//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2459 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: A long GRB detected with INTEGRAL DATE: 03/12/03 23:20:36 GMT FROM: Diego Gotz at IASF-CNR D. Gotz, S Mereghetti, M. Beck and J. Borkowski on behalf of the IBAS Localization Team, N. Mowlavi on behalf of the INTEGRAL Science Data Centre and the INTEGRAL Science Working Team report: A 20 s long GRB has been detected with IBAS at 22:01:28 UTC. The GRB has been detected in IBIS/ISGRI data in the 15-200 keV energy band. The coordinates (J2000) are R.A. 08h 02m 30s Dec. -39deg 50'' 49' with an uncertainty of 2.5 arcmin. This message can be cited //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2460 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: further analysis of INTEGRAL data DATE: 03/12/04 00:09:42 GMT FROM: Diego Gotz at IASF-CNR S. Mereghetti and D. Gotz on behalf of the IBAS Localization Team and the INTEGRAL Science Working Team report: Preliminary analysis of GRB 031203 gives a peak flux of about 1.2 photons/cm^2/s (1.3 x 10^-7 erg/cm^2/s) in the 20-200 keV range (integration time of 1 s). The burst consists of a single peak lasting about 30 s. This message can be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2462 SUBJECT: GRB031203: Planned XMM-Newton observation DATE: 03/12/04 02:24:31 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA Maria Santos-Lleo and Pedro Calderon on behalf of the XMM-Newton Science Operations Center, report: XMM-Newton will observe the GRB031203 field, centered at location RA=+08h 02m 30s and DEC=-39d 50' 48" (J2000), from GCN 2459. The observation is planned to start at 03:52 UT, on December 4, 2003, for an exposure of 59000 seconds. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2463 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Optical/IR SMARTS Observations DATE: 03/12/04 06:54:33 GMT FROM: Josh Bloom at Harvard/CFA GRB 031203: Optical/IR SMARTS Observations C. Bailyn, M. Buxton, B. Cobb, P. van Dokkum (Yale), J. S. Bloom (Harvard/CfA) and J. Espinoza (CTIO), part of the larger SMARTS consortium, report: "Using the ANDICAM instrument on the 1.3m telescope at CTIO, we obtained optical/IR imaging at the location of the INTEGRAL GRB 031203 (GCN #2459) starting at 4 December 2003 3h00m UT. Comparison of optical images obtained between UT=3:00 and UT=5:37 revealed no variable object down to I=19 mag. J and K band images were also obtained during this time, and show no anomalous objects when compared to the 2MASS survey. Owing to the heavy extinction towards this GRB---E(B-V) = 0.971 mag (Schlegel, Finkbeiner, & Davis ApJ 500, 525 1998)---red and infrared imaging is particularly encouraged." For more information on the SMARTS consortium see: http://www.astro.yale.edu/smarts/ This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2464 SUBJECT: GRB 031203 XMM-Newton observation DATE: 03/12/04 07:10:37 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA M. Santos-Lleo and P. Calderon report: Quick-Look-Analysis of the XMM-Newton observation of the GRB031203 field (D. Gotz et al. GCN 2459), based on 4 ks and 6 ks exposures in the EPIC pn and MOS cameras, respectively, shows the presence of two sources within the INTEGRAL error circle, with the first one much closer to the INTEGRAL position than the second. S1 (J2000): R.A. = 8h 2m 30.3s Decl. = -39deg 51' 2.4" with an estimated EPIC/pn count rate of 0.1 [counts/sec]; S2 (J2000): R.A. = 8h 2m 20.8s Decl. = -39deg 52' 16.2" with an estimated EPIC/pn count rate of 0.04 [counts/sec] At this stage of reduction the position error is expected to be less than 6". //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2465 SUBJECT: GRB031203: Optical Observations DATE: 03/12/04 11:39:39 GMT FROM: Gerald Bourban at Geneva Observatory G.Bourban*, A.Bram**, G.Burki*, T.Courvoisier* and L.Weber* report: (* Geneva Observatory, Switzerland) (** Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium) We have carried out optical observations of the field of INTEGRAL GRB 031203 using the P7 photometer's guiding Camera (6.5'x 6') mounted on the Belgian MERCATOR 1.2-meter telescope located at La Palma Observatory (Canary Islands), beginning at 03:44 UT on 2003 December 04 (5.7 hours after the burst). We obtained four unfiltered images, with exposure times of 180 and 480 s. The comparison with the USNO-A2 catalog of the 2.5' error circle around the position provided by INTEGRAL (GCN #2459) as well as the 6" ones around the two positions provided by XMM NEWTON (GCN #2464) does not reveal any new source down to a limiting magnitude of V < 17.6. This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2466 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: IR REM Observations DATE: 03/12/04 13:28:06 GMT FROM: Gianpiero Tagliaferri at OAB-INAF GRB 031203: IR REM Observations F.M.Zerbi, G.Chincarini, S. Covino, E. Molinari, A. Di Paola, D. Fugazza, V. Testa, M. Rodono', L.A. Antonelli, P. Conconi, G. Cutispoto, L. Nicastro, G. Tosti, L. Burderi, S. Campana, C. Campeggi, G. Crimi, R. Cunniffe, J. Danzinger, A. Fernandez-Soto, F. Fiore, F. Frontera, G. Gentile, G. Ghisellini, P. Goldoni, G. Israel, B. Jordan, D. Lazzati, D. Lorenzetti, D. Malesani, E. Martinetti, N. Masetti, R. Mazzoleni, B. Mc Breen, A. Melandri, S. Messina, E. Meurs, A. Monfardini, G. Nucciarelli, M. Orlandini, J. Paul, E. Palazzi, E. Pian, P. Saracco, S. Sardone, A. Simoncelli, M. Stefanon, L. Stella, L. Tagliaferri, M. Tavani, G. Tosti, S. Vergani, F. Vitali. The REM telescope, currently in commissioning phase, observed the field of the INTEGRAL GRB 031203 