TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  28788
SUBJECT: GRB 201027A: Swift detection of a burst
DATE:    20/10/27 01:24:01 GMT
FROM:    Scott Barthelmy at NASA/GSFC  <scott@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov>

S. B. Cenko (GSFC), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC),
M. G. Bernardini (INAF-OAB), P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB),
N. J. Klingler (PSU), S. Laha (GSFC/UMBC/CRESST),
A. Melandri (INAF-OAB), D. M. Palmer (LANL), T. Sbarrato (INAF-OAB)
and A. Tohuvavohu (U Toronto) report on behalf of the Neil Gehrels
Swift Observatory Team:

At 01:07:44 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 201027A (trigger=1002158).  Swift slewed immediately to the burst. 
The BAT on-board calculated location is 
RA, Dec 155.974, -5.515 which is 
   RA(J2000) = 10h 23m 54s
   Dec(J2000) = -05d 30' 53"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including 
systematic uncertainty).  The BAT light curve showed a complex
structure with a duration of about 20 sec.  The peak count rate
was ~1500 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~0 sec after the trigger. 

The XRT began observing the field at 01:09:07.5 UT, 83.4 seconds after
the BAT trigger. Using promptly downlinked data we find a fading,
uncatalogued X-ray source with an enhanced position: RA, Dec 155.9700,
-5.5101 which is equivalent to:
   RA(J2000)  = 10h 23m 52.81s
   Dec(J2000) = -05d 30' 36.2"
with an uncertainty of 2.3 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This
location is 22 arcseconds from the BAT onboard position, within the BAT
error circle. This position may be improved as more data are received;
the latest position is available at https://www.swift.ac.uk/sper. 

A power-law fit to a spectrum formed from promptly downlinked event
data gives a column density in excess of the Galactic value (4.67 x
10^20 cm^-2, Willingale et al. 2013), with an excess column of 2.6
(+2.14/-1.93) x 10^21 cm^-2 (90% confidence). 

UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter
starting 86 seconds after the BAT trigger. No credible afterglow candidate has
been found in the initial data products. The 2.7'x2.7' sub-image covers 100% of
the XRT error circle. The typical 3-sigma upper limit has been about 19.6 mag. 
The 8'x8' region for the list of sources generated on-board covers 100% of the
XRT error circle. The list of sources is typically complete to about 18 mag. No
correction has been made for the expected extinction corresponding to E(B-V) of
0.04. 

Burst Advocate for this burst is S. B. Cenko (brad.cenko 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: http://www.swift.psu.edu/)