//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18979 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: Swift detection of a burst DATE: 16/02/03 02:34:26 GMT FROM: Jamie A. Kennea at PSU/Swift-XRT P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), D. N. Burrows (PSU), F. E. Marshall (NASA/GSFC), A. Melandri (INAF-OAB), D. M. Palmer (LANL), B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU) and M. H. Siegel (PSU) report on behalf of the Swift Team: At 02:13:10 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and located GRB 160203A (trigger=672525). Swift slewed immediately to the burst. The BAT on-board calculated location is RA, Dec 161.952, -24.762, which is RA(J2000) = 10h 47m 48s Dec(J2000) = -24d 45' 43" with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including systematic uncertainty). The BAT light curve shows several overlapping peaks with a duration of about 25 sec. The peak count rate was ~500 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~5 sec after the trigger. The XRT began observing the field at 02:15:27.8 UT, 137.3 seconds after the BAT trigger. Using promptly downlinked data we find a fading, uncatalogued X-ray source with an enhanced position: RA, Dec 161.9511, -24.7887 which is equivalent to: RA(J2000) = 10h 47m 48.27s Dec(J2000) = -24d 47' 19.2" with an uncertainty of 2.3 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This location is 96 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 http://www.swift.ac.uk/sper. A power-law fit to a spectrum formed from promptly downlinked event data gives a column density consistent with the Galactic value of 7.41 x 10^20 cm^-2 (Willingale et al. 2013). UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter starting 139 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 none 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 0.07. Burst Advocate for this burst is P. D'Avanzo (paolo.davanzo AT brera.inaf.it). 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/too.html.) //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18980 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: GROND Afterglow Candidate DATE: 16/02/03 02:44:04 GMT FROM: Alexander Kann at TLS Tautenburg T. Kruehler (MPE Garching), D. A. Kann (TLS Tautenburg), J. Greiner (MPE Garching), and J. Bolmer (MPE Garching) report on behalf of the GROND team: We observed the field of GRB 160203A (Swift trigger 672525; D'Avanzo et al., GCN #18979) simultaneously in g'r'i'z'JHK with GROND (Greiner et al. 2008, PASP 120, 405) mounted at the 2.2m MPG telescope at ESO La Silla Observatory (Chile). Observations started at 02:18:58 UT on 2016-02-03, 6 min after the GRB trigger, and are continuing. They were performed at an average seeing of 1".2 and at an average airmass of 1.8. We found a single point source within the 2".3 Swift-XRT error circle at RA (J2000.0) = 10:47:48.35 Dec. (J2000.0) = -24:47:19.8 with an uncertainty of 0".5 in each coordinate. Based on the first 4.40 min of total exposures in g'r'i'z' and 4.0 min in JHK at a mid-time of 02:22:14, we estimate preliminary magnitudes (all in AB system) of g' = 18.9 +/- 0.1 mag, r' = 18.0 +/- 0.1 mag, i' = 17.7 +/- 0.1 mag, z' = 17.6 +/- 0.1 mag, J = 17.0 +/- 0.1 mag, and H = 16.7 +/- 0.1 mag. While we cannot establish fading yet, we propose this source to be the afterglow of GRB 160203A. Given magnitudes are calibrated against GROND zeropoints as well as 2MASS field stars and are not corrected for the expected Galactic foreground extinction corresponding to a reddening of E_(B-V) = 0.06 mag in the direction of the burst (Schlafly & Finkbeiner 2011). //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18981 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: LCOGT-Cerro Tololo optical afterglow confirmation DATE: 16/02/03 03:44:40 GMT FROM: Dong Xu at NAOC/CAS D. Xu (NAOC/CAS) reports on behalf of a large collaboration: We observed the field of GRB 160203A (D'Avanzo et al., GCN 18979) using the LCOGT-1m located at Cerro Tololo. Observations started at 02:35:09 UT on 2016-02-03 (i.e., 1319 s after the BAT trigger) and 10x150s R-band frames were obtained. We detect an uncatalogued and decaying source at the position reported by Kruehler et al. (GCN 18980), which has m(R)= 18.04 in the first 150s exposure, calibrated with the nearby USNN star, #0651-0249724 (R1=R2=16.84 mag). The fading nature confirms the source is the afterglow of GRB 160203A. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18982 SUBJECT: The bright GRB160203A: X-shooter spectroscopy and redshift DATE: 16/02/03 04:22:29 GMT FROM: Giovanna Pugliese at API/UvA G. Pugliese (API/UvA), S. Covino (INAF/OAB), T. Kruehler (MPE Garching), D. Xu (NAOC/CAS), N. R. Tanvir (Leicester), report on behalf of a larger collaboration: We observed the afterglow of GRB 160203A (D'Avanzo et al., GCN 18979; Kruehler et al., GCN 18980; Xu, GCN 18981) with ESO's Very Large Telescope UT2 equipped with X-shooter. Our observations were performed in Rapid Response Mode and started at 02:31:35 UT on 03-02-2016, just about 18 min after the Swift trigger. The X-shooter spectra cover the range between 3000 and 23000 AA, and were obtained at a seeing of around 0.8". A preliminary analysis of the spectrum shows a clear continuum with absorption features due to Lyman-alpha and various metal lines (SII 1254, SiII 1259/60, OI 1302, SiII 1304, CII 1334, Si IV 1393/1402, SiII 1526, CIV 1548/1550, FeII 1608, AlII 1670) at a common redshift of 3.52, which we propose as the redshift of the GRB. We also detect an intervening system at z=2.203. We acknowledge the fast and efficient support provided by Paranal staff. In particular we thank Dimitri Gadotti, Boris Haeussler, and Marcela Espinoza for their excellent job. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18983 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: Enhanced Swift-XRT position DATE: 16/02/03 06:07:19 GMT FROM: Phil Evans at U of Leicester J.P. Osborne, A.P. Beardmore, P.A. Evans and M.R. Goad (U. Leicester) report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team. Using 310 s of XRT Photon Counting mode data and 1 UVOT images for GRB 160203A, we find an astrometrically corrected X-ray position (using the XRT-UVOT alignment and matching UVOT field sources to the USNO-B1 catalogue): RA, Dec = 161.95125, -24.78914 which is equivalent to: RA (J2000): 10h 47m 48.30s Dec (J2000): -24d 47' 20.9" with an uncertainty of 2.0 arcsec (radius, 90% confidence). This position may be improved as more data are received. The latest position can be viewed at http://www.swift.ac.uk/xrt_positions. Position enhancement is described by Goad et al. (2007, A&A, 476, 1401) and Evans et al. (2009, MNRAS, 397, 1177). This circular was automatically generated, and is an official product of the Swift-XRT team. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18984 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: Swift/UVOT Detection DATE: 16/02/03 12:50:43 GMT FROM: Alice Breeveld at MSSL-UCL A. A. Breeveld (UCL-MSSL) and P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB) report on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team: The Swift/UVOT began settled observations of the field of GRB 160203A 151 s after the BAT trigger (D'Avanzo et al., GCN Circ. 18979). A fading source consistent with the optical position (Kruehler et al. GCN Circ. 18980) is detected in the initial UVOT exposures in the white filter. Preliminary detections and 3-sigma upper limits using the UVOT photometric system (Breeveld et al. 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1358, 373) for the early exposures are: Filter T_start(s) T_stop(s) Exp(s) Mag white_FC 151 301 147 20.56 ± 0.3 white 10022 10928 885 21.9 ± 0.3 b 4946 5146 197 >20.7 u 309 472 160 >19.5 v 5562 5762 197 >19.7 uvw1 5972 6171 197 >19.7 uvm2 5766 5966 197 >19.6 uvw2 5357 5557 197 >19.9 The magnitudes in the table are not corrected for the Galactic extinction due to the reddening of E(B-V) = 0.07 in the direction of the burst (Schlegel et al. 1998). //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18985 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: TAROT La Silla - TAROT Calern - Zadko