starting at 4 December 04h15m UT in J, H and Ks filters. Observation in the visible band with ROSS spectrograph were not possible at this stage for technical reasons. We found an object not present in the 2MASS catalog in the S1 XMM-Newton error box (GCN #2464). This object is found in the H and Ks images (approximate magnitudes H=14.9 +/- 0.2, Ks=13.4 +/- 0.2) and not in the J image (J upper limit 16.5). Note that this object would have been detected in the 2MASS H and K filters. The transient is nearby (~5") to another weak object already present in the 2MASS. The coordinates of the transient are (J2000): R.A. = 08h 02m 29.7s Dec. = -39deg 51' 09.5". At this stage of reduction the position error is expected to be of the order of 1". This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2467 SUBJECT: GRB031203: Planned XMM-Newton observation II DATE: 03/12/04 15:54:14 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA Laura Tomas on behalf of the XMM-Newton Science Operations Center, report: XMM-Newton will serendipitously observe the sources reported in GCN 2464 (M.Santos-Lleo and P.Calderon) during an upcoming scheduled calibration observation of Zeta Puppis. The sources are about 10 arcmin off-axis and therefore well within the field of view. The observation is planned to start at 17:53 UT, on December 6, 2003, for an exposure time of 62000 seconds. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2468 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Apparent Spectral Break DATE: 03/12/04 22:06:09 GMT FROM: Josh Bloom at Harvard/CFA GRB 031203: Apparent Spectral Break C. Bailyn, P. van Dokkum, B. Cobb, M. Buxton (Yale) and J. S. Bloom (Harvard/CfA) report further analysis of SMARTS data (see GCN #2463) obtained between December 4 UT=3:00 and UT=6:11: "The summed images reveal no source in I or J at the REM position (GCN 2466). The I-band upper limit is I=23 mag. In J, a faint source at J=20.5 +/- 0.5 mag, undetectable in I, is found near the REM position at RA = 8:02:29.78 dec = -39:51:07.1 (J2000) +/- 0.4 arcseconds (1 sigma; found from astrometric tie to 2MASS) No other source is found within 4.5" of the REM position. The J-band data were obtained starting at UT=4:19, and are thus essentially contemporaneous with the REM observations, while the I-band images span the whole three hours of observations. There are a number of sources with I<22 within the XMM-Newton error circles (GCN #2464), but none of them vary by more than 0.1 magnitudes over the three hour time series. If the REM source and the faint J source are in fact the same, J-K = 7 mag, whereas H-K = 1.5 mag. If the faint J source is not the counterpart of the REM source, then J-K > 7. This extreme color requires either very unusual extinction, a very unusual spectral energy distribution, or rapid time variability of many magnitudes sampled differently by the SMARTS and REM observations. One interpretation is that this source is a J-band dropout, located at a redshift >~ 9." A website with finding charts, spectral energy distributions, and other information will soon be available at http://www.astro.yale.edu/dokkum/GRB031203.html This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2469 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: z ~ 10 or Fragmented Dust in the Circumburst Environment? DATE: 03/12/05 06:06:17 GMT FROM: Daniel E. Reichart at U.North Carolina Reichart, D. (U. North Carolina) comments: Assuming that the new, bright source that Zerbi et al. (GCN 2466) have identified in H and Ks in the very small (<6") S1 XMM-Newton error circle (Santos-Lleo & Calderon, GCN 2464) is indeed the afterglow of GRB 031203 (Gotz et al., GCN 2459), the deep limits that Bailyn et al. (GCN 2468) measure at the location of this source in I and J do indeed imply a sharp spectral break between the H and J bands: J - H > 5 mag and H - Ks ~ 1 mag when corrected for Galactic extinction (Bailyn et al., GCN 2468). Although one explanation for this dropout signature might be that GRB 031203 is at redshift z ~ 10, this is difficult to reconcile with the brightness of the afterglow (Price, private communication), which is probably in the top 10% of all afterglows. Nor can so sharp a spectral break be explained by extinction by regular dust, whether Galactic or in the source frame. However, the dust along the line of sight, at least within hundreds of parsecs of the GRB, should *not* be regular. Although dust within parsecs to tens of parsecs of the GRB will be returned to the gas phase by sublimation, dust at greater distances -- out to hundreds of parsecs -- will be repeatedly fragmented by grain charging and Coulomb explosions (Waxman & Draine 2000, Fruchter, Krolik & Rhoads 2001, Reichart 2001). If most of the dust fragments down to PAH sizes, its visual absorption edge -- which can be quite sharp -- will shift to the source-frame R or I band (the exact wavelength depends on the size of the grains; Li & Draine 2001). Longer-wavelength light will pass through this dust as if were not even there. For a GRB at a typical redshift of z ~ 1, this visual absorption edge will be redshifted to between the J and H bands. Such a redshift would also be easier to reconcile with the brightness of the GRB 031203 afterglow in the H and Ks bands. So actually, every highly extinguished, low- to moderate-redshift GRB afterglow might look like this in the NIR. For GRB 031203, this hypothesis can be tested by (1) pursuing NIR spectroscopy tonight while the afterglow is still sufficiently bright, but be warned that if at z ~ 1 H-alpha might be blueward of the spectral break, and/or (2) pursuing deep imaging blueward of the spectral break in hopes of identifying a typical-redshift host galaxy, but again be warned: since the Galactic A_V ~ 3 mag and possibly more along this line of sight, J, z, and I bands are preferred. The Follow-Up Network for Gamma-Ray Bursts (a.k.a. the FUN GRB Collaboration), the resources of which are currently concentrated more in the northern hemisphere, will not be able to pursue either of these observing strategies tonight. