Gamma-ray Burst 190203A

(All information courtesy of the instrument teams.)

Previous IAU Circulars

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Results of Observations

GCN/BACODINE POSITION NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:44:51 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-BAT GRB Position
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA:           22.577d {+01h 30m 18s} (J2000),
                  22.882d {+01h 31m 32s} (current),
                  21.783d {+01h 27m 08s} (1950)
GRB_DEC:         +55.738d {+55d 44' 18"} (J2000),
                 +55.836d {+55d 50' 11"} (current),
                 +55.481d {+55d 28' 50"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR:       3.00 [arcmin radius, statistical only]
GRB_INTEN:       11535 [cnts]    Image_Peak=246 [image_cnts]
TRIGGER_DUR:     4.096 [sec] 
TRIGGER_INDEX:   307     E_range: 50-350 keV
BKG_INTEN:       79718 [cnts]
BKG_TIME:        56593.64 SOD {15:43:13.64} UT
BKG_DUR:         40 [sec]
GRB_DATE:        18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
GRB_TIME:        56648.42 SOD {15:44:08.42} UT
GRB_PHI:          13.26 [deg]
GRB_THETA:        49.33 [deg]
SOLN_STATUS:     0x3
RATE_SIGNIF:     40.00 [sigma]
IMAGE_SIGNIF:    7.89 [sigma]
MERIT_PARAMS:     +1  +0  +0  +2  +3  -2  +0  +1  +0  +0 
SUN_POSTN:       316.98d {+21h 07m 56s}  -16.48d {-16d 28' 30"}
SUN_DIST:         90.85 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.56d {+20h 14m 15s}  -20.31d {-20d 18' 29"}
MOON_DIST:       100.93 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.42, -6.72 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
ECL_COORDS:       45.40, 42.25 [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 = 46.65,15.09 [deg].

red DSS finding chart ps-file

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:46:40 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Processed Image
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA:           22.5984d {+01h 30m 23.6s} (J2000),
                  22.9034d {+01h 31m 36.8s} (current),
                  21.8043d {+01h 27m 13.0s} (1950)
GRB_DEC:         +55.7211d {+55d 43' 15.9"} (J2000),
                 +55.8191d {+55d 49' 08.8"} (current),
                 +55.4633d {+55d 27' 47.9"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR:       4.7 [arcsec, radius, statistical plus systematic]
GRB_INTEN:       145 [cnts]
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56764.05 SOD {15:46:04.05} UT,   115.6 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
CENTROID_X:      342.03,  raw= 342  [pixels]
CENTROID_Y:      315.87,  raw= 316  [pixels]
ROLL:            240.85 [deg]
GAIN:            1
MODE:            3, Long Image mode
WAVEFORM:        134
EXPO_TIME:       2.50 [sec]
GRB_POS_XRT_Y:   41.20
GRB_POS_XRT_Z:   83.99
IMAGE_URL:       sw00887512000msxps_rw.img
SUN_POSTN:       316.98d {+21h 07m 56s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 28"}
SUN_DIST:         90.85 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.58d {+20h 14m 19s}  -20.31d {-20d 18' 22"}
MOON_DIST:       100.92 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.44, -6.73 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
ECL_COORDS:       45.40, 42.22 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Processed Image.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:46:28 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Position
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA:           22.5984d {+01h 30m 23.61s} (J2000),
                  22.9034d {+01h 31m 36.82s} (current),
                  21.8043d {+01h 27m 13.03s} (1950)
GRB_DEC:         +55.7211d {+55d 43' 15.9"} (J2000),
                 +55.8191d {+55d 49' 08.8"} (current),
                 +55.4633d {+55d 27' 47.9"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR:       4.8 [arcsec radius, statistical plus systematic, 90% containment]
GRB_INTEN:       4.46e-09 [erg/cm2/sec]
GRB_SIGNIF:      12.04 [sigma]
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56764.05 SOD {15:46:04.05} UT,   115.6 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
TAM[0-3]:        327.67 237.23 261.79 243.67
AMPLIFIER:       2
WAVEFORM:        134
SUN_POSTN:       316.98d {+21h 07m 56s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 28"}
SUN_DIST:         90.85 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.58d {+20h 14m 19s}  -20.31d {-20d 18' 23"}
MOON_DIST:       100.92 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.44, -6.73 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
ECL_COORDS:       45.40, 42.22 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Coordinates.  