observations DATE: 16/02/03 14:39:31 GMT FROM: Michel Boer at Obs Haute Prov. Boer, M., Laugier, R. (CNRS-ARTEMIS), Klotz A., Turpin D., Atteia J.L. (CNRS-OMP-IRAP), Gendre B. (UVI - Etelman Obs.), Coward, D. McPherson, D. Williams A., Martin R., Moore J., Dodson R. (UWA) report: The position of GRB 160203A (d'Avanzo et al., GCNC 18979) was observed with TAROT-Calern (TCA France), TAROT-Chile (TCH), and Zadko (W. Australia). Observing conditions where good for TCH and Zadko, with absorption for TCA. The observations have started at TCH: 2:16:24.7 UT, T0+3m14s TCA: 2:16:28 UT, T0+ 3m18 Zadko: 13:04:33 UT, T0+10h52m No source has been detected at the position of the reported afterglow (GCNC 18980, 18981, 18982, 18984). R limiting magnitude are 16.3 for TCA, 17.2 for TCH and 19.5 for Zadko. At the time of writing Zadko is still observing the source position. This notice is citable. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18986 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: Swift-XRT refined Analysis DATE: 16/02/03 14:42:54 GMT FROM: Phil Evans at U of Leicester J.P. Osborne (U. Leicester), K.L. Page (U. Leicester), V. D'Elia (ASDC), A. D'Ai (INAF-IASFPA), T.G.R. Roegiers (PSU), L.M. McCauley (PSU), J.A. Kennea (PSU), C. Pagani (U. Leicester) and P. D'Avanzo report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team: We have analysed 10 ks of XRT data for GRB 160203A (D'Avanzo et al. GCN Circ. 18979), from 122 s to 33.8 ks after the BAT trigger. The data comprise 7 s in Windowed Timing (WT) mode (taken while Swift was slewing), with the remainder in Photon Counting (PC) mode. The enhanced XRT position for this burst was given by Osborne et al. (GCN Circ. 18983). The late-time light curve (from T0+4.9 ks) can be modelled with a power-law decay with a decay index of alpha=1.15 (+0.24, -0.23). A spectrum formed from the PC mode data can be fitted with an absorbed power-law with a photon spectral index of 1.76 (+0.23, -0.22). The best-fitting absorption column is 1.5 (+2.6, -1.5) x 10^22 cm^-2, at a redshift of 3.52, in addition to the Galactic value of 7.4 x 10^20 cm^-2 (Willingale et al. 2013). The counts to observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux conversion factor deduced from this spectrum is 3.8 x 10^-11 (4.5 x 10^-11) erg cm^-2 count^-1. A summary of the PC-mode spectrum is thus: Galactic foreground: 7.4 x 10^20 cm^-2 Intrinsic column: 1.5 (+2.6, -1.5) x 10^22 cm^-2 at z=3.52 Photon index: 1.76 (+0.23, -0.22) If the light curve continues to decay with a power-law decay index of 1.15, the count rate at T+24 hours will be 2.8 x 10^-3 count s^-1, corresponding to an observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux of 1.1 x 10^-13 (1.2 x 10^-13) erg cm^-2 s^-1. The results of the XRT-team automatic analysis are available at http://www.swift.ac.uk/xrt_products/00672525. This circular is an official product of the Swift-XRT team. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18987 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: Skynet PROMPT-CTIO observations of the optical afterglow DATE: 16/02/03 18:50:26 GMT FROM: Adam S. Trotter at UNC-Chapel Hill/PROMPT/Skynet A. Trotter, D. Reichart, J. Haislip, J. Moore, N. Frank, M. Maples, E. Johnson, R. Joyner, J. Martin, C. Salemi, J. A. Crain, K. Ivarsen, A. LaCluyze, and M. Nysewander report: Skynet observed the Swift BAT/XRT localization of GRB 160203A (D'Avanzo et al., GCN 18979, Swift trigger=672525) with with one 16" telescope (P5) and two 24" telescopes (P1 and P8) of the PROMPT array at CTIO, Chile. Starting at 2016-02-03 02:17:18 UT and continuing until 09:26 UT (t=4.1m-7.2h post-trigger), Skynet took a total of 353 exposures ranging from 20-160s. Between t=4.1m and t=61m, both P5 and P8 observed in the I band. Between t=78m and t=7.2h, P1 cycled through the V, R and I filters, while P8 cycled through the B, V and R filters. We clearly detect an optical afterglow at the position first reported by Kruehler et al. (GCN 18980). The OT exhibits a rising light curve at early times, peaking at I~17 at t~8m, and fades thereafter, with I~20 at t~5h. A preliminary light curve is at: http://www.skynet.unc.edu/grb/grb160203a.png Magnitudes are in the Vega System, calibrated to 8 APASS DR9 stars in the field. Magnitudes have not been corrected for line-of-sight Milky Way dust extinction, with expected E(B-V)=0.06 (Schlafly & Finkbeiner 2011). No further Skynet observations are scheduled. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18989 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: RATIR Optical Observations DATE: 16/02/04 16:56:05 GMT FROM: Nat Butler at Az State U Nat Butler (ASU), Alan M. Watson (UNAM), Alexander Kutyrev (GSFC), William H. Lee (UNAM), Michael G. Richer (UNAM), Ori Fox (STScI), J. Xavier Prochaska (UCSC), Josh Bloom (UCB), Antonino Cucchiara (GSFC/STScI), Eleonora Troja (GSFC), Owen Littlejohns (ASU), Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (UCSC), José A. de Diego (UNAM), Leonid Georgiev (UNAM), Jesús González (UNAM), Carlos Román-Zúñiga (UNAM), Neil Gehrels (GSFC), Harvey Moseley (GSFC), John Capone (UMD), V. Zach Golkhou (ASU), and Vicki Toy (UMD) report: We observed the field of GRB 160203A (D'Avanzo, et al., GCN 18979) with the Reionization and Transients Infrared Camera (RATIR; www.ratir.org) on the 1.5m Harold Johnson Telescope at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional on Sierra San Pedro Mártir from 2016/02 4.36 to 2016/02 4.55 UTC (30.42 to 34.94 hours after the BAT trigger), obtaining a total of 3.27 hours exposure in the r, i, and z bands. For a source within the Swift-XRT error circle (Osborne, et al., GCN 18983), in comparison with the USNO-B1 and 2MASS catalogs, we obtain the following detections and upper limit (3-sigma): r = 23.35 +/- 0.21 i = 22.90 +/- 0.13 z > 20.55 These magnitudes are in the AB system and are not corrected for Galactic extinction in the direction of the GRB. We thank the staff of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in San Pedro Mártir. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18990 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: TSHAO optical observations DATE: 16/02/05 13:54:34 GMT FROM: Alexei Pozanenko at IKI, Moscow A. Volnova (IKI), E. Mazaeva (IKI), A. Kusakin (Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute), A. Pozanenko (IKI) report on behalf of a larger GRB follow-up collaboration: We observed the field of the Swift GRB 160203A (D'Avanzo et al., GCN 18979) with Zeiss-1000 (West) 1-m telescope of Tien Shan Astronomical Observatory starting on Feb. 03 (UT) 20:31:45. We obtained several images in R filter. We marginally (S/N ~ 2) detect afterglow (Kruehler et al., GCN 18980) in a combined image. Preliminary photometry of the afterglow is following Date UT start t-T0 Filter Exp. OT Err (mid, days) (s) 2016-02-03 20:31:45 0.80045 R 21*300 23.0 0.5 The photometry is based on nearby USNO-B1.0 stars: USNO-B1.0_id R2 0652-0250834 18.04 0651-0249689 18.51 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18998 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: Swift-BAT refined analysis DATE: 16/02/07 15:41:25 GMT FROM: Scott Barthelmy at NASA/GSFC S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), J. R. Cummings (GSFC/UMBC), P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), N. Gehrels (GSFC), H. A. Krimm (GSFC/USRA), A. Y. Lien (GSFC/UMBC), C. B. Markwardt (GSFC), D. M. Palmer (LANL), T. Sakamoto (AGU), M. Stamatikos (OSU), T. N. Ukwatta (LANL) (i.e. the Swift-BAT team): Using the data set from T-239 to T+963 sec from the recent telemetry downlinks, we report further analysis of BAT GRB 160203A (trigger #672525) (D'Avanzo, et al., GCN Circ. 18979). The BAT ground-calculated position is RA, Dec = 161.967, -24.772 deg, which is RA(J2000) = 10h 47m 52.2s Dec(J2000) = -24d 46' 17.9" with an uncertainty of 1.7 arcmin, (radius, sys+stat, 90% containment). The partial coding was 20%. The mask-weighted light curve shows a single peak starting at ~T-1 sec, peaking at ~T+13 sec, and ending at ~T+40 sec. T90 (15-350 keV) is 20.2 +- 3.2 sec (estimated error including systematics). The time-averaged spectrum from T+1.46 to T+25.78 