//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19684 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Swift detection of a burst DATE: 16/07/12 20:07:26 GMT FROM: David Palmer at LANL L. M. Z. Hagen (PSU), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), D. N. Burrows (PSU), S. B. Cenko (GSFC), F. E. Marshall (NASA/GSFC), D. M. Palmer (LANL) and B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU) report on behalf of the Swift Team: At 19:53:36 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and located GRB 160712A (trigger=704155). Swift did not slew immediately due to an observational constraint. The BAT on-board calculated location is RA, Dec 304.149, -26.981 which is RA(J2000) = 20h 16m 36s Dec(J2000) = -26d 58' 52" with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including systematic uncertainty). The BAT light curve showed a long burst with a duration of ~ 20 s and containing a short spike. The peak count rate was ~4500 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~0 sec after the trigger. Due to an observing constraint, Swift will not slew until T0+47.3 minutes. There will be no XRT or UVOT data until this time. Burst Advocate for this burst is L. M. Z. Hagen (lea.zernow.hagen AT gmail.com). 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: 19685 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Global MASTER-Net optical observation DATE: 16/07/12 20:34:55 GMT FROM: Vladimir Lipunov at Moscow State U/Krylov Obs D.Buckley, S. Potter, A.Kniazev, M.Kotze South African Astronomical Observatory E. Gorbovskoy, V. Lipunov, N.Tyurina, V.Kornilov, P.Balanutsa, A.Kuznetsov, D.Kuvshinov, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Sternberg Astronomical Institute R. Rebolo, M. Serra, N. Lodieu, G. Israelian, L. Suarez-Andres The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias O.Gres, K.Ivanov, S.Yazev, N.M.Budnev, O.Chuvalaev, V.A.Poleshchuk Irkutsk State University A. Tlatov, A.V. Parhomenko, D. Dormidontov, V.Senik Kislovodsk Solar Station of the Pulkovo Observatory V.Yurkov, Yu.Sergienko, A.Gabovich, E.Sinyakov Blagoveschensk Educational State University, Blagoveschensk Ricardo Podesta, Carlos Lopez and Federico Podest Observatorio Astronomico Felix Aguilar (OAFA) Hugo Levato and Carlos Saffe Instituto de Ciencias Astronomicas, de la Tierra y del Espacio (ICATE) MASTER-SAAO robotic telescope (MASTER-Net: http://observ.pereplet.ru) located in SAAO was pointed to the GRB160712.83 26 sec after notice time and 48 sec after trigger time at 2016-07-12 19:54:28 UT. On our first (10s exposure) set we haven`t found optical transient within SWIFT error-box (ra=20 16 35 dec=-26 58 52 r=0.050000). The 5-sigma upper limit has been about 16.7 mag The message may be cited. The message may be cited. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19686 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Swift-XRT observations DATE: 16/07/12 21:28:03 GMT FROM: Phil Evans at U of Leicester J.A. Kennea (PSU), G. Cusumano (INAF-IASF PA), M. Perri (ASDC), P.A. Evans (U. Leicester), J.P. Osborne (U. Leicester) and D.N. Burrows (PSU) report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team: The XRT began observing the field of GRB 160712A at 20:47:52.7 UT, 3256.7 seconds after the BAT trigger. The position determined from promptly downlinked data differs significantly from the on-board position, suggesting that the XRT may have centroided on a cosmic ray; the initial XRT position notice should be treated with caution. Using promptly downlinked data we find an uncatalogued X-ray source with an enhanced position: RA, Dec 304.1600, -26.9582 which is equivalent to: RA(J2000) = 20h 16m 38.40s Dec(J2000) = -26d 57' 29.4" with an uncertainty of 2.1 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This location is 89 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 in excess of the Galactic value (8.30 x 10^20 cm^-2, Willingale et al. 2013), with an excess column of 2.7 (+2.97/-2.55) x 10^21 cm^-2 (90% confidence). //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19687 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Initial Swift/UVOT observations DATE: 16/07/12 21:41:50 GMT FROM: Lea Hagen at PSU L. M. Z. Hagen (PSU) reports on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team: UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter starting 3998 seconds after the BAT trigger (Hagen et al., GCN Circ. 19684). 