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// [GCN OPS NOTE (06dec03): TABLE OF CIRCULAR TIMES DURING THE INFINITE-LOOP PROBLEM This table shows the times when the Circulars were originally sent to GCN. The proper assignment of priority can be determined from this table. SendTime DistributeTime Delay Circ# Submiter Title Dec05 06:06 Dec05 06:06 0 2469 D.Reichart GRB 031203: z ~ 10 or Fragmented Dust in the Circumburst Environment? Dec05 06:10 Dec05 06:16 Dec06 14:32 31.7 2477 N.Schartel XMM-Newton Observation of GRB031203 Dec05 06:33 Dec06 13:44 31.1 2474 N.Schartel XMM-Newton Observation of GRB031203 Dec05 07:00 Dec06 14:48 31.1 2478 G.Tagliaferri GRB031203: ROSAT upper limits suggest XMM-S1 source as the transient Dec05 08:24 Dec05 08:24 0 2470 K.Huang GRB031203 : Optical Observation of Lulin Observatory Dec05 08:27 Dec06 14:16 29.7 2476 G.Tagliaferri GRB 031203: Deep NIR NTT & VLT observations Dec05 12:39 Dec05 12:39 0 2471 G.Taliaferri GRB 031203: IR NTTobservations do not confirm REM detection Dec05 13:11 Dec06 13:38 24.3 2473 D.Frail GRB 031203: Radio detection Dec05 14:40 Dec05 14:40 0 2472 J.Bloom GRB 031203: Further reports on December 4 observations Dec05 17:10 Dec06 14:00 20.9 2475 K.Hurley GRB031203: K' Photometry of the likely GRB host Dec06 04:45 Dec06 17:25 12.7 2481 J.Bloom Optical/IR Astrometry Dec06 11:29 Dec06 17:45 6.3 2482 J.Bloom Magellan spectrum of possible GRB host Dec06 13:40 Dec06 16:18 Dec06 16:18 0 2479 K.Hurley RB031203 K prime photometry: correction to galaxy coordinates Notes: 1) All dates and times are UT. 2) The "TimeSent" would normally be the "TimeReceived" (to within a minute), but because of the full email in-coming queue, these submissions by the authors were bounced. It is only after (a) the queue was cleared (at Dec06 13:40), and (b) the sendmail demon on the sender's machine next tried to re-send (in its standard periodic retrying) that the submission was received and processes by GCN. 3) The "Delay" column is in hours. 4) Since these Circulars were delayed and distributed out of order, there are undoubtedly cases of missing references to other Circulars. Please do not blame the authors; the fault lies with GCN and Scott Barthelmy. 5) The only explanation as to why Circ's 2470-2472 worked properly (ie 0 delay) that I can think of is that other activity with the mail queue momentarily freed up some space which allowed them to go through. ] //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2470 SUBJECT: GRB031203 : Optical Observation of Lulin Observatory DATE: 03/12/05 08:24:14 GMT FROM: Kuiyun Huang at IANCU GRB031203 : Optical Observation of Lulin Observatory C.H. Hsia, H.C. Lin (NCU) K.Y. Huang, Y. Urata, W.H. Ip, T. Tamagawa on behalf of Lulin the GRB team report: "We observed the location of the INTEGRAL GRB031203(Gotz et al. GCN2459) with 1.0m telescope at Lulin Observatory (Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Taiwan) from 5 December 2003 18.6 UT to 19.6 UT. There are 6 images taken at I-band with exposure time 300 sec(1 frame) and 600 sec(5 frames). Comparison with DSS2 I-band image, a new source was found at RA= 08h 02m 30.1s Dec= -39deg 51' 03.3"(J2000) in our combined image. It is in the error region of the S1 of XMM-Newton observation (M. Santos-Lleo and P. Calderon, GCN2464). There are no new object was observed at S2. Image with comparison DSS2 is posted at : http://cosmic.riken.go.jp/urata/GRB/GRB031203/grb031203_chart.gif Further analysis and observation are in progress." This message may be cited //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2471 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: IR NTTobservations do not confirm REM detection DATE: 03/12/05 12:39:50 GMT FROM: Gianpiero Tagliaferri at OAB-INAF GRB 031203: IR NTT observations do not confirm REM detection F.M. Zerbi, G. Chincarini, S. Covino, E. Molinari, A. Di Paola, D. Fugazza, V. Testa, M. Rodono', L.A. Antonelli, P. Conconi, G. Cutispoto, L. Nicastro, G. Tosti, L. Burderi, S. Campana, C. Campeggi, G. Crimi, R. Cunniffe, J. Danzinger, A. Fernandez-Soto, F. Fiore, F. Frontera, G. Gentile, G. Ghisellini, P. Goldoni, G. Israel, B. Jordan, D. Lazzati, D. Lorenzetti, D. Malesani, E. Martinetti, N. Masetti, R. Mazzoleni, B. Mc Breen, A. Melandri, S. Messina, E. Meurs, A. Monfardini, G. Nucciarelli, M. Orlandini, J. Paul, E. Palazzi, E. Pian, P. Saracco, S. Sardone, A. Simoncelli, M. Stefanon, L. Stella, L. Tagliaferri, M. Tavani, G. Tosti, S. Vergani, F. Vitali. We observed in JHKs filters with SofI at the NTT telescope the field of the INTEGRAL GRB 031203 (Gotz et al. GCN 2459) starting at 4 December 04h54m UT. The object detected by the REM telescope in the H and Ks filters (see Zerbi et al. GCN 2466) was not detected in these images, with upper limits of J=22.2, H=21.1, Ks_1=20.9 and Ks_2=20.2 (we have two exposures in the Ks filter separated by about 2.5 hours). A reanalysis of the REM data confirmed the presence of the object reported in GCN 2466. We are still investigating the possible cause of it. The object reported by Hsia et al. (GCN2470), associated with the XMM source S1 (Santos-Lleo & Calderon GCN2464), is present in all SofI images, with magnitudes J=18.2+/-0.08, H=17.35+/-0.04 and Ks_1=16.45+/-0.03 (exposure of 45 min starting at UT 04:54 and ending at UT 05:47) and Ks_2=16.43+/-0.04 (exposure of 15 minutes starting at UT 07:30 and ending at 07:46). Therefore, this object remained constant in the two Ks images. Last night we observed the field also with the VLT telescope and the ISAAC camera. A report on the quick analysis of these data will be given later today. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2472 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Further reports on December 4 observations DATE: 03/12/05 14:40:23 GMT FROM: Josh Bloom at Harvard/CFA GRB 031203: Further reports on December 4 observations J. S. Bloom (Harvard/CfA), C. Bailyn, and P. van Dokkum (Yale) report on behalf of the larger SMARTS collaboration: "The object inside the first XMM error circle (Santos-Lleo & Calderon, GCN #2464) reported in Hsia et al. (GCN #2470) is unlikely to be related to GRB 031203 (Gotz GCN #2459) by two accounts. First, as reported in Bailyn et al. (GCN #2468), the source did not vary by more than 0.1 magnitudes from about 4 to 7 hours after the GRB, as is the case for all sources I<22 mag in the XMM error boxes. Second, the source is present in the DSS-II scan of the F-plate image (dated 18 March 1991). We also clarify that both the REM and the ANDICAM positions lie outside the nominal 6 arcsec error radius of the first XMM source." For finding charts, see http://www-cfa.harvard.edu/~jbloom/grb031203 This message can be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2473 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Radio detection DATE: 03/12/06 13:28:21 GMT FROM: Dale A. Frail at NRAO D. A. Frail (NRAO) reports on behalf of a larger collaboration: "Using the Very Large Array at 8.5 GHz, we imaged a 2-arcminute radius near the X-ray source S1, detected by the XMM (GCN#2464) within the INTEGRAL error circle (GCN#2459). A single radio source is detected close to the center of S1 at (J2000), r.a. = 08:02:30.22, dec. = -39:51:02.8, with conservative errors of +/-0.4 arcsec. This source is not detected in the NRAO VLA Sky Survey at 20-cm. The flux density of this source is 0.5 mJy - typical for GRB afterglows. We caution that the flux calibration at this stage is only preliminary. The coincidences between the INTEGRAL position, and the position of the XMM-S1 and VLA sources, argues for a real association. We will be undertaking further observations to test whether the radio source is the afterglow of GRB 031203." //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2474 SUBJECT: XMM-Newton Observation of GRB031203 DATE: 03/12/06 13:44:22 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA P. Rodriguez-Pascual, M. Santos-Lleo, R. Gonzalez-Riestra, N. Schartel, B. Altieri report: Preliminary analysis of the XMM-Newton raw data of the GRB031203 field (D. Gotz et al. GCN 2459), based on the fully accumulated 56.3 ks exposure time in the EPIC pn camera, confirms the two sources reported by M. Santos-Lleo and P. Calderon (GCN 2464). The observation was performed under optimal environmental conditions and is basically free from solar background flares. XMMU J080230.3-395101, (S1 in GCN 2464) shows a decrease of the pn count rate from approximately 0.075 counts/sec (at start of observation) to approximately 0.05 counts/sec (at end of observation) within an extraction radius of 30 arcsec. There are very few counts in low-energy channels (below approximately 0.9 keV) which may be explained by the Galactic absorption. XMMU J080220.8-395213 (S2 in GCN 2464) might also show evidence for a decrease in flux, but the current processing status of the data does not allow proper quantification. In addition to the two sources reported in GCN 2464 several weaker sources are visible in the data taken during the 56.3 ks exposure time. The following sources are located in the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance in to centre GCN [1/sec] [arcsec] 2464 ----------------------------------------------------- XMMU J080230.3-395101 0.057+/-0.0012 13 S1 XMMU J080220.8-395213 0.018+/-0.001 135 S2 XMMU J080226.0-394955 0.003+/-0.001 69 XMMU J080230.7-395239 0.002+/-0.001 110 XMMU J080233.4-395150 0.003+/-0.001 73 XMMU J080238.2-395150 0.001+/-0.0007 112 XMMU J080239.4-395052 0.002+/-0.001 108 ----------------------------------------------------- The following sources fall on the border of the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance to centre [1/sec] [arcsec] ------------------------------------------------ XMMU J080234.3-394839 0.003+/-0.001 137 XMMU J080241.7-394944 0.002+/-0.001 149 ------------------------------------------------ The following source falls just outside the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance to centre [1/sec] [arcsec] ------------------------------------------------ XMMU J080226.6-395334 0.003+/-0.001 170 ------------------------------------------------ At this stage of the data processing the position error for the weaker sources is of the order of 10 arcsec. The XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre plans to make preliminary images available on a dedicated web page by the middle of next week. [GCN OPS NOTE (06dec03): The extra blank line between ever line in this text have been removed -- they were due to an artifact in the mailer program in the original submission.] //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2475 SUBJECT: GRB031203: K' Photometry of the likely GRB host DATE: 03/12/06 14:00:24 GMT FROM: Kevin