COMMENTS:        The XRT position is 1.27 arcmin from the BAT position.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:47:38 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-BAT GRB Lightcurve
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA:           22.577d {+01h 30m 18s} (J2000),
                  22.882d {+01h 31m 32s} (current),
                  21.783d {+01h 27m 08s} (1950)
GRB_DEC:         +55.738d {+55d 44' 18"} (J2000),
                 +55.836d {+55d 50' 11"} (current),
                 +55.481d {+55d 28' 50"} (1950)
GRB_DATE:        18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
GRB_TIME:        56648.42 SOD {15:44:08.42} UT
TRIGGER_INDEX:   307
GRB_PHI:          13.26 [deg]
GRB_THETA:        49.33 [deg]
DELTA_TIME:      -37.00 [sec]
TRIGGER_DUR:     4.096 [sec] 
SOLN_STATUS:     0x3
RATE_SIGNIF:     40.00 [sigma]
IMAGE_SIGNIF:    7.89 [sigma]
LC_URL:          sw00887512000msb.lc
SUN_POSTN:       316.98d {+21h 07m 56s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 28"}
SUN_DIST:         90.84 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.59d {+20h 14m 21s}  -20.31d {-20d 18' 18"}
MOON_DIST:       100.91 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.42, -6.72 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
ECL_COORDS:       45.40, 42.25 [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 = 46.65,15.09 [deg].

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:46:38 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Image
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA:           22.5984d {+01h 30m 23.6s} (J2000),
                  22.9034d {+01h 31m 36.8s} (current),
                  21.8043d {+01h 27m 13.0s} (1950)
GRB_DEC:         +55.7211d {+55d 43' 15.9"} (J2000),
                 +55.8191d {+55d 49' 08.8"} (current),
                 +55.4633d {+55d 27' 47.9"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR:       4.7 [arcsec, radius, statistical plus systematic]
GRB_INTEN:       145 [cnts]
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56764.05 SOD {15:46:04.05} UT,   115.6 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
CENTROID_X:      342.03,  raw= 342  [pixels]
CENTROID_Y:      315.87,  raw= 316  [pixels]
ROLL:            240.85 [deg]
GAIN:            1
MODE:            3, Long Image mode
WAVEFORM:        134
EXPO_TIME:       2.50 [sec]
GRB_POS_XRT_Y:   41.20
GRB_POS_XRT_Z:   83.99
IMAGE_URL:       sw00887512000msxps_rw.img
SUN_POSTN:       316.98d {+21h 07m 56s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 28"}
SUN_DIST:         90.85 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.58d {+20h 14m 19s}  -20.31d {-20d 18' 22"}
MOON_DIST:       100.92 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.44, -6.73 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst
ECL_COORDS:       45.40, 42.22 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst
COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Image.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:49:07 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Source List
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.552d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.720d {+55d 43' 12"} (J2000)
POINT_ROLL:      240.846d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56769.28 SOD {15:46:09.28} UT,   120.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          10, White
BKG_MEAN:        2.726
N_STARS:         190
X_OFFSET:        376 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        704 [pixels]
X_MAX:           1335 [pixels]
Y_MAX:           1663 [pixels]
DET_THRESH:      14
PHOTO_THRESH:    7
SL_URL:          sw00887512000msufc0120.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 57s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 27"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.60d {+20h 14m 24s}  -20.30d {-20d 18' 13"}
MOON_DIST:       100.88 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.24 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Source List.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:49:24 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Source List
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.552d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.720d {+55d 43' 12"} (J2000)
POINT_ROLL:      240.846d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56769.28 SOD {15:46:09.28} UT,   120.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          10, White
BKG_MEAN:        2.726
N_STARS:         190
X_OFFSET:        376 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        704 [pixels]
X_MAX:           1335 [pixels]
Y_MAX:           1663 [pixels]
DET_THRESH:      14
PHOTO_THRESH:    7
SL_URL:          sw00887512000msufc0120.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 57s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 26"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.60d {+20h 14m 25s}  -20.30d {-20d 18' 12"}
MOON_DIST:       100.88 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.24 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Processed Source List.  
