36 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:        184.066d {+12h 16m 16s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       +20.223d {+20d 13' 23"} (J2000)
  ROLL:            19.180d
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  680.08 SOD {00:11:20.08} UT,   132.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          10, White
  EXPOSURE_ID:     416794291
  X_OFFSET:        839 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        1056 [pixels]
  WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
  HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
  X_GRB_POS:       999
  Y_GRB_POS:       1216
  BINNING_INDEX:   1
  IM_URL:          sw00592204000msuni0144.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 13s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 37"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.83 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.89d {+12h 43m 33s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 50"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.27 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.70, 79.40 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.10 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Image.  
  COMMENTS:        The GRB Position came from the XRT Position Command.  
  COMMENTS:        The image has 2x2 binning (compression).  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:29:46 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Source List
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:        184.068d {+12h 16m 16s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       +20.223d {+20d 13' 22"} (J2000)
  POINT_ROLL:      19.183d
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  838.07 SOD {00:13:58.07} UT,   290.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          7, U
  BKG_MEAN:        0.055
  N_STARS:         4
  X_OFFSET:        519 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        736 [pixels]
  X_MAX:           1478 [pixels]
  Y_MAX:           1695 [pixels]
  DET_THRESH:      3
  PHOTO_THRESH:    2
  SL_URL:          sw00592204000msufc0290.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 13s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 35"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.90d {+12h 43m 36s}   -6.33d {-06d 20' 02"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.27 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.71, 79.40 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.10 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Source List.  
  

• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:28:56 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:        184.066d {+12h 16m 16s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       +20.223d {+20d 13' 23"} (J2000)
  ROLL:            19.180d
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  680.08 SOD {00:11:20.08} UT,   132.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          10, White
  EXPOSURE_ID:     416794291
  X_OFFSET:        839 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        1056 [pixels]
  WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
  HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
  X_GRB_POS:       999
  Y_GRB_POS:       1216
  BINNING_INDEX:   1
  IM_URL:          sw00592204000msuni0144.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 13s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 36"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.83 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.89d {+12h 43m 34s}   -6.33d {-06d 19' 53"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.27 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.70, 79.40 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.10 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Processed Image.  
  COMMENTS:        The GRB Position came from the XRT Position Command.  
  COMMENTS:        The image has 2x2 binning (compression).  
  COMMENTS:        If you have elected to receive attachments:  
  COMMENTS:        The uvot_catalog_image.fits.gz file does not exist; skipping the attachment.  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:30:59 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:        184.068d {+12h 16m 16s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       +20.223d {+20d 13' 22"} (J2000)
  ROLL:            19.183d
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  838.07 SOD {00:13:58.07} UT,   290.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          7, U
  EXPOSURE_ID:     416794449
  X_OFFSET:        839 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        1056 [pixels]
  WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
  HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
  X_GRB_POS:       999
  Y_GRB_POS:       1216
  BINNING_INDEX:   1
  IM_URL:          sw00592204000msuni0302.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 13s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 34"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.91d {+12h 43m 38s}   -6.34d {-06d 20' 14"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.28 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.71, 79.40 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.10 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Image.  
  COMMENTS:        The GRB Position came from the XRT Position Command.  
  COMMENTS:        The image has 2x2 binning (compression).  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Tue 18 Mar 14 00:31:13 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     592204,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:        184.068d {+12h 16m 16s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       +20.223d {+20d 13' 22"} (J2000)
  ROLL:            19.183d
  IMG_START_DATE:  16734 TJD;    77 DOY;   14/03/18
  IMG_START_TIME:  838.07 SOD {00:13:58.07} UT,   290.1 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          7, U
  EXPOSURE_ID:     416794449
  X_OFFSET:        839 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        1056 [pixels]
  WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
  HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
  X_GRB_POS:       999
  Y_GRB_POS:       1216
  BINNING_INDEX:   1
  IM_URL:          sw00592204000msuni0302.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       357.55d {+23h 50m 13s}   -1.06d {-01d 03' 34"}
  SUN_DIST:        159.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= 11.6 [hr] (West of Sun)
  MOON_POSTN:      190.91d {+12h 43m 39s}   -6.34d {-06d 20' 16"}
  MOON_DIST:        27.28 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      98 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      251.71, 79.40 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:      175.33, 20.10 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Processed Image.  
  COMMENTS:        The GRB Position came from the XRT Position Command.  
  COMMENTS:        The image has 2x2 binning (compression).  
  COMMENTS:        If you have elected to receive attachments:  
  COMMENTS:        The uvot_catalog_image.fits.gz file does not exist; skipping the attachment.  
  