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 (Kennea et al., GCN Circ. 19686). 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 0.08. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19690 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Enhanced Swift-XRT position DATE: 16/07/13 01:33:29 GMT FROM: Phil Evans at U of Leicester A.P. Beardmore, P.A. Evans, M.R. Goad and J.P. Osborne (U. Leicester) report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team. Using 1053 s of XRT Photon Counting mode data and 3 UVOT images for GRB 160712A, 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 = 304.15987, -26.95819 which is equivalent to: RA (J2000): 20h 16m 38.37s Dec (J2000): -26d 57' 29.5" with an uncertainty of 1.8 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: 19691 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Skynet R-COP observations DATE: 16/07/13 02:31:08 GMT FROM: Adam S. Trotter at UNC-Chapel Hill/PROMPT/Skynet A. Trotter, J. Haislip, D. Reichart, A. Verveer, T. Spuck, J. Moore, N. Frank, M. Maples, D. Dutton, R. Gao, R. Joyner, J. Martin, M. Paggen, J. A. Crain, K. Ivarsen, A. LaCluyze, M. Nysewander, B. Barlow, J. LaCluyze, L. Lanier, D. Moffett, B. Tobias, G. Bennett, J. Da Rocha, M. Dryzer, D. Dutton, J. Elliott, C. Ferguson, R. J. Hegedus, E. Lutz, B. McCormack, T. Melo, K. Otto, R. Pierce, S. Simon, E. Smith, J. Taylor, M. Tierney, D. Varvir, and A. Vasquez Soto report: Skynet observed the Swift BAT/XRT localization of GRB 160712A (Hagen et al., GCN 19684, Swift trigger=704155) with the 14" R-COP telescope at Perth Observatory, Australia. Starting at 2016-07-12 19:58 UT and continuing until 20:30 UT (t=4.3m-31.4m post-trigger), Skynet took a total of 17 20-160s exposures in the B, V, R, and I bands. We stacked subsets of these images to maximize the S/N ratio, and detected no optical source in any band at the XRT position. Our 3-sigma limiting magnitudes are: ==================== tmid fil limit ==================== 23m B >16.7 26m V >17.2 23m R >17.7 29m I >16.9 ==================== Limiting magnitudes are in the Vega System, calibrated to 5 APASS stars in the field. Magnitudes have not been corrected for line-of-sight Milky Way dust extinction, with expected E(B-V)=0.07 (Schlafly & Finkbeiner 2011). No further Skynet observations are scheduled. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19692 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Swift-XRT refined Analysis DATE: 16/07/13 06:56:33 GMT FROM: Kim Page at U.of Leicester S.L. Gibson (U. Leicester), J.P. Osborne (U. Leicester), K.L. Page (U. Leicester), V. D'Elia (ASDC), A. D'Ai (INAF-IASFPA), A. Maselli (INAF-IASFPA), L.M. McCauley (PSU), J.A. Kennea (PSU), B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU) and L. M. Z. Hagen (PSU) report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team: We have analysed 3.8 ks of XRT data for GRB 160712A (Hagen et al. GCN Circ. 19684), from 4.0 ks to 17.2 ks after the BAT trigger. The data are entirely in Photon Counting (PC) mode. The enhanced XRT position for this burst was given by Beardmore et al. (GCN Circ. 19690). The light curve can be modelled with a power-law decay with a decay index of alpha=1.51 (+0.25, -0.22). A spectrum formed from the PC mode data can be fitted with an absorbed power-law with a photon spectral index of 1.91 (+0.28, -0.26). The best-fitting absorption column is 2.8 (+1.3, -1.1) x 10^21 cm^-2, in excess of the Galactic value of 8.3 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 (5.3 x 10^-11) erg cm^-2 count^-1. A summary of the PC-mode spectrum is thus: Total column: 2.8 (+1.3, -1.1) x 10^21 cm^-2 Galactic foreground: 8.3 x 10^20 cm^-2 Excess significance: 3.0 sigma Photon index: 1.91 (+0.28, -0.26) If the light curve continues to decay with a power-law decay index of 1.51, the count rate at T+24 hours will be 2.1 x 10^-3 count s^-1, corresponding to an observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux of 7.9 x 10^-14 (1.1 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/00704155. This circular is an official product of the Swift-XRT team. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19693 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: GROND observations DATE: 16/07/13 07:45:48 GMT FROM: Thomas Kruehler at MPE Garching T. Kruehler and J. Greiner (all MPE Garching) report on behalf of the GROND team: We observed the field of GRB 160712A (Swift trigger 704155; Hagen et al., GCN #19684) simultaneously in g'r'i'z'JHK with GROND (Greiner et al. 2008, PASP 120, 405) mounted at the 2.2m MPG telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory (Chile). Observations started at 03:18:21 UT on 2016-07-13, 7.4 hr after the GRB trigger. They were performed at an average seeing of 2”.2, at an average airmass of 1.1, and severely affected by passing clouds. We found a single source sightly outside of the XRT errorcircle at: RA (J2000.0) = 20:16:38.50 Dec. (J2000.0) = -26:57:30.7 with an uncertainty of 0".5 in each coordinate. The distance to the center of the XRT error circle (90% confidence radius 1".5 arcsec) is 2".2. Based on images with 24.2 min of total exposure in g'r'i'z' and 24.0 min in JHK at a mid-time of 03:57:19 UT on 2016-07-13, we derive the following preliminary magnitudes and upper limits (all in AB system): g > 23.3 mag r = 22.9 +- 0.3 mag i = 21.7 +- 0.3 mag z = 21.4 +- 0.3 mag J = 20.5 +- 0.2 mag H = 20.2 +- 0.2 mag K = 20.0 +- 0.3 mag Given magnitudes are calibrated against USNO as well as 2MASS field stars and are not corrected for the expected Galactic foreground extinction corresponding to a reddening of E_(B-V) = 0.065 mag in the direction of the burst (Schlafly & Finkbeiner 2011). No statement about variability can be made at this point. Given its position somewhat outside of the XRT error circle, it is uncertain whether this source is related to GRB 160712A. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19694 SUBJECT: Konus-Wind observation of GRB 160712A DATE: 16/07/13 12:23:48 GMT FROM: Dmitry Frederiks at Ioffe Institute D. Frederiks, S. Golenetskii, R.Aptekar, P. Oleynik, M. Ulanov, D. Svinkin, A. Tsvetkova, A.Lysenko, A. Kozlova, and T. Cline, on behalf of the Konus-Wind team, report: The long GRB 160712A (Swift/BAT observation: Hagen et al., GCN 19684) triggered Konus-Wind at T0=71621.420 s UT (19:53:41.420). The light curve statrs with a short spike followed by a gradually decaying emission. The total duration of the burst is ~25 s. The emission is seen up to ~4 MeV. As observed by Konus-Wind, the burst had a fluence of (6.5 ± 2.0)x10^-6 erg/cm2 and a 64-ms peak energy flux, measured from T0+0.128, of (2.7 ± 0.8)x10^-6 erg/cm2 (both in the 20 keV - 10 MeV energy range). The time-integrated spectrum (measured from T0 to T0+16.640 s) is best fit in the 20 keV - 4 MeV range by a cutoff power-law (CPL) function with the following model parameters: the photon index alpha = -0.17(-0.57,+0.87), and the peak energy Ep = 460(-117,+204) keV, chi2 = 72/73 dof. Fitting this spectrum with the GRB (Band) function yields the same alpha and Ep with only an upper limit on beta of -2.3, chi2 = 72/72 dof. The Konus-Wind light curve of this GRB is available at http://www.ioffe.ru/LEA/GRBs/GRB160712_T71621/ All the quoted errors are estimated at the 90% confidence level. All the presented results are preliminary. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19695 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: RATIR Optical and NIR Observations DATE: 16/07/13 13:46:19 GMT FROM: Eleonora Troja at GSFC Eleonora Troja (GSFC), 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), 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 160712A (Hagen, et al., GCN 19684) 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 2016/07 13.21 to 2016/07 13.42 UTC (9.05 to 14.30 hours after the BAT trigger), obtaining a total of 3.56 hours exposure in the r and i bands and 1.45 hours exposure in the Z, Y, J, and H bands. We detect a source slightly outside of the XRT error circle (Beardmore, et al., GCN 19690), and consistent with the GROND position (Kruehler, et al., GCN 19693). In comparison with the USNO-B1 and 2MASS catalogs, we obtain the following detections: r 22.77 +/- 0.08 i 21.55 +/- 0.03 Z 20.93 +/- 0.05 Y 20.44 +/- 0.05 J 20.27 +/- 0.06 H 20.15 +/- 0.08 These magnitudes are in the AB system and are not corrected for Galactic extinction in the direction of the GRB. Further observations to determine whether the source is fading are planned. We thank the staff of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in San Pedro Mártir. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19696 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Swift/UVOT Upper Limits DATE: 16/07/13 18:19:55 GMT FROM: Lea Hagen at PSU L. M. Z. Hagen (PSU) reports on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team: The Swift/UVOT began settled observations of the field of GRB 160712A 3998 s after the BAT trigger (Hagen et al., GCN Circ. 19684). No optical afterglow consistent with the XRT position (Beardmore et al., GCN Circ. 19690) or the possible optical afterglow candidate (Kruehler et al., GCN Circ. 19693; Troja et al., GCN Circ. 19695) is detected in the initial UVOT exposures. Preliminary 3-sigma upper limits using the UVOT photometric system (Breeveld et al. 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1358, 373) for the first exposures are: Filter T_start(s) T_stop(s) Exp(s) Mag white 3998 4148 147 >20.47 v 4154 4354 196 >19.04 b 4974 5027 52 >19.17 u 4769 4969 196 >19.66 uvw1 4564 4764 196 >19.58 uvm2 4359 4559 196 >19.52 The magnitudes in the table are not corrected for the Galactic extinction due to the reddening of E(B-V) = 0.08 in the direction of the burst (Schlegel et al. 1998). //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19702 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Further GROND observations DATE: 16/07/14 09:11:44 GMT FROM: Thomas Kruehler at MPE Garching T. Kruehler and J. Greiner (all MPE Garching) report on behalf of the GROND team: We re-observed the field of GRB 160712A (Swift trigger 704155; Hagen et al., GCN #19684) simultaneously in g'r'i'z'JHK with GROND (Greiner et al. 2008, PASP 120, 405) mounted at the 2.2m MPG telescope at the ESO La Silla Observatory (Chile). Observations started at 04:38:43 UT on 2016-07-14, 32.8 hr after the GRB trigger, and consisted of multiple exposures with a total integration time of around 80 minutes. The average seeing and airmass were 2”.0 and 1.0, respectively. Within photometric errors, no variability is detected with respect to our earlier observations (GCN 19693, see also Troja et al. GCN 19695). The source is hence unlikely to be the afterglow of GRB 160712A. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 19713 SUBJECT: GRB 160712A: Swift-BAT refined analysis DATE: 16/07/14 21:15:57 GMT FROM: Amy Lien at GSFC M. Stamatikos (OSU), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), J. R. Cummings (GSFC/UMBC), N. Gehrels (GSFC), H. A. Krimm (GSFC/USRA), A. Y. Lien (GSFC/UMBC), C. B. Markwardt (GSFC), D. M. Palmer (LANL), T. Sakamoto (AGU), T. N. Ukwatta (LANL) (i.e. the Swift-BAT team): Using the data set from T-240 to T+963 sec from the recent telemetry downlink, we report further analysis of BAT GRB 160712A (trigger #704155) (Hagen, et al., GCN Circ. 19684). The BAT ground-calculated position is RA, Dec = 304.166, -26.965 deg which is RA(J2000) = 20h 16m 39.9s Dec(J2000) = -26d 57' 52.8" with an uncertainty of 1.3 arcmin, (radius, sys+stat, 90% containment). The partial coding was 24%. The mask-weighted lightcurve shows the burst starting at ~T-5 sec, with a spike at ~T0 sec, extending past T+95 sec where the data ends when the burst position moves out of the BAT FOV due to a slew. The time-averaged spectrum from T-8.60 to T+45.46 sec is best fit by a simple power-law model. The power law index of the time-averaged spectrum is 1.18 +- 0.13. The fluence in the 15-150 keV band is 2.6 +- 0.2 x 10^-6 erg/cm2. The 1-sec peak photon flux measured from T+0.06 sec in the 15-150 keV band is 2.4 +- 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/704155/BA/