COMMENTS:        All 4 attachments are included.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:50:28 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Image
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.552d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.720d {+55d 43' 12"} (J2000)
ROLL:            240.846d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56769.28 SOD {15:46:09.28} UT,   120.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          10, White
EXPOSURE_ID:     570901591
X_OFFSET:        609 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        899 [pixels]
WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
X_GRB_POS:       769
Y_GRB_POS:       1059
BINNING_INDEX:   1
IM_URL:          sw00887512000msuni0143.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 57s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 26"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.61d {+20h 14m 27s}  -20.30d {-20d 18' 07"}
MOON_DIST:       100.88 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.24 [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:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:50:42 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Image
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.552d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.720d {+55d 43' 12"} (J2000)
ROLL:            240.846d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56769.28 SOD {15:46:09.28} UT,   120.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          10, White
EXPOSURE_ID:     570901591
X_OFFSET:        609 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        899 [pixels]
WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
X_GRB_POS:       769
Y_GRB_POS:       1059
BINNING_INDEX:   1
IM_URL:          sw00887512000msuni0143.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 57s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 25"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.61d {+20h 14m 28s}  -20.30d {-20d 18' 07"}
MOON_DIST:       100.88 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.24 [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:        All 4 attachments are included.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:52:19 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Position
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
GRB_RA:           22.5966d {+01h 30m 23.18s} (J2000),
                  22.9016d {+01h 31m 36.39s} (current),
                  21.8025d {+01h 27m 12.60s} (1950)
GRB_DEC:         +55.7224d {+55d 43' 20.6"} (J2000),
                 +55.8204d {+55d 49' 13.5"} (current),
                 +55.4646d {+55d 27' 52.6"} (1950)
GRB_ERROR:       0.6 [arcsec radius, statistical only]
GRB_MAG:         18.57 +/- 0.14 [mag]
FILTER:          10, White
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56766.00 SOD {15:46:06.00} UT,   117.6 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 57s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 24"}
SUN_DIST:         90.84 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.63d {+20h 14m 31s}  -20.30d {-20d 18' 00"}
MOON_DIST:       100.89 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.44, -6.73 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
ECL_COORDS:       45.40, 42.23 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
COMMENTS:        SWIFT UVOT Position Notice.  
COMMENTS:        This Notice was ground-generated -- not flight-generated.  
COMMENTS:        The UVOT position is 5.8 arcsec from the XRT position.  
COMMENTS:        Result based on Genie data.  
COMMENTS:        Notice generated automatically.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:57:09 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Source List
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.553d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.718d {+55d 43' 03"} (J2000)
POINT_ROLL:      240.845d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56927.31 SOD {15:48:47.31} UT,   278.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          7, U
BKG_MEAN:        0.768
N_STARS:         102
X_OFFSET:        289 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        579 [pixels]
X_MAX:           1248 [pixels]
Y_MAX:           1538 [pixels]
DET_THRESH:      8
PHOTO_THRESH:    3
SL_URL:          sw00887512000msufc0278.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 58s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 21"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.67d {+20h 14m 41s}  -20.30d {-20d 17' 42"}
MOON_DIST:       100.84 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.23 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Source List.

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:57:24 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Source List
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.553d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.718d {+55d 43' 03"} (J2000)
POINT_ROLL:      240.845d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56927.31 SOD {15:48:47.31} UT,   278.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          7, U
BKG_MEAN:        0.768
N_STARS:         102
X_OFFSET:        289 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        579 [pixels]
X_MAX:           1248 [pixels]
Y_MAX:           1538 [pixels]
DET_THRESH:      8
PHOTO_THRESH:    3
SL_URL:          sw00887512000msufc0278.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 58s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 20"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.67d {+20h 14m 42s}  -20.29d {-20d 17' 41"}
MOON_DIST:       100.84 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.23 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Processed Source List.  