  
• GCN Circular #15986
  S. B. Cenko (GSFC), M. G. Bernardini (INAF-OAB), D. N. Burrows (PSU), P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), J. A. Kennea (PSU), H. A. Krimm (CRESST/GSFC/USRA), A. Y. Lien (NASA/GSFC/ORAU), F. E. Marshall (NASA/GSFC), A. Melandri (INAF-OAB), T. Sakamoto (AGU), B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU) and M. H. Siegel (PSU) report on behalf of the Swift Team:
  At 00:09:07 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and located GRB 140318A (trigger=592204). Swift slewed immediately to the burst. The BAT on-board calculated location is RA, Dec 184.053, +20.207 which is

     RA(J2000) = 12h 16m 13s
     Dec(J2000) = +20d 12' 27"
  

  with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including systematic uncertainty). The BAT light curve showed a single peak structure with a duration of about 30 sec. The peak count rate was ~1320 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~5 sec after the trigger.
  The XRT began observing the field at 00:11:12.7 UT, 124.8 seconds after the BAT trigger. XRT found a bright, uncatalogued X-ray source located at RA, Dec 184.0906, 20.2080 which is equivalent to:

     RA(J2000)  = +12h 16m 21.74s
     Dec(J2000) = +20d 12' 28.8"
  

  with an uncertainty of 6.9 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This location is 127 arcseconds from the BAT onboard position, within the BAT error circle. No event data are yet available to determine the column density using X-ray spectroscopy.
  The initial flux in the 2.5 s image was 3.63e-10 erg cm^-2 s^-1 (0.2-10 keV).
  UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter starting 132 seconds after the BAT trigger. No credible afterglow candidate has been found in the initial data products. Results from the 2.7'x2.7' sub-image are not available at this time. The 8'x8' region for the list of sources generated on-board covers 100% of the XRT error circle. The list of sources is typically complete to about 18 mag. No correction has been made for the expected extinction corresponding to E(B-V) of 0.02.
  Burst Advocate for this burst is S. B. Cenko (brad.cenko AT 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 Circular #15987
  S. Schulze (PUC and MCSS), T. Kruehler (ESO Chile), N. R. Tanvir (U Leicester), A. A. Djupvik (NOT), and P. Jakobsson (U Iceland) report on behalf of a larger collaboration:
  We observed the field of GRB 140318A (Cenko et al., GCN 15986) with 2.5m the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) equipped with StanCAM. We obtained 3 x 300 s in the R band. Observations started at 00:52:00 UT on March 18 (i.e. 43 min after the burst).
  We detect a bright point source at the position

