TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1462
SUBJECT: GRB020801, optical afterglow candidate
DATE:    02/08/02 17:19:33 GMT
FROM:    Arne A. Henden at USNO/USRA  <aah@nofs.navy.mil>

P. Kilmartin (p.kilmartin@phys.canterbury.ac.nz)
and A. Gilmore, Mount John Observatory, on behalf
of the AAVSO International GRB Network, report:

We have imaged the error circle of the long
GRB020801 (HETE trigger 2177/8) using the MJO 0.6m
telescope and ST-9E CCD.  Fifteen unfiltered 60-second
exposures, centered on UT 020802.383 (20hrs after the burst),
were taken and median combined, and with a limiting
magnitude of roughly R=20 based on USNO-A2.0.  Comparing against the
DSS, we find a new object with approximate R magnitude of 19.4,
located at

   21:02:37.34  -53:44:59.3  J2000

Frames taken 21min apart show no movement, and the
AAVSO web site indicates no known asteroid is in
this field of view.  We have continued imaging much of
the error circle, but have found nothing else that is not
on the DSS images.

We have placed a 5x5arcmin finding chart marking the
new object at:
  ftp://ftp.nofs.navy.mil/pub/outgoing/aah/grb/grb020801.jpg
The object appears extended on this finding chart, but
appears stellar on other later image sets.

The AAVSO would like to thank the Curry Foundation for supporting the
AAVSO International GRB Network.