COMMENTS:        All 4 attachments are included.

GCN Circular #23845
A. Y. Lien (GSFC/UMBC), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), J. A. Kennea (PSU), N. J. Klingler (PSU), M. H. Siegel (PSU) and A. Tohuvavohu (PSU) report on behalf of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Team:
At 15:44:08 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and located GRB 190203A (trigger=887512). Swift slewed immediately to the burst. The BAT on-board calculated location is RA, Dec 22.577, +55.738 which is
```
  RA(J2000) = 01h 30m 18s
  Dec(J2000) = +55d 44' 18"
```
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including systematic uncertainty). The BAT light curve showed a multi-peaked structure with a duration of about 55 sec. The peak count rate was ~2000 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~2 sec after the trigger.
The XRT began observing the field at 15:46:04.0 UT, 115.7 seconds after the BAT trigger. XRT found a bright, uncatalogued X-ray source located at RA, Dec 22.5984, 55.7211 which is equivalent to:
```
   RA(J2000)  = 01h 30m 23.62s
   Dec(J2000) = +55d 43' 16.0"
```
with an uncertainty of 4.8 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This location is 74 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 4.46e-09 erg cm^-2 s^-1 (0.2-10 keV).
UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter starting 120 seconds after the BAT trigger. There is a candidate afterglow in the rapidly available 2.7'x2.7' sub-image at RA(J2000) = 01:30:23.19 = 22.59662 DEC(J2000) = +55:43:20.7 = 55.72241 with a 90%-confidence error radius of about 0.63 arc sec. This position is 5.9 arc sec. from the center of the XRT error circle. The estimated magnitude is 18.58 with a 1-sigma error of about 0.15. No correction has been made for the expected extinction corresponding to E(B-V) of 0.64.
Burst Advocate for this burst is A. Y. Lien (amy.y.lien 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: /too.html.)

GCN NOTICE

TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
NOTICE_DATE:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:58:35 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Image
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.553d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.718d {+55d 43' 03"} (J2000)
ROLL:            240.845d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56927.31 SOD {15:48:47.31} UT,   278.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          7, U
EXPOSURE_ID:     570901749
X_OFFSET:        609 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        899 [pixels]
WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
X_GRB_POS:       769
Y_GRB_POS:       1059
BINNING_INDEX:   1
IM_URL:          sw00887512000msuni0301.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 58s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 20"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.68d {+20h 14m 44s}  -20.29d {-20d 17' 36"}
MOON_DIST:       100.83 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.23 [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:     Sun 03 Feb 19 15:58:45 UT
NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Image
TRIGGER_NUM:     887512,   Seg_Num: 0
POINT_RA:         22.553d {+01h 30m 13s} (J2000)
POINT_DEC:       +55.718d {+55d 43' 03"} (J2000)
ROLL:            240.845d
IMG_START_DATE:  18517 TJD;    34 DOY;   19/02/03
IMG_START_TIME:  56927.31 SOD {15:48:47.31} UT,   278.9 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
FILTER:          7, U
EXPOSURE_ID:     570901749
X_OFFSET:        609 [pixels]
Y_OFFSET:        899 [pixels]
WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
X_GRB_POS:       769
Y_GRB_POS:       1059
BINNING_INDEX:   1
IM_URL:          sw00887512000msuni0301.fits
SUN_POSTN:       316.99d {+21h 07m 58s}  -16.47d {-16d 28' 19"}
SUN_DIST:         90.82 [deg]   Sun_angle= -4.4 [hr] (East of Sun)
MOON_POSTN:      303.69d {+20h 14m 44s}  -20.29d {-20d 17' 35"}
MOON_DIST:       100.83 [deg]
MOON_ILLUM:      1 [%]
GAL_COORDS:      128.41, -6.74 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
ECL_COORDS:       45.37, 42.23 [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:        All 4 attachments are included.