  R.A.(J2000)  = 12:16:21.40
  Dec. (J2000) = +20:12:31.9
  

  We measure R = 19.7 +/- 0.1 mag at 45 min after the trigger. The object coincides with a faint galaxy in the SDSS catalog which we identify as the putative host galaxy. SDSS J121621.38+201232.1 has a r'-band magnitude of 22.87 +/-0.26 mag(AB) and a photometric redshift of 0.42 +/- 0.02.
• GCN Circular #15988
  N. R. Tanvir (U. Leicester), T. Kruehler (ESO Chile), S. Schulze (PUC and MCSS), R. Karjalainen (ING) report:
  We observed the afterglow of GRB 140318A (Cenko et al. GCN 15986; Schulze et al. GCN 15987) with the WHT using the ACAM spectrograph, beginning March 18 02:06 UT, approximately 2 hours post-trigger. The wavelength range covered was from about 5000 AA to 9500 AA.
  In our provisional reduction, the continuum trace of the aftergow+host is well detected, and a single emission line is seen at ~7520 AA. It is most likely that this is OII 3727, given the absence of any other lines. We therefore infer a redshift of z=1.02, and tentatively identify this as the redshift of the burst.
  Further analysis is ongoing.
• GCN Circular #15989
  J. Capone (UMD), E. Troja (NASA-GSFC), V. Toy (UMD), S.B. Cenko (NASA-GSFC), A. Kutyrev (NASA-GSFC), A. Cucchiara (NASA-GSFC), S. Veilleux (UMD), and S. Gezari (UMD) report on behalf of a larger collaboration:
  We observed the field of GRB140318A (Cenko et al., GCN 15986) with the Large Monolithic Imager (LMI) on the recently commissioned 4.3m Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) at Happy Jack, AZ. We started a sequence of r', i' and z' images beginning at 2014-03-18 03:32 UTC (approximately 3.5 hours after the Swift trigger).
  A source is clearly detected in all filters at the location of the optical afterglow (Schulze et al, GCN 15987). Using nearby point sources from SDSS for calibration, we measure preliminary magnitudes of r' = 21.6 +/- 0.2, i' = 21.14 +/- 0.06 and z' = 20.86 +/- 0.04 at an average time of ~5 hours after the GRB. These values are not corrected for Galactic extinction in the direction of the GRB.
  The source shows evidence of fading when compared with the NOT observation, confirming that this is the optical afterglow.
  Additional multi-band observations are ongoing.
  We thank the staff of the Discovery Channel Telescope for assistance with these observations.
• GCN Circular #15990
  Owen Littlejohns (ASU), Nat Butler (ASU), Alan M. Watson (UNAM), Alexander Kutyrev (GSFC), William H. Lee (UNAM), Michael G. Richer (UNAM), Chris Klein (UCB), Ori Fox (UCB), J. Xavier Prochaska (UCSC), Josh Bloom (UCB), Antonino Cucchiara (ORAU/GSFC), Eleonora Troja (GSFC), Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (UCSC), Jos=E9 A. de Diego (UNAM), Leonid Georgiev (UNAM), Jes=FAs Gonz=E1lez (UNAM), Carlos Rom=E1n-Z=FA=F1iga (UNAM), Neil Gehrels (GSFC), and Harvey Moseley (GSFC) report:
  We observed the field of GRB 140318A (Cenko, et al., GCN 15986) with the Reionization and Transients Infrared Camera (RATIR; www.ratir.org) on the 1.5m Harold Johnson Telescope at the Observatorio Astron=F3mico Nacional on Sierra San Pedro M=E1rtir from 2014/03 18.15 to 2014/03 18.31 UTC (3.36 to 7.40 hours after the BAT trigger) obtaining a total of 0.99 hours exposure in the r and i bands and 0.60 hours exposure in the Z, Y, J, and H bands.
  We detect the previously reported optical counterpart (Schulze, et al. GCN 15987). In comparison with the SDSS DR9 and 2MASS, we obtain the following detections:

    r     21.88 +/- 0.33
    i     21.37 +/- 0.18
    Z     20.67 +/- 0.20
    Y     20.76 +/- 0.29
    J     20.60 +/- 0.21
    H     20.29 +/- 0.19
  

  These magnitudes are in the AB system and are not corrected for Galactic extinction in the direction of the GRB. In comparison to the observations of Schulze, et al. (GCN 15987) the measured r-band magnitude is consistent with a power-law decay with a temporal index alpha =3D -1.0.
  We thank the staff of the Observatorio Astron=F3mico Nacional in San Pedro M=E1rtir.
• GCN Circular #15991
  M.R. Goad, J.P. Osborne, A.P. Beardmore and P.A. Evans (U. Leicester) report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team.
  Using 2346 s of XRT Photon Counting mode data and 5 UVOT images for GRB 140318A, we find an astrometrically corrected X-ray position (using the XRT-UVOT alignment and matching UVOT field sources to the USNO-B1 catalogue): RA, Dec = 184.08924, +20.20902 which is equivalent to:

  RA (J2000): 12h 16m 21.42s
  Dec (J2000): +20d 12' 32.5"
  

