TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1989
SUBJECT: GRB 030329: Optical afterglow fading
DATE:    03/03/29 14:31:43 GMT
FROM:    Makoto Uemura at U. of Kyoto, Astro.  <uemura@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp>

M. Uemura (Kyoto University) reports:

We have started observations of the field of GRB 030329 at 12:53:41
UT, and confirmed the bright afterglow candidate reported in GCN 1985
and 1986.  We use 30-cm and 25-cm SC telescopes and unfiltered CCDs at
Kyoto, Japan.

In this one hour observation, our perliminary analysis revealed a
rapid fading of the object.   From 12:53:41 UT to 13:51:01, the object
faded about 0.53 mag, which establishes that the bright candidate is
a genuine optical afterglow of GRB 030329.