//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1948 SUBJECT: GRB030323, BVRcIc field calibration DATE: 03/03/24 18:46:14 GMT FROM: Arne A. Henden at USNO/USRA A. Henden (USRA/USNO) reports on behalf of the USNO GRB team: We have acquired BVRcIc all-sky photometry for a 20x20 arcmin field centered at the coordinates for the HETE burst GRB030323 (HETE trigger 2640) with the USNOFS 1.0-m telescope on one very marginal photometric night. Stars brighter than V=13.5 are saturated and should be used with care. We have placed the photometric data on our anonymous ftp site: ftp://ftp.nofs.navy.mil/pub/outgoing/aah/grb/grb030323.dat The astrometry in this file is based on linear plate solutions with respect to UCAC2. The external errors are less than 100mas. There were approaching clouds from a weak frontal system that do not appear to have reached this field until well after the observations, but until further calibration is performed, a systematic error is possible. Based purely on the standard star observations, the estimated external photometric error is 0.03mag. If an OT is discovered, this calibration will be extended with additional nights. We will not be performing U-band calibration unless requested. As always, you should check the dates on the .dat file prior to final publication to get the latest photometry. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1949 SUBJECT: GRB030323, possible optical counterpart DATE: 03/03/24 19:40:26 GMT FROM: Arne A. Henden at USNO/USRA A. Gilmore and P. Kilmartin (U. Canterbury) and A. Henden (USRA/USNO) report: We have imaged the inner 20x20arcmin of the error circle for the HETE burst GRB030323 (HETE trigger 2640) with the Mt. John 0.6m telescope (unfiltered, using Rc zeropoint) and the USNO 1.0m telescope (Rc filter). Located in the northern part of the error circle, we find one fading object that may be the optical counterpart to GRB030323. This object does not appear on any of the ESO/AAO red plates. Its position, along with two preliminary comparison stars (photometry from Henden, GCN 1948), is: Star R.A. (2000) Dec. Rc A 11 06 15.21 -21 47 19.4 14.91 B 11 06 08.36 -21 45 42.5 16.94 OT 11 06 09.38 -21 46 13.3 where coordinates are based on USNO-A2.0. A 4x4arcmin R-band finding chart can be found at ftp://ftp.nofs.navy.mil/pub/outgoing/aah/grb/grb030323r.jpg Photometry of the candidate with respect to these two stars yields: UTmid(hr) mag Filter 07.5868 18.69 Rc 10.4750 19.56 CR 12.2083 19.72 CR 13.6555 19.96 CR 14.7333 20.42 CR Photometric errors range from 0.06mag at the beginning to 0.4mag towards the end. These observations were made as part of the AAVSO GRB Network, and supported by a grant from the Curry Foundation. [GCN OPS NOTE (25mar03): The acknowledgement sentence at the end was added as per author's request.] //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1951 SUBJECT: GRB030323, optical observations DATE: 03/03/24 20:43:25 GMT FROM: Weidong Li at UC Berkeley KAIT/LOSS W. Li, S. Jha, R. Chornock, and A. V. Filippenko (UC Berkeley), report that unfiltered images of a 12 arcmin x 12 arcmin region centered at the position of GRB 030323 (HETE Trigger #2640) were taken with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) at 05:28 Mar 24 UT (about 7.5 hours after the burst). We found no obvious new source compared with the DSS II (red) to a limiting magnitude of 19.0 mag. Specifically, the candidate OT reported by Gilmore, Kilmartin, & Henden (GCN 1949) was outside our imaged field. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1952 SUBJECT: GRB030323, ROTSE-III detection of possible optical counterpart DATE: 03/03/24 21:15:18 GMT FROM: Don Smith at U michigan Smith, D. A. & Rykoff E. S. on behalf of the ROTSE collaboration report: We have observed the full error box of GRB 030323 (HETE trigger 2640) using the ROTSE-3B 0.45 meter telescope at McDonald Observatory, Texas, starting March 24, 5:47 UT (7.8 hours after the burst). Ninety one-minute unfiltered exposures were taken, yielding limiting magnitudes between 17.5 and 18.5, calibrated against USNO A2.0 R-band. A source is marginally detected in seven of these images at the location of the optical counterpart candidate reported by Gilmore et al. (GCN Circ. 1949). We co-added four consecutive sets of twenty images, and the counterpart candidate is clearly detected in the first co-added image at a magnitude of 18.4+-0.1 at 5:59 hours UT (limiting magnitude for this co-added image is estimated at 19.5). Visual inspection of the other three co-added images indicate that the source is present near the limiting magnitude in each frame, and we will continue analysis to derive a light curve. Images and light curves will soon be available at http://www.rotse.net //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1953 SUBJECT: VLT/FORS2 spectra of GRB 030323 DATE: 03/03/25 06:02:12 GMT FROM: Paul Vreeswijk at ESO Paul Vreeswijk (ESO), Ralph Wijers, Evert Rol (U. of Amsterdam), and Jens Hjorth (U. of Copenhagen) report for the GRACE collaboration: The field of GRB 030323 (HETE trigger 2640) was observed last night (March 24/25) in spectroscopic mode with FORS2 at unit-4 of ESO's VLT at Paranal, Chile. The total exposure time was 1 hour in the 300V and 300I grisms, covering approximately 4000-9300 A with a resolution of about 12 A. The slit (1" wide) was positioned to cover the position of the presumed afterglow (Gilmore, Kilmartin & Henden, GCN 1949; see also GCN 1952), as well as a nearby reference object. Preliminary reduction of the 300V spectra of the candidate afterglow shows very strong absorption over the range 516-545 nm, presumably a complex of Ly alpha clouds around z = 3.3-3.4. The detection of numerous narrow lines is consistent with this interpretation: we can identify these with metal-absorption lines (SiII, OI, CII, SiIV, CIV, AlII) at a redshift of z = 3.372. These Ly alpha and metal-absorption lines probably originate in the host galaxy of GRB 030323. We appreciate the assistance of the ESO staff at Paranal; in particular of Thomas Szeifert and Olivier Marco. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1956 SUBJECT: GRB030323 (=H2640): A Faint, Long GRB Localized by the HETE WXM and SXC DATE: 03/03/25 21:33:01 GMT FROM: Don Lamb at U.Chicago C. Graziani, Y. Shirasaki, M. Matsuoka, T. Tamagawa, K. Torii, T. Sakamoto, M. Suzuki, A. Yoshida, E. Fenimore, M. Galassi, T. Tavenner, T. Donaghy, Y. Nakagawa, D. Takahashi, R. Satoh, and Y. Urata, on behalf of the HETE WXM Team; G. Ricker, J-L Atteia, N. Kawai, D. Lamb, and S. Woosley on behalf of the HETE Science Team; R. Vanderspek, J. Villasenor, G. Crew, J. Doty, G. Monnelly, N. Butler, T. Cline, J.G. Jernigan, A. Levine, F. Martel, E. Morgan, G. Prigozhin, G. Azzibrouck, J. Braga, R. Manchanda, and G. Pizzichini, on behalf of the HETE Operations and HETE Optical-SXC Teams; M. Boer, J-F Olive, J-P Dezalay, C. Barraud and K. Hurley on behalf of the HETE FREGATE Team; write: At 21:56:57.60 UTC (79017.60 s UT) on 23 Mar 2003, the HETE FREGATE, WXM, and SXC instruments detected event H2460, a faint, long GRB. Ground analysis of the WXM data produced a localization which was reported in a GCN Notice at 02:55:11 UT on 24 Mar, about 5 hours after the burst. The WXM localization SNR was 6. The WXM localization can be expressed as a 90% confidence circle that is 18 arcminutes in radius and is centered at WXM: RA = +11h 06m 54s, Dec = -21d 51' 00" (J2000). Ground analysis of the SXC data for the burst produced a more accurate location which was reported in a GCN Notice at 05:28:51 UT on 24 Mar, about 7 1/2 hours after the burst. The SXC localization can be expressed as a 90% confidence trapezoid, whose base and top are 24.5 and 11 arcminutes, whose height is 4 arcminutes, and whose area is 71 square arcminutes. The center of the trapezoid lies at RA = +11h 06m 06s, Dec = -21d 54' 20" (J2000), and its corners lie at RA = +11h 05m 59.0s, Dec = -21d 48' 43" RA = +11h 05m 56.6s, Dec = -21d 59' 46" RA = +11h 06m 12.5s, Dec = -22d 06' 43" RA = +11h 06m 17.8s, Dec = -21d 42" 11" (J2000). The SXC localization is trapezoidal because its sides are defined by the WXM error circle. The t_90 duration of the burst in the 30-400 keV band was 26 s. The fluence of the burst was 1.1 x 10-6 ergs cm-2 and the peak flux in 1.2 sec was ~1.2 x 10-9 ergs cm-2 s-1 (i.e., ~ 0.05 x Crab flux) in the same energy band. A light curve and skymap for GRB030323 is provided at the following URL: http://space.mit.edu/HETE/Bursts/GRB030323 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1957 SUBJECT: GRB030323: Upper limits from recent and historical observations. DATE: 03/03/25 22:41:37 GMT FROM: Michael Wood-Vasey at UC Berkeley/LBNL/SNfactory W. M. Wood-Vasey, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, using images obtained by R. Bambery, S. Pravdo, M. Hicks, and K. Lawrence (Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking project, Jet Propulsion Laboratory), reports historical upper limits for the optical transient for GRB 20030323 of Gilmore et. al (GCN #1949) from images taken with the Palomar Oschin 1.2-m telescope during the previous year: UT Date Limiting Unfiltered Mag ( @ S/N = 3) ------------------------------------------------ 2002 Jan 12.56 [ 20.19 2002 Jan 12.57 [ 20.09 2002 Jan 13.57 [ 20.16 2002 Jan 13.58 [ 19.77 2002 Feb 11.36 [ 20.16 2002 Feb 11.38 [ 20.19 2002 Feb 11.40 [ 20.09 2003 Jan 12.53 [ 20.33 2003 Jan 12.55 [ 20.31 2003 Jan 12.56 [ 20.28 2003 Mar 12.38 [ 20.22 2003 Mar 20.30 [ 19.69 A co-addition of these images shows nothing at this location to a combined limiting magnitude of 21.87 (S/N = 3). The co-addition is available at: http://supernova.lbl.gov/~wwoodvas/GRB/#GRB20030323 This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1960 SUBJECT: GRB030323: V, R, I photometry DATE: 03/03/26 04:20:54 GMT FROM: Gianluca Masi at Bellatrix Astronomical Obs G. Masi (University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and European Southern Observatory, Chile), B. L. Jensen, J. Hjorth (Copenhagen University) and R. Michelsen (Astronomical Observatory, Copenhagen) report: We imaged the field around the afterglow candidate reported by Gilmore at al. for GRB030323 (GCN 1949) with the Danish 1.54m telescope (La Silla) + DFOSC CCD camera. Observations started around March 25.0, 2003 UT. We located the source at the following position (J2000.0): RA: 11h06m09.40s; Decl.: -21d46'13.2" (mean residuals: 0.15"; catalogue: USNO-SA2.0) in excellent agreement with the astrometry provided in the GCN cited above. We performed time-resolved, R-band photometry, assuming for the reference stars the magnitudes provided by Henden et al. (GCN 1948). Results follow: 25 Mar. 0:01 20.38 Rc 0:05 20.37 0:09 20.57 0:12 20.56 0:16 20.43 0:29 20.53 0:33 20.55 0:37 20.48 0:40 20.57 0:44 20.49 0:48 20.41 1:01 20.62 1:04 20.61 1:08 20.49 1:12 20.62 1:19 20.57 2:54 20.47 3:00 20.54 3:05 20.44 3:11 20.51 3:17 20.59 The candidate showed just a modest fading during the run. In addition, we provide V and Ic magnitudes, again based on GCN 1948: 25 Mar. 2:23 20.10 Ic 25 Mar. 3:35 22.08 V If a better calibration for the field will be available, photometry will be improved accordingly. This message can be cited //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1966 SUBJECT: GRB 030323: SARA Optical Observations DATE: 03/03/26 22:52:11 GMT FROM: Kevin Lindsay at Clemson U K. Lindsay, D. H. Hartmann, L. Harris, A. Manning (Clemson University), M. Lopez-Morales (UNC Chapil Hill), M. Castelaz (PARI) We have observed the optical afterglow of GRB030323, originally reported by Henden et al. GCN 1949, with the SARA 0.9m telescope at KPNO. We obtained 29, 300s exposures in the Johnson R band filter. Observations began at 03:32:56UT, and ended at 07:22:56UT, on March 25th. The obsevations were carried out under good seeing conditions. Aperture photometry was performed, and calibrated utilizing standards reported by Henden et al., GCN 