  with an uncertainty of 1.9 arcsec (radius, 90% confidence).
  This position may be improved as more data are received. The latest position can be viewed at http://www.swift.ac.uk/xrt_positions. Position enhancement is described by Goad et al. (2007, A&A, 476, 1401) and Evans et al. (2009, MNRAS, 397, 1177).
  This circular was automatically generated, and is an official product of the Swift-XRT team.
• GCN Circular #15992
  A. Melandri (INAF-OAB), C. Guidorzi (U. Ferrara), A. Gomboc (U. Ljubljana), I. A. Steele and C. G. Mundell (LJMU), on behalf of a large collaboration report:
  The 2-m Liverpool Telescope robotically followed up Swift GRB 140318A (Cenko et al., GCN 15986) at 00:27:37 UT (~18.5 min after the burst trigger).
  We clearly detect the optical afterglow at the position reported by Schulze et al. (GCN 15987). In a coadded 6x10s SDSS-r image, we estimate the magnitude r' = 19.84 +- 0.11 at t_mid = 50.6 min since the Swift/BAT trigger time. The magnitude is calibrated against nearby SDSS stars.
• GCN Circular #15993
  C. Pagani (U. Leicester), A. Melandri (INAF-OAB), B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU), P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), V. Mangano (PSU), M.C. Stroh (PSU), D.N. Burrows (PSU), A.P. Beardmore (U. Leicester), P.A. Evans (U. Leicester) and S.B. Cenko report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team:
  We have analysed 6.7 ks of XRT data for GRB 140318A (Cenko et al. GCN Circ. 15986), from 114 s to 46.2 ks after the BAT trigger. The data comprise 219 s in Windowed Timing (WT) mode (the first 9 s were taken while Swift was slewing) with the remainder in Photon Counting (PC) mode. The enhanced XRT position for this burst was given by Goad et al. (GCN Circ. 15991).
  The light curve can be modelled with an initial power-law decay with an index of alpha=0.48 (+/-0.20), followed by a break at T+263 s to an alpha of 1.88 (+0.07, -0.06).
  A spectrum formed from the WT mode data can be fitted with an absorbed power-law with a photon spectral index of 2.21 (+0.12, -0.11). The best-fitting absorption column is 1.14 (+0.27, -0.25) x 10^21 cm^-2, in excess of the Galactic value of 2.6 x 10^20 cm^-2 (Kalberla et al. 2005). The counts to observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux conversion factor deduced from this spectrum is 2.9 x 10^-11 (3.9 x 10^-11) erg cm^-2 count^-1.
  A summary of the WT-mode spectrum is thus:

  Total column:	     1.14 (+0.27, -0.25) x 10^21 cm^-2
  Galactic foreground: 2.6 x 10^20 cm^-2
  Excess significance: 5.8 sigma
  Photon index:	     2.21 (+0.12, -0.11)
  

  If the light curve continues to decay with a power-law decay index of 1.88, the count rate at T+24 hours will be 2.1 x 10^-4 count s^-1, corresponding to an observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux of 6.2 x 10^-15 (8.3 x 10^-15) erg cm^-2 s^-1.
  The results of the XRT-team automatic analysis are available at http://www.swift.ac.uk/xrt_products/00592204.
  This circular is an official product of the Swift-XRT team.
• GCN Circular #15996
  C. B. Markwardt (GSFC), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), W. H. Baumgartner (GSFC/UMBC), S. B. Cenko (GSFC), J. R. Cummings (GSFC/UMBC), N. Gehrels (GSFC), H. A. Krimm (GSFC/USRA), A. Y. Lien (NASA/UMBC), D. M. Palmer (LANL), T. Sakamoto (AGU), M. Stamatikos (OSU), J. Tueller (GSFC), T. N. Ukwatta (MSU) (i.e. the Swift-BAT team):
  Using the data set from T-240 to T+962 sec from the recent telemetry downlink, we report further analysis of BAT GRB 140318A (trigger #592204) (Cenko, et al., GCN Circ. 15986). The BAT ground-calculated position is RA, Dec = 184.049, 20.225 deg which is

    RA(J2000)  =  12h 16m 11.8s
    Dec(J2000) = +20d 13' 30.8"
  

  with an uncertainty of 2.1 arcmin, (radius, sys+stat, 90% containment). The partial coding was 49%.
  The mask-weighted light curve shows a main single pulse starts at ~T+2 s and ends at ~T+12 s, with some weak extented emissions starting before the main pulse at ~T-20 s and extended after the pulse to ~T+50 s. T90 (15-350 keV) is 8.43 +- 1.27 sec (estimated error including systematics).
  The time-averaged spectrum from T+2.24 to T+11.68 sec is best fit by a simple power-law model. The power law index of the time-averaged spectrum is 1.35 +- 0.28. The fluence in the 15-150 keV band is 2.9 +- 0.5 x 10^-7 erg/cm2. The 1-sec peak photon flux measured from T+5.48 sec in the 15-150 keV band is 0.5 +- 0.2 ph/cm2/sec. All the quoted errors are at the 90% confidence level.
  The results of the batgrbproduct analysis are available at http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/notices_s/592204/BA/
• GCN Circular #15997
  B. Porterfield (PSU) and Cenko (GSFC) report on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team:
  The Swift/UVOT began settled observations of the field of GRB 140318A 132 s after the BAT trigger (Cenko et al., GCN Circ. 15986). No optical afterglow consistent with the XRT position (Cenko et al. GCN Circ. 15986) or NOT position (Schulze et al., GCN Circ 15987) is detected in the initial UVOT exposures. Preliminary 3-sigma upper limits using the UVOT photometric system (Breeveld et al. 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1358, 373) for the first finding chart (FC) exposure and subsequent exposures are:

  Filter         T_start(s)   T_stop(s)      Exp(s)         Mag
  
  white_FC           132          282          147         >21.2
  white              132         5340          541         >21.9
  v                 4115         5750          393         >19.6
  b                 3499         5135          393         >20.9
  u                 4730         4930          197         >20.1
  w1                4525         6063          298         >20.5
  m2                4320         5955          393         >21.2
  w2                3910         5546          393         >20.7
  

  The magnitudes in the table are not corrected for the Galactic extinction due to the reddening of E(B-V) = 0.02 in the direction of the burst (Schlegel et al. 1998).
• GCN Circular #15998
  A.Volnova (IKI), E. Klunko (ISTP), I. Korobtsev (ISTP), M. Eselevich (ISTP), A. Pozanenko (IKI) report on behalf of larger GRB follow-up collaboration:
  We observed the field of GRB 140318A (Cenko et al., GCN 15986) with AZT-33IK telescope of Mondy observatory starting on Mar. 18 (UT) 13:18:36. Within enhanced Swift-XRT eror circle (Goad et al., GCN 15991) we do not detect the optical afterglow (Schulze et al., GCN 15987). Details of preliminary photometry is following:

  date       UT start   t-T0      Exp.    Filter  UpperLimit (3sigma)
                       (mid, days) (s)
  2014-03-18 13:18:36  0.59896    58x120  R       21.1
  

  The photometry is based on reference star SDSS-DR9, (R mag, transformation by Lupton 2005):

  N  SDSS_id          R(Lupton)   err
  J121613.64+200907.3 16.984    0.008
  

• GCN Circular #15999
  Owen Littlejohns (ASU), Nat Butler (ASU), Alan M. Watson (UNAM), Alexander Kutyrev (GSFC), William H. Lee (UNAM), Michael G. Richer (UNAM), Chris Klein (UCB), Ori Fox (UCB), J. Xavier Prochaska (UCSC), Josh Bloom (UCB), Antonino Cucchiara (ORAU/GSFC), Eleonora Troja (GSFC), Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (UCSC), Jos=E9 A. de Diego (UNAM), Leonid Georgiev (UNAM), Jes=FAs Gonz=E1lez (UNAM), Carlos Rom=E1n-Z=FA=F1= iga (UNAM), Neil Gehrels (GSFC), and Harvey Moseley (GSFC) report:
  We observed the field of GRB 140318A (Cenko, et al., GCN 15986) with the Reionization and Transients Infrared Camera (RATIR; www.ratir.org) on the 1.5m Harold Johnson Telescope at the Observatorio Astron=F3mico Nacional on Sierra San Pedro M=E1rtir from 2014/03 19.13 to 2014/03 19.50 UTC (26.91 to 35.94 hours after the BAT trigger), obtaining a total of 4.88 hours exposure in the r and i bands and 2.46 hours exposure in the Z and Y bands.
  We continue to detect the previously reported optical counterpart (Littlejohns, et al., GCN 15990; Schulze, et al., GCN 15987). In comparison with the SDSS DR9 and 2MASS, we obtain the following detections:

    r     22.52 +/- 0.11
    i     22.05 +/- 0.09
    Z     21.58 +/- 0.12
    Y     21.51 +/- 0.16
  

  These magnitudes are in the AB system and are not corrected for Galactic extinction in the direction of the GRB. Fading of the source is detected for all of the four bands measured in both epochs of RATIR observations. We note that the temporal decay index between these two epochs appears to be shallower than that reported in Littlejohns, et al. (GCN 15990), with -0.5 < alpha < -0.3 for all four bands. This can be interpretted as the magnitude approaching that of the underlying SDSS galaxy reported in Schulze, et al. (GCN 15987).
  We thank the staff of the Observatorio Astron=F3mico Nacional in San Pedro M=E1rtir.