GCN Circular #23846
A. Novichonok (KIAM), A. Pozanenko (IKI), E. Mazaeva (IKI), S. Belkin (IKI), A. Volnova (IKI), I. Molotov (KIAM) report on behalf of larger GRB follow-up collaboration:
We observed the field of GRB 190203A (Lien , et al., GCN 23845) with Zeiss-1000 1-m telescope of Koshka Observatory starting on Feb. 03 (UT) 02:40:34 in R-filter under not optimal weather conditions. We do not detect the optical afterglow candidate (Lien , et al., GCN 23830). Preliminary photometry of the combined of first 4 images of 4*180 seconds started on 2019-02-03 16:01:10 is R=19.5. Observation is continuing.
The photometry is based on several nearby USNO-B1.0 stars.
GCN Circular #23847
A. S. Moskvitin and O. I. Spiridonova (SAO RAS), A. A. Volnova (IKI RAS), report on behalf of larger collaboration.
We observed the field of the GRB 190203A (Lien et al. GCNC #23845) with the Zeiss-1000 telescope of SAO RAS (+ CCD photometer), started on February, 3, 15:54:38 UT (10.5 min after the trigger).
We clearly detected the OT in the first few 300 sec. Rc band frames (coordinates are consistent with the reported UVOT position).
Preliminary measurements of the OT brightness are as following:
```
T_start, UT  T_end     T_mid-T0, h   exp., s      R     +/- R_err
15:54:38     16:11:51  0.318         3 x 300      19.34 +/- 0.08
16:12:54     16:30:11  0.624         3 x 300      20.46 +/- 0.12
16:30:54     17:19:23  1.183         8 x 300      21.23 +/- 0.14
```
OT is fading quickly with the slope about -1.3. The photometry is based on the nearby USNO-B1 stars. No correction has been made for the Galactic extinction.
GCN Circular #23848
M.R. Goad, J.P. Osborne, A.P. Beardmore and P.A. Evans (U. Leicester) report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team.
Using 77 s of XRT Photon Counting mode data and 1 UVOT images for GRB 190203A, 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 = 22.59659, +55.72219 which is equivalent to:
```
RA (J2000): 01h 30m 23.18s
Dec (J2000): +55d 43' 19.9"
```
with an uncertainty of 2.7 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 #23850
V. Lipunov, E. Gorbovskoy, N.Tyurina, V.Kornilov, D.Vlasenko, V.Vladimirov, D.Zimnukhov, A.Kuznetsov, P.Balanutsa, A. Chasovnikov, D.Kuvshinov (Lomonosov Moscow State University, SAI, Physics Department),
R. Rebolo, M. Serra, N. Lodieu, G. Israelian, L. Suarez-Andres (The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias),
D. Buckley (South African Astronomical Observatory),
V. Yurkov, A. Gabovich, Yu. Sergienko, D. Kobcev (Blagoveschensk Educational State University),
A. Tlatov, V.Senik, A.V. Parhomenko, D. Dormidontov (Kislovodsk Solar Station of the Pulkovo Observatory),
O. Gress, N.M. Budnev, O.Ershova, Yu.Ishmuhametova (Applied Physics Institute, Irkutsk State University),
R. Podesta, C. Lopez, C.Francile, F. Podesta (Observatorio Astronomico Felix Aguilar OAFA),
H.Levato (Instituto de Ciencias Astronomicas, de la Tierra y del Espacio ICATE)
MASTER-Amur robotic telescope (Global MASTER-Net http://observ.pereplet.ru, Lipunov et al., 2010, Advances in Astronomy, v.2010, 30L) was pointed to Swift GRB190203B (Lien et al. GCN23845, Ttrig=2019-02-03 15:44:08 UT) 19 sec after notice time (63 sec after trigger time) at 2019-02-03 15:45:11 UT.
On our first (10s exposure) set we found 1 optical transient within SWIFT error-box:
```
T-Tmid      Date      Time       Exp,s       Ra                Dec           Mag
---------|---------------------|-------|-----------------|-----------------|-------
       68   2019-02-03 15:45:11      10  (01h 30m 23.25s , +55d 43m 20.59s)    15.28
```
There is fast decay on the light curve.
