TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 20332 SUBJECT: GRB 161219B: UKIRT near-IR afterglow detection DATE: 16/12/22 23:40:43 GMT FROM: Wen-fai Fong at U of Arizona W. Fong and P. Milne (University of Arizona) report: "We observed the field of the long-duration GRB 161219B (D'Ai et al., GCN 20296) with the Wide Field Camera (WFCAM) mounted on the 3.8-m United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on Mauna Kea beginning on 2016 Dec 22.368 UT (2.58 days post-burst). We obtained observations in the J-, H- and K-bands in 0.72" seeing. Using the quick-look pipeline ORAC-DR, we detect the near-IR afterglow in coincidence with the X-ray (Beardmore et al., GCN 20297), optical (Kruehler et al., GCN 20299; Guidorzi et al., GCN 20300; Martin-Carrillo et al., GCN 20305; Marshall et al., GCN 20306; Mazaeva et al., GCN 20309; Buckley et al., GCN 20322), and radio (Alexander et al., GCN 20313; Laskar et al., GCN 20328) afterglows. Calibrated to 2MASS, we estimate a preliminary brightness of J(AB)=18.8 +/- 0.1 mag for the near-IR afterglow of GRB 161219B. Further observations are planned. We thank Watson Varricatt and Sam Benigni for their assistance in planning and executing these observations."