Hurley at UCBerkeley/SSL J.X. Prochaska (UCO/Lick Observatory), H.W. Chen (MIT), K. Hurley (UCB), J.S. Bloom (Harvard/CfA), J.R. Graham (UCB), and W.D. Vacca (NASA/Ames) report: Using SCAM with the NIRSPEC instrument on the KeckII telescope, we imaged the ~50"x50" region surrounding GRB031203 (Gotz et al., GCN 2459). We acquired exposures in the N3 (~J; 540s), N5 (~H; 360s), and K' (540s) bands with approximately 0.5" seeing in photometric conditions. Within the 6" XMM error circle, we identify 2 objects: (1) A point source at RA=08:02:29 DEC=-39:51:09 (ANDICAM 1) (2) A galaxy at RA=08:02:29 DEC=-39:51:12 The latter object nearly coincides with the VLA position of the radio source in the XMM error box (Frail, priv. communication). We believe the GRB event occurred within this galaxy. The observed K'-band magnitude of the galaxy is 16.5 +/- 0.05 Adopting an extinction E(B-V)=0.97, we estimate a corrected K'-band luminosity K'=16.15 mag. The galaxy also has an ellipticity E=0.23 and PA=-8 deg. Finally, adopting K'(M*) = -23.3 from the 2MASS survey (Bell et al. 2003), we note an M* galaxy at z=0.17 would have K'=16.15 assuming an LCDM cosmology and no evolution in the stellar population. We also identify a ~5sigma object 1.4"N and 0.2E" of the galaxy center with observed K' magnitude of 21.1 +/- 0.2. This tentative detection lies within 0.5" of the VLA position. No object was observed in our images at the position of the REM source (Zerbi et al., GCN 2466) to K'<21.5 mag. More details can be found here: http://www.ucolick.org/~xavier/GRB/031203/index.html This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2476 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Deep NIR NTT & VLT observations DATE: 03/12/06 14:16:27 GMT FROM: Gianpiero Tagliaferri at OAB-INAF GRB 031203: Deep NIR NTT & VLT observations G. Tagliaferri, S. Covino, D. Fugazza, S. Campana, A. Simoncelli (INAF-OAB) G. Chincarini (UNIMIB & INAF-OAB), L. Stella (INAF-OAR) On December 5th, at 06:12 UT, we started observing in JHKs filters with ISAAC at the VLT-UT1 telescope the XMM source S1 (Santos-Lleo & Calderon GCN2464). In the XMM error box of 6" around S1 we detect the source already seen in the previous night with the NTT (Zerbi et al. GCN2471, see also Hsia et al. GCN2470). With ISAAC we obtained the following magnitudes (based on 2MASS stars): J=18.40+/-0.15, H=17.80+/-0.15 and Ks=16.70+/-0.15. A comparison between the NTT values on December 4 and the VLT one of the following night shows that this object faded by few tens of magnitude. Given that this object was already detected in archive images (Bloom et al. GCN2472), it is probably a variable star. In the XMM error box with ISAAC we detect also another source with J=21.05+/-0.25 (not visible in H and Ks). This object was already present in the SofI J image and it does not seem to have varied. We did not see any variable source in an area of 20 arcsecond radius around the XMM S1 position. Therefore, we have no indication of a transient associated with GRB 031203. However, note that the VLT images do not cover the full INTEGRAL error box, in particular the area around the XMM S2 source is not in the FoV. For the NTT SofI Ks finding charts, see http://www.merate.mi.astro.it/~taglia/GRB031203.jpg We thank the ESO La Silla and Paranal staff for their prompt reaction and support. This message can be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2477 SUBJECT: XMM-Newton Observation of GRB031203 DATE: 03/12/06 14:32:30 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA XMM-Newton Observation of GRB031203 P. Rodriguez-Pascual, M. Santos-Lleo, R. Gonzalez-Riestra, N. Schartel, B. Altieri report: Preliminary analysis of the XMM-Newton raw data of the GRB031203 field (D. Gotz et al. GCN 2459), based on the fully accumulated 56.3 ks exposure time in the EPIC pn camera, confirms the two sources reported by M. Santos-Lleo and P. Calderon (GCN 2464). The observation was performed under optimal environmental conditions and is basically free from solar background flares. XMMU J080230.3-395101, (S1 in GCN 2464) shows a decrease of the pn count rate from approximately 0.075 counts/sec (at start of observation) to approximately 0.05 counts/sec (at end of observation) within an extraction radius of 30 arcsec. There are very few counts in low-energy channels (below approximately 0.9 keV) which may be explained by the Galactic absorption. XMMU J080220.8-395213 (S2 in GCN 2464) might also show evidence for a decrease in flux, but the current processing status of the data does not allow proper quantification. In addition to the two sources reported in GCN 2464 several weaker sources are visible in the data taken during the 56.3 ks exposure time. The following sources are located in the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance in to centre GCN [1/sec] [arcsec] 2464 ----------------------------------------------------- XMMU J080230.3-395101 0.057+/-0.0012 13 S1 XMMU J080220.8-395213 0.018+/-0.001 135 S2 XMMU J080226.0-394955 0.003+/-0.001 69 XMMU J080230.7-395239 0.002+/-0.001 110 XMMU J080233.4-395150 0.003+/-0.001 73 XMMU J080238.2-395150 0.001+/-0.0007 112 XMMU J080239.4-395052 0.002+/-0.001 108 ----------------------------------------------------- The following sources fall on the border of the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance to centre [1/sec] [arcsec] ------------------------------------------------ XMMU J080234.3-394839 0.003+/-0.001 137 XMMU J080241.7-394944 0.002+/-0.001 149 ------------------------------------------------ The following source falls just outside the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance to centre [1/sec] [arcsec] ------------------------------------------------ XMMU J080226.6-395334 0.003+/-0.001 170 ------------------------------------------------ At this stage of the data processing the position error for the weaker sources is of the order of 10 arcsec. The XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre plans to make preliminary images available on a dedicated web page by the middle of next week. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2478 SUBJECT: GRB031203: ROSAT upper limits suggest XMM-S1 source as the transient DATE: 03/12/06 14:48:35 GMT FROM: Gianpiero Tagliaferri at OAB-INAF GRB031203: ROSAT upper limits suggest XMM-S1 source as the transient S. Campana, G. Tagliaferri, G. Chincarini, S. Covino, D. Fugazza (INAF-OAB), L. Stella (INAF-OAR) We analysed ROSAT PSPC archival data of Zeta Puppis (rp200663n00, on-time 55 ks). The two XMM-Newton sources (Santos-Lleo & Calderon GCN #2464) found in the INTEGRAL error box of GRB 031203 are within the inner rib of the PSPC. ROSAT did not detect the two sources. Using XIMAGE/sosta (and correcting for the exposure map), we obtained a 3 sigma upper limit of 1.3E-03 c/s on S1 and of 1.1E-03 c/s on S2. The column density of this field is 6x1021 cm-2. Assuming a power law spectrum with photon index between 1-2, we can extrapolate (using PIMMS) XMM-Newton rates of 1.9E-02 - 3.5E-02 c/s for S1 and 1.5E-02 - 2.9E-02 c/s for S2. The XMM-Newton sources have been estimated to have a rate of: S1 0.10+/-0.015 c/s (error at 3 sigma) S2 0.04+/-0.010 c/s (error at 3 sigma). If our assumptions on the spectrum are correct, we note that the XMM-Newton count rate of S1 is not compatible with the ROSAT PSPC upper limit, suggesting that S1 is an X-ray variable source. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2479 SUBJECT: GRB031203 K prime photometry: correction to galaxy coordinates DATE: 03/12/06 16:18:20 GMT FROM: Kevin Hurley at UCBerkeley/SSL J.X. Prochaska (UCO/Lick Observatory), H.W. Chen (MIT), K. Hurley (UCB), J.S. Bloom (Harvard/CfA), J.R. Graham (UCB), and W.D. Vacca (NASA/Ames) report: The coordinates of the galaxy in GCN 2475 were given incorrectly. The correct coordinates are: RA = 08:02:30.18, Decl. = -39:51:03.5 We regret any confusion that this error might have caused. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2481 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Optical/IR Astrometry DATE: 03/12/06 17:25:12 GMT FROM: Josh Bloom at Harvard/CFA ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2003 23:45:21 -0500 (EST) From: Joshua Bloom To: gcncirc@lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov Cc: scott@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov Subject: GRB 031203: Optical/IR Astrometry GRB 031203: Optical/IR Astrometry J. S. Bloom, C. Bailyn, M. Buxton, B. Cobb, P. van Dokkum (Yale) and D. Gonzalez (CTIO), part of the larger SMARTS consortium, report: "The position of the radio source in the XMM error box (Frail, priv. communication) is 0.43" E and 0.80" N from the bright source noted in Hsia et al. (GCN #2470). However, as explained in Bloom et al. (GCN #2472) that source itself is unlikely to be the afterglow since it was present in the DSS-II and did not vary significantly in the first night. Additional data obtained between Dec. 5 UT=5:43 and UT=7:19 showed the source at the same I-band flux as on Dec. 4 to within 0.05 mag. On both Dec. 4 and Dec. 5 the source is slightly but clearly elongated in ~1" seeing. The source-radio offset of 0.91" is larger than the formal joint 1 sigma uncertainty between the IR and the radio positional tie. It is still unclear whether this bright source is the low redshift host of the GRB or a foreground galaxy. Separately, we note that inspection of the J-band ANDICAM imaging reported in the Bailyn et al. (GCN #2463) reveals a faint (J ~ 20) source at: RA: 08:02:30.36 DEC: -39:51:00.1 (J2000) rms uncertainty relative to ICRF= 0.3 arcsec in RA and DEC" This is consistent with the XMM (#1) position. A finding chart may be found at: http://www-cfa.harvard.edu/~jbloom/grb031203 This message may be cited. [original submit time at top of header] //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2482 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Magellan spectrum of possible GRB host DATE: 03/12/06 17:45:15 GMT FROM: Josh Bloom at Harvard/CFA GRB 031203: Magellan spectrum of possible GRB host J. X. Prochaska (UCO/Lick Observatory), J. S. Bloom (Harvard/CfA), H.W. Chen (MIT), K. Hurley (UCB), A. Dressler (OCIW) and D. Osip (LCO) report: "Using the recently commissioned IMACS on the Baade telescope we obtained a 300l grating spectrum of the galaxy laying within 1" of the VLA position (Frail, priv. comm.) of the radio source in the XMM error circle (Santos-Lleo & Calderon #GCN 2464) of the INTEGRAL-discovered GRB 031203 (Gotz et al. GCN #2459). The spectrum covers 4100-9100 Ang and shows strong, extended emission lines including Hbeta, [OIII], Halpha, [SII]. All of these lines are consistent with a redshift z=0.105 (uncorrected for heliocentric motion)." Data products will be released at as they become available. http://www.ucolick.org/~xavier/GRB/031203/index.html This message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2483 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Variable Radio Source DATE: 03/12/08 06:47:38 GMT FROM: Alicia Soderberg at Caltech A. M. Soderberg, S. R. Kulkarni (Caltech) and D. A. Frail (NRAO) report on behalf of a larger collaboration: "On 2004 Dec. 7.52 UT we carried out