sec is best fit by a simple power-law model. The power law index of the time-averaged spectrum is 1.93 +- 0.20. The fluence in the 15-150 keV band is 1.2 +- 0.1 x 10^-6 erg/cm2. The 1-sec peak photon flux measured from T+11.98 sec in the 15-150 keV band is 1.3 +- 0.4 ph/cm2/sec. All the quoted errors are at the 90% confidence level. The results of the batgrbproduct analysis are available at http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/notices_s/672525/BA/ //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 18999 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: Zadko observatory - Gingin optical detection DATE: 16/02/07 18:07:18 GMT FROM: Alain Klotz at IRAP-CNRS-OMP Klotz A., Turpin D., Atteia J.L. (CNRS-OMP-IRAP), Boer, M., Laugier, R. (CNRS-ARTEMIS), Gendre B. (UVI - Etelman Obs.), Coward, D. McPherson, D. Williams A., Martin R., Moore J., Dodson R. (UWA) report: We analysed the field of GRB 160203A detected by SWIFT (trigger 672525) with the Zadko robotic telescope (D=100cm) located at the observatory - Gingin, Australia. The observations started 10.9h after the GRB trigger. The elevation of the field increased from 23 degrees above horizon and weather conditions were very good. The first fast analysis (Boer et al. GCNC 18985) can be now completed by late images. The stack of images shows the afterglow. Measurements: t1(s) t2(s) Rmag d_Rmag 44824 48920 22.30 0.50 Magnitudes are not corrected for galactic dust extinction. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19003 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: MITSuME Akeno optical upper limits DATE: 16/02/08 08:54:58 GMT FROM: Taketoshi Yoshii at Tokyo Tech Y.Ono, T.Fujiwara, T. Yoshii, Y. Saito, Y. Tachibana, H. Ohuchi, Y. Yano, S. Kurita, S.Harita, Y.Muraki, Y. Yatsu, and N. Kawai (Tokyo Tech) report on behalf of the MITSuME collaboration: We searched for the optical counterpart of GRB 160203A (P. D'Avanzo et al., GCN Circular #18979) with the optical three color (g', Rc, and Ic) CCD cameras attached to the MITSuME 50 cm telescope of Akeno Observatory, Yamanashi, Japan. The observation started on 2016-02-03 15:46:41 UT (~13.5 h after the burst). We did not find any new point source within XRT circle in all three bands. We obtained following limits for the magnitudes. T0+[hour] MID-UT T-EXP[sec] g' Rc Ic ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.98 18:12:04 10080 >21.0 >20.8 >20.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- T0+ : Elapsed time after the burst T-EXP: Total Exposure time We used GSC2.3 catalog for flux calibration. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19007 SUBJECT: GRB 160203A: RATIR Upper Limits DATE: 16/02/10 02:40:34 GMT FROM: V. Zach Golkhou at ASU/RATIR V. Zach Golkhou (ASU), Nat Butler (ASU), Alan M. Watson (UNAM), Alexander Kutyrev (GSFC), William H. Lee (UNAM), Michael G. Richer (UNAM), Ori Fox (STScI), J. Xavier Prochaska (UCSC), Josh Bloom (UCB), Antonino Cucchiara (GSFC/STScI), Eleonora Troja (GSFC), Owen Littlejohns (ASU), Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (UCSC), José A. de Diego (UNAM), Leonid Georgiev (UNAM), Jesús González (UNAM), Carlos Román-Zúñiga (UNAM), Neil Gehrels (GSFC), Harvey Moseley (GSFC), John Capone (UMD), and Vicki Toy (UMD) report: We observed the field of GRB 160203A (D'Avanzo, et al., GCN 18979) with the Reionization and Transients Infrared Camera (RATIR; www.ratir.org) on the 1.5m Harold Johnson Telescope at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional on Sierra San Pedro Mártir from 2016/02 6.28 to 2016/02 6.52 UTC (76.40 to 82.32 hours after the BAT trigger), obtaining a total of 4.27 hours exposure in the r, i, and z bands. For a source within the Swift-XRT error circle (Osborne, et al., GCN 18983), in comparison with the USNO-B1 and 2MASS catalogs, we obtain the following upper limits (3-sigma): r > 24.20 i > 24.14 z > 19.92 These magnitudes are in the AB system and are not corrected for Galactic extinction in the direction of the GRB. We thank the staff of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in San Pedro Mártir.