1948. We find a mean R magnitude of 20.6 +- 0.1. More information on the SARA Observatory can be found at http://www.saraobservatory.org/. This report may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1968 SUBJECT: GRB030323: Detection on 2003/03/24 DATE: 03/03/27 18:35:44 GMT FROM: Michael Wood-Vasey at UC Berkeley/LBNL/SNfactory W. M. Wood-Vasey (LBNL/UCB), P. A. Price (RSAA/ANU), and D. Fox (Caltech), using images obtained by R. Bambery, S. Pravdo, M. Hicks, and K. Lawrence (Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking project, Jet Propulsion Laboratory), report that an image taken with the Palomar 1.2-m telescope on 2003 Mar 24.27 UT shows the optical transient of Gilmore et. al (GCN #1949) at a unfiltered magnitude of 18.83 +0.09-0.08. Two previous Mar 24 images taken under poor conditions do not show the OT: UT Date Unfiltered Mag ---------------------------------------- 2003 Mar 24.19 [ 16.59 2003 Mar 24.23 [ 16.26 2003 Mar 24.27 18.83 +0.09 -0.08 Magnitudes are calibration against >300 USNO-A V1.0 R-band stars in the 0.25 sq. degree field of the images. We clarify here that the limiting magnitudes quoted in GCN #1957 were calculated in the same manner. This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1970 SUBJECT: Possible GRB030323 localized by INTEGRAL DATE: 03/03/27 19:36:36 GMT FROM: INTEGRAL Shift Ops at INTEGRAL V. Beckmann and S.E. Shaw on behalf of the INTEGRAL Science Data Center, J.-P. Roques on behalf of the SPI instrument team, Sergei Molkov (IKI), and the INTEGRAL Science Working team report the detection of a possible GRB at 08:42:24 UTC on March 23, 2003. The burst lasted about 5 seconds. The preliminary position is RA 19h 49m, DEC -12deg 30' (J2000) with an uncertainty of 2 degrees radius. The preliminary peak flux over 2 seconds is about 2 * 10^-7 ergs/cm**2/sec between 25 and 100 keV. The burst has been detected by SPI at large off-axis angle (14.5 degrees), outside the field of view of IBIS. This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1973 SUBJECT: GRB030323 optical observations DATE: 03/03/28 06:37:56 GMT FROM: Gianluca Masi at Bellatrix Astronomical Obs G. Masi (University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and European Southern Observatory, Chile), B. L. Jensen, J. Hjorth (Copenhagen University) and R. Michelsen (Astronomical Observatory, Copenhagen) report: Further to GCN 1960, we performed additional photometry of the OT initially reported by Gilmore at al. (GCN 1949). The Danish 1.54m telescope (La Silla) + DFOSC CCD camera were used to grab three, 360s R-band images; summing them we obtained the following Rc magnitudes (based on GCN 1948): Mar. 26, 00:54 UT 21.3 Rc Mar. 27, 00:50 UT 21.6 Rc Mar. 28, 03:45 UT 22.8 Rc (Errors around 0.2 mag) This message can be cited //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2006 SUBJECT: GRB 030323: Gemini South VRI obsevations. DATE: 03/03/29 23:26:48 GMT FROM: Jose Maria Castro Ceron at STSciInst José María Castro Cerón (STScI), Javier Gorosabel (IAA-CSIC/STScI), Andrew S. Fruchter (STScI), Andrew J. Levan (U. Leicester) and James E. Rhoads (STScI), on behalf of a larger collaboration, report: "We have performed VRI band observartions of the optical afterglow (GCN 1949) of the GRB 030323 (H2460; GCN 1956). For each band 30 x 45 s images were obtained with the Gemini South 8.1 m Telescope (+Acquisition Camera), as follows: BAND | UT MAR 2003 | MAG | ERROR(*) ------------------------------------------- V | 27.135--27.161 | 23.04 | +/-0.03 R | 27.166--27.186 | 22.27 | +/-0.04 I | 27.186--27.205 | 21.78 | +/-0.05 ------------------------------------------- * Only statistical error. The photometric calibration is based on the star located at RA(J2000) = 11h 06m 08.82s, DEC(J2000) = -21º 46' 37.5", which has been fixed at V = 18.97, R = 18.28 and I = 17.71 (GCN 1948). The coadded R band image can be found at: http://www.stsci.edu/~josemari/GRB/GRB030323/grb030323.gemini.R.gif This message may be cited."