The 5-sigma upper limit on the first 10s exposition was 16.3mag
The galactic latitude b = -6 deg., longitude l = 129 deg. The observations started on zenit distance = 61 deg. The sun altitude was -56.2 deg
The message may be cited.
GCN Circular #23858
A.P. Beardmore (U. Leicester), P.A. Evans (U. Leicester), J.P. Osborne (U. Leicester), A. D'Ai (INAF-IASFPA), A. Melandri (INAF-OAB), P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU), D.N. Burrows (PSU), A. Tohuvavohu (PSU) and A.Y. Lien report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team:
We have analysed 6.5 ks of XRT data for GRB 190203A (Lien et al. GCN Circ. 23845), from 103 s to 50.0 ks after the BAT trigger. The data comprise 669 s in Windowed Timing (WT) mode (the first 8 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. 23848).
The late-time light curve (from T0+4.1 ks) can be modelled with a power-law decay with a decay index of alpha=1.73 (+/-0.08).
A spectrum formed from the WT mode data can be fitted with an absorbed power-law with a photon spectral index of 1.69 (+/-0.04). The best-fitting absorption column is 7.2 (+/-0.5) x 10^21 cm^-2, in excess of the Galactic value of 4.0 x 10^21 cm^-2 (Willingale et al. 2013). The PC mode spectrum has a photon index of 1.63 (+0.21, -0.20) and a best-fitting absorption column of 6.9 (+2.0, -1.7) x 10^21 cm^-2. The counts to observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux conversion factor deduced from this spectrum is 5.4 x 10^-11 (7.6 x 10^-11) erg cm^-2 count^-1.
A summary of the PC-mode spectrum is thus:
```
Total column:	     6.9 (+2.0, -1.7) x 10^21 cm^-2
Galactic foreground: 4.0 x 10^21 cm^-2
Excess significance: 2.8 sigma
Photon index:	     1.63 (+0.21, -0.20)
```
If the light curve continues to decay with a power-law decay index of 1.73, the count rate at T+24 hours will be 0.012 count s^-1, corresponding to an observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux of 6.4 x 10^-13 (8.9 x 10^-13) erg cm^-2 s^-1.
The results of the XRT-team automatic analysis are available at http://www.swift.ac.uk/xrt_products/00887512.
This circular is an official product of the Swift-XRT team.
GCN Circular #23859
D. Frederiks, S. Golenetskii, R.Aptekar, A. Kozlova, A.Lysenko, D. Svinkin, A. Tsvetkova, M. Ulanov, and T. Cline, on behalf of the Konus-Wind team, report:
The long GRB 190203A (Swift/BAT detection: Lien et al., GCN 23845) triggered Konus-Wind at T0=56630.443 s UT (15:43:50.443).
The KW light curve shows a multi-peaked structure in the interval from T0-39 s to T0-58 s. The emission is seen up to ~4 MeV.
As observed by Konus-Wind, the burst had a fluence of (4.9 � 0.5)x10^-5 erg/cm2 and a 64-ms peak energy flux, measured from T0+20.352, of (3.5 � 0.4)x10^-6 erg/cm2 (both in the 20 keV - 10 MeV energy range).
The time-integrated spectrum (measured from T0 to T0+57.344 s) is best fit in the 20 keV - 15 MeV range by a cutoff power-law (CPL) function with the following model parameters: the photon index alpha = -0.45(-0.11,+0.12), and the peak energy Ep = 314(-22,+25) keV, chi2 = 98/98 dof. Fitting this spectrum with the GRB (Band) function yields the same alpha and Ep, and only an upper limit on beta (<-2.7).
The spectrum near the peak count rate (measured from T0+16.640 to T0+24.574 s) is best fit in the 20 keV - 15 MeV range by the CPL function with the following model parameters: the photon index alpha = -0.17(-0.16,+0.18), and the peak energy Ep = 348(-29,+34) keV, chi2 = 90/98 dof. Fitting this spectrum with the GRB (Band) function yields the same alpha and Ep, and only an upper limit on beta (<-2.5).