further VLA observations at 8.5 GHz of the radio source reported earlier (GCN 2473) and which lies within the 6-arcsecond error circle of the XMM source S1 (GCN 2464). The source flux density has decreased by a factor of two since our last report. Given that S1 is also fading (GCN 2477) we conclude that likely the radio source is the afterglow of GRB 0312103 (GCN 2459). As noted by Bloom et al. (GCN 2481) and Prochaska et al. (GCN 2482) a galaxy at a redshift of 0.105 is coincident with the radio source. Owing to the large zenith angle of the source the reported radio source position may suffer from larger than normal astrometric error (which will be improved by future observations). The radio source and the putative host galaxy can be considered to coincident within the true astrometric error. The isotropic energy release (assuming redshift of 0.105) in the 20-200 keV band is about 9E49 erg (using the data from GCN 2460). The isotropic X-ray luminosity extrapolated to 10 hr (using data from GCN 2477) is about 5E43 erg/s. These are lower than normal releases and luminosities (see Berger, Kulkarni and Frail 2003) and the apparent early fading in the radio are consistent with GRB 031203 being an abnormally low luminosity GRB. This GRB may bridge GRB 980425 (at z=0.0085) associated with SN 1998bw and cosmological GRBs (typically z of 0.3 to 1). Further low frequency observations will settle the issue of total calorimetry. The search for an underlying SN is worth trying, though obscuration within and outside our Galaxy may prove to be vexing." //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2484 SUBJECT: XMM-Newton Observations of GRB031203: Preliminary Images DATE: 03/12/10 16:07:22 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA Preliminary images from both XMM-Newton observations of the field of GRB031203 are available at the home-page of the XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre: http://xmm.vilspa.esa.es/external/xmm_news/items/grb031203/index.shtml //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2486 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: SMARTS optical monitoring DATE: 03/12/11 21:50:29 GMT FROM: Charles Bailyn at Yale/Astro C. Bailyn, P. van Dokkum, M. Buxton, B. Cobb (Yale) and J. S. Bloom (Harvard/CfA) report continued monitoring of the galaxy near the position of GRB 031203 (GCN 2482) with the SMARTS 1.3m telescope + ANDICAM instrument at CTIO: "We have continued SMARTS/ANDICAM observations of the galaxy coincident with the radio position (GCN 2473) of GRB 031203. We are obtaining 42m of exposure time in I and J each night. Our recent I-band data suggest that the galaxy has brightened by 0.09 +/- 0.03 magnitudes over the past 2 nights, reaching I=19.13 in observations beginning Dec. 11 UT=5:27 (in addition to the error in the differential magnitude, there is also an uncertainty of ~0.05 in the absolute magnitude scale). This brightening may mark the emergence of an underlying supernova, so we urge continued observation of this source in all wavelengths." //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2489 SUBJECT: GRB 031203: Discovery of a dust echo DATE: 03/12/15 20:06:16 GMT FROM: Andrew Levan at U.of Leicester S. Vaughan, R. Willingale, P.T. O'Brien, J. Osborne, A. Levan, J. Tedds, T. Roberts, M. Watson (University of Leicester), D. Watson (University of Copenhagen) report: The first XMM-Newton observation of GRB031203 began at 2003-12-04, UT 04:09:29 and lasted for 58211 seconds (GCN2462). The GRB was originally detected by the IBIS instrument on Integral at 2003-12-03, UT 22:01:28 (GCN2459). Analysis of the first XMM-Newton observation reveals a diffuse X-ray halo centered around the GRB afterglow location. This halo is seen in all three cameras of the EPIC instrument and is not due to scattered optical or X-ray light within the instrument. The halo has the form of a virtually complete ring which increases in radius through the observation, indicative of the expected behaviour of a "light-echo" as X-rays are scattered off dust at a distance of ~700 pc from the observer. GRB031203 is in the direction (Galactic) l = 255.74, b = -4.80 degrees, a line of sight which includes the Gum Nebula among other nebulae and infrared sources. The derived distance to the scattering medium is consistent with an origin in our Galaxy. The X-ray spectrum of GRB031203 can be well represented by a powerlaw with Photon index ~ 1.7. The scattered X-ray light has, as expected, a softer spectrum with Photon index ~ 3. Further analysis is underway. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2490 SUBJECT: GRB031203, improved XMM position DATE: 03/12/17 16:21:23 GMT FROM: Darach Watson at U.of Copenhagen J. A. Tedds (University of Leicester), D. Watson (University of Copenhagen), M. G. Watson, J. Osborne, A. Levan, P.T. O'Brien, S. Vaughan, R. Willingale (University of Leicester) and J. N. Reeves (NASA-GSFC) report: The XMM-Newton EPIC coordinates were refined by matching the X-ray sources in the field to the USNO-A2 catalogue. The cross-correlation is extremely good thanks to the long, clean exposure and yields a final source position (J2000) for the X-ray afterglow (the fading source, S1, GCN 2477) of RA: 08:02:30.190, Dec: -39:51:04.05 The 1 sigma error radius is 0.7" (including the residual 0.5" systematic error from the correlation that is observed in the 1XMM catalogue). This is consistent with the centre of the galaxy (z=0.105) reported by Hsia et al. (GCN 2470) and by Bloom et al. (GCN 2481) and Prochaska et al. (GCN 2482) and can be consistent with the radio source