The Konus-Wind light curve of this GRB is available at http://www.ioffe.ru/LEA/GRBs/GRB190203_T56630/
All the quoted errors are estimated at the 90% confidence level. All the presented results are preliminary.
GCN Circular #23860
L. Izzo, M. Blazek (HETH-IAA/CSIC), A. de Ugarte Postigo (DARK/NBI & HETH-IAA/CSIC), D. A. Kann, C. C. Thoene (HETH-IAA/CSIC) report:
We observed the field of GRB 190203A (Lien et al. GCN 23845) with the IO:I camera mounted on the 2-m Liverpool Telescope located in La Palma, Spain. Observations started on February 3rd at 20:31:17 UT (4.72 hours after the GRB trigger) and we obtained a series of 10x60s images in the H filter.
In our stacked image, we find no source at the position of the observed counterpart (Moskvitin et al. GCN 23847, Lipunov et al. GCN 23850) down to a 3-sigma limit of H(AB) > 20.1 mag. The calibration was performed using four nearby 2MASS stars.
GCN Circular #23864
Alan M. Watson (UNAM), Nat Butler (ASU), Rosa L. Becerra (UNAM), Diego Gonz�lez (UNAM), William H. Lee (UNAM), Margarita Pereyra (UNAM), Carlos Rom�n-Z��iga (UNAM), Alexander Kutyrev (GSFC), and Eleonora Troja (GSFC) report:
We observed the field of GRB 190203A (Lien et al., GCN Circ. 23845) with the COATLI 50-cm telescope and interim imager at the Observatorio Astron�mico Nacional on the Sierra de San Pedro M�rtir (http://coatli.astroscu.unam.mx) from 2019-02-04 02:39 to 2019-02-04 09:19 (from 10.9 to 17.6 hours after the trigger), obtaining a total of 3.2 hours of exposure in the w filter.
At the position of the UVOT afterglow candidate (Lien et al., GCN Circ. 23852), we do not detect anything to a 5-sigma limit of w = 22.4.
Our non-detection is consistent with the rapid fading seen by Lien et al. (GCN Circ. 23845), Novichonok et al. (GCN Circ. 23846), Moskvitin et al. (GCN Circ. 23847), and Lipunov (GCN Circ. 23850).
Our w magnitudes are calibrated against the USNO-B1 catalog (adjusted to an approximate AB system) and are not corrected for Galactic extinction in the direction of the GRB.
We thank the COATLI technical team and the staff of the Observatorio Astron�mico Nacional.
GCN Circular #23865
Paul Kuin (UCL/MSSL) and A. Y. Lien (GSFC/UMBC) report on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team:
The Swift/UVOT began settled observations of the field of GRB 190203A 121 s after the BAT trigger (Lien et al., GCN Circ. 23845). A source consistent with the XRT position (Goad et al. GCN Circ. 23848) is detected in the initial UVOT exposures.
The preliminary UVOT position is:
```
    RA  (J2000) =  01:30:23.21 =  22.59672 (deg.)
    Dec (J2000) = +55:43:20.6  =  55.72240 (deg.)
```
with an estimated uncertainty of 0.46 arc sec. (radius, 90% confidence).
Preliminary detections and 3-sigma upper limits using the UVOT photometric system (Breeveld et al. 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1358, 373) for the early exposures are:
```
Filter         T_start(s)   T_stop(s)      Exp(s)           Mag

white              121          271          147         18.66 +/- 0.06
v                  609         5462          225        >19.2
b                  535         4846          236        >20.5
u                  279         5967          551        >21.0
w1                 658         5872          413        >20.2
m2                 634         5666          413        >21.0
w2                 585         5257          236        >20.2
```
The short v image during settling, i.e., prior to the settled images reported here, shows a 16.3 +/- 0.3 mag source as well. Usually we have a detection in the other bands besides in the early white filter. Either the GRB decayed so fast as to be below u > 19.8 mag between To+278 and 529s or this burst is of a high redshift. A rapid decay is consistent with Watson et al. (GCN Circ. 23864).