reported by Frail (GCN 2473) if their systematic offset is >~0.5" as suggested by (Soderberg et al. GCN 2483). //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2493 SUBJECT: GRB 031203 I-band monitoring DATE: 03/12/20 10:44:05 GMT FROM: Jens Hjorth at U.Copenhagen J. Hjorth (U. Copenhagen), J. Gorosabel (IAA-CSIC/STScI), B. L. Jensen (U. Copenhagen), J. P. U. Fynbo (U. Aarhus), M. I. Andersen (AIP), J. R. Rasmussen (U. Aarhus), T. H. Dall (ESO), D. Bersier (STScI), D. Watson, K. Pedersen, P. Jakobsson, and H. Pedersen (U. Copenhagen) report: "We have observed the INTEGRAL error box of GRB 031203 (Gotz et al. GCN #2459) with the Danish 1.5-m telescope at La Silla. We have obtained ~50 min I-band exposures at five epochs between Dec 5.6 and Dec 13.6 UT in good seeing conditions (~ 0.8"). We have performed both SExtractor photometry and PSF-matched subtraction of the galaxy (Hsia et al. GCN #2470; Prochaska et al. GCN #2475) coincident with the VLA radio (Frail GCN #2473; Soderberg et al. GCN #2483) and XMM-Newton X-ray (Santos-Lleo & Calderon GCN #2464; Rodriguez-Pascual et al. GCN #2474; Tedds et al. GCN #2490) error circles. We find no evidence for significant variability above a level of 0.02 mag. The PSF-matched subtraction did not reveal significant residuals either. We therefore cannot confirm the reported variability (Bailyn et al. GCN #2486). Assuming a foreground reddening of A_I = 2.01 mag (Schlegel et al. 1998), these data points rule out a contribution from a SN1998bw-like supernova redshifted to z = 0.105. There is still room for a fainter supernova, a more distant supernova, or a supernova with a different lightcurve shape. Continued monitoring at other observatories would help to constrain these parameters. The monitoring has ended at the Danish 1.5-m telescope." //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2522 SUBJECT: GRB031203: Chandra Observations DATE: 04/01/26 01:23:00 GMT FROM: Derek Fox at CIT D.B. Fox, A.M. Soderberg, and S.R. Kulkarni (Caltech), with D. Frail (NRAO) report: "We have observed the X-ray afterglow of GRB031203 (Tedds et al., GCN 2490) with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, in a single 21.6 ksec exposure beginning at 21:35 UT on 22 January 2004 (mean epoch 49.1 days post-burst). At the XMM position derived by Tedds et al. (GCN 2490) we observe a single point-like source with a net count rate of 0.56 +/- 0.16 counts per ksec. Converting this count rate into a flux using the power-law (index 1.7) spectrum found by Vaughan et al. (GCN 2489), and assuming a hydrogen column of 6.2E+21 cm**-2, we find a 2-10 keV X-ray flux of approximately 6.4E-15 erg cm**-2 s**-1. This corresponds to a power-law decay from the last epoch of XMM observations (approx. 3.6 days post-burst) of index alpha = -1.0 +/- 0.1." //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2529 SUBJECT: GRB 031203 XMM-Newton observation DATE: 04/02/23 21:13:36 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA Michel G. Breitfellner, Puri Munuera and Alberto Martos report: Quick-Look-Analysis of the XMM-Newton observation of the GRB040223 field (D. Gotz et al. GCN 2525), based on 7 ks exposures in the EPIC pn and MOS cameras, respectively, shows the presence of a source within the INTEGRAL error circle. XMMU J163929.9-415601 (J2000): R.A. = 16h 39m 29.9s Decl. = -41deg 56' 1.4" with an estimated EPIC/pn count rate of 0.002 [counts/sec]; At this stage of reduction the position error is expected to be less than 6". //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2544 SUBJECT: GRB 031203, possible supernova DATE: 04/03/15 19:37:49 GMT FROM: David Bersier at STScI D. Bersier, J. Rhoads, A. Fruchter, J. M. Castro Cerón, L.-G. Strolger, S. Malhotra (STScI), J. Gorosabel (IAA-CSIC), A. Levan (U. of Leicester), C. Kouveliotou, S. Patel (MSFC/NASA), M. Merrill (NOAO), E. Gawiser, M. F. Duran, V. Gonzalez, (U. de Chile) report: Using the CTIO 4m telescope with MOSAIC2, we have obtained late-time I-band imaging data of the field of GRB 031203 (Gotz et al, GCN 2459) 19, 25, and 77 days after the burst. The afterglow found in X-ray (Schartel & Calderon, GCN 2464; Tedds et al GCN 2490; Fox et al GCN 2522), radio (Frail, GCN 2473; Soderberg et al GCN 2483) and IR (Tagliaferri et al GCN 2476) coincides with a galaxy at a redshift z=0.105 (Prochaska et al GCN 2482). The brightness of the galaxy at day 25 is I=19.25 (from a preliminary calibration). This includes any contribution from a transient source (afterglow and/or supernova). Matched-psf image subtraction (Alard, 2000, A&AS, 144, 363) reveals a fading source at this position, between days 25 and 77, whereas there is no variation between days 19 and 25. Photometry via psf-fitting confirms this. The change in magnitude of the "galaxy+variable source" between days 25 and 77 is 0.26 mag. Given the faintness of the afterglow at early times, and the likelihood that the afterglow will have faded significantly at the times of our measurements, we tentatively interpret this variable source as a supernova. The observed decay sets a lower limit on the magnitude at day 25 (near I-band maximum in rest frame). The true brightness of the SN must be greater than the flux difference between the two images, which corresponds to I=20.94 +/- 0.08. Assuming an extinction of A_I=1.76 and a redshift z=0.105, this corresponds to a luminosity of -19.25, which is very close to the maximum brightness of SN1998bw. If we were to assume that the light curve of this object behaves as SN1998bw, then the difference between these two times would underestimate the true luminosity by 35%.