The magnitudes in the table are not corrected for the Galactic extinction due to the reddening of E(B-V) = 0.64 in the direction of the burst (Schlegel et al. 1998).
GCN Circular #23866
T. Khanam, V. Sharma and D. Bhattacharya (IUCAA), V. Bhalerao (IIT-B), A. R. Rao (TIFR) and S. Vadawale (PRL) report on behalf of the AstroSat CZTI collaboration:
Analysis of AstroSat CZTI data showed the detection of a long GRB 190203A, which was also detected by Swift (Lien A. Y. et al., GCN Circ 23845) and Konus-Wind (Frederiks D. et al., GCN Circ 23859).
The source was clearly detected in the 20-200 keV energy range. The light curve shows multiple peaks of emission with the strongest peak at 15:44:14.0 UT. The measured peak count rate is 314 cts/s above the background in the combined data of four quadrants, with a total of 387 cts. The local mean background count rate was 340 cts/s. Using cumulative rates, we measure a T90 of 46.45 s.
It was also clearly detected in the CsI anticoincidence (Veto) detector in the 100-500 keV energy range.
CZTI GRB detections are reported regularly on the payload site at http://astrosat.iucaa.in/czti/?q=grb. CZTI is built by a TIFR-led consortium of institutes across India, including VSSC, ISAC, IUCAA, SAC and PRL. The Indian Space Research Organisation funded, managed and facilitated the project.
GCN Circular #23873
D. M. Palmer (LANL), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), J. R. Cummings (CPI), H. A. Krimm (NSF/USRA), A. Y. Lien (GSFC/UMBC), C. B. Markwardt (GSFC), T. Sakamoto (AGU), M. Stamatikos (OSU), T. N. Ukwatta (LANL) (i.e. the Swift-BAT team):
Using the data set from T-213 to T+456 sec from the recent telemetry downlink, we report further analysis of BAT GRB 190203A (trigger #887512) (Lien et al., GCN Circ. 23845). The BAT ground-calculated position is RA, Dec = 22.603, 55.736 deg which is
```
  RA(J2000)  =  01h 30m 24.7s
  Dec(J2000) = +55d 44' 10.5"
```
with an uncertainty of 1.0 arcmin, (radius, sys+stat, 90% containment). The partial coding was 21%.
The mask-weighted light curve shows several overlapping pulses that starts ~ T-60 s and ends at T+40 s. Note that there is a large data gap from T-117.652 s to T-60.784 s, so it is possible that there is additional burst emission during this interval. T90 (15-350 keV) is 96 +- 16 sec (estimated error including systematics).
The time-averaged spectrum from T-60.784 to T+ 43.216 sec is best fit by a simple power-law model. The power law index of the time-averaged spectrum is 1.06 +- 0.06. The fluence in the 15-150 keV band is 1.5 +- 0.05 x 10^-5 erg/cm2. The 1-sec peak photon flux measured from T+2.72 sec in the 15-150 keV band is 3.1 +- 0.6 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/887512/BA/
GCN Circular #23878
A. Volnova (IKI), E. Klunko (ISTP), A. Pozanenko (IKI), E. Mazaeva (IKI), S. Belkin (IKI) report on behalf of IKI-GRB-FuN:
We observed the field of GRB 190203A (Lien et al. GCN 23845) with AZT-33IK telescope of Sayan observatory (Mondy) starting on Feb. 03 (UT) 16:23:21. We detected the optical afterglow (Lien et al. GCN 23845; Moskvitin et al., GCN 23847; Lipunov et al. GCN 23850). Preliminary photometry of the afterglow is following.
```
Date       UT start   t-T0       Filter Exp.    OT     Err.   UL(3sigma)
                       (mid, days)        (s)

2019-02-03 16:23:21   0.04807    R      30*120  21.14  0.27   21.3
```
The photometry is based on the nearby USNO-B1 stars used in GCN 23847.

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Jochen Greiner, last update: 06-Feb-2019 [Disclaimer]