THIS FILE CHANGES WITH TIME -- HIT THE RELOAD BUTTON NOW! ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// GRB 980329 03:44:29.76 UT SOD=13469.76 sec TJD=10901 DOY=88 This burst is equivalent to BATSE Trigger 6665. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6853 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 F. Frontera, Istituto Tecnologie e Studio Radiazioni Extraterrestri, Bologna; E. Costa, L. Piro, and P. Soffitta, Istituto Astrofisica Spaziale, CNR, Rome; J. in 't Zand, Space Research Organization of the Netherlands (SRON), Utrecht; L. Di Ciolo and A. Tesseri, BeppoSAX Science Operation Center (SOC), Rome; and M. Smith, SOC and SRON report: "The BeppoSAX Gamma Ray Burst Monitor was triggered by a gamma-ray burst on Mar. 29.1559 UT, corresponding to BATSE trigger 6665. A preliminary analysis shows a duration of 15 s and a peak intensity of 6000 counts/s (40-700 keV). This is the brightest burst detected so far by the BeppoSAX GRBM simultaneously with the Wide Field Cameras (WFC). The peak intensity measured in the WFC is about 6 Crab (2-26 keV). The source position is R.A. = 7h02m41s, Decl. = +38o50'.7 (equinox 2000.0; error radius 3'). A BeppoSAX follow-up observation is in progress." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 March 30 (6853) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// From vxw@capella.gsfc.nasa.gov Sun Mar 29 20:52:23 1998 Date: Sat, 28 Mar 98 23:40:04 -0500 From: vxw@capella.gsfc.nasa.gov (Bacodine) To: bacodine@lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov Subject: GCN/GRO_COMPTEL_POSITION TITLE: GCN/GRO_COMPTEL BURST POSITION NOTICE NOTICE_DATE: Sun 29 Mar 98 04:39:32 UT NOTICE_TYPE: GRO-COMPTEL Initial TRIGGER_NUM: 6665 GRB_DATE: 10901 TJD; 88 DOY; 98/03/29 GRB_TIME: 13475.00 SOD {03:44:35.00} UT GRB_COMPTEL_RA: 104.55d {+06h 58m 12s} (J2000), 104.52d {+06h 58m 05s} (current), 103.67d {+06h 54m 42s} (1950) GRB_COMPTEL_DEC: +41.18d {+41d 10' 48"} (J2000), +41.18d {+41d 10' 57"} (current), +41.25d {+41d 14' 52"} (1950) GRB_ERROR_RA1: 105.88d {+07h 03m 31s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC1: 29.65d {+29d 38' 60"} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_RA2: 112.57d {+07h 30m 17s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC2: 31.36d {+31d 21' 36"} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_RA3: 107.19d {+07h 08m 46s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC3: 46.10d {+46d 06' 00"} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_RA4: 99.08d {+06h 36m 19s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC4: 43.98d {+43d 58' 48"} (J2000) GRB_COMPTEL_INTEN: 33 [events] GRB_COMPTEL_SIGNIF: 4.3 [sigma] SUN_POSTN: 7.58d {+00h 30m 20s} +3.27d {+03d 16' 29"} SUN_DIST: 93.04 [deg] MOON_POSTN: 22.54d {+01h 30m 09s} +5.69d {+05d 41' 18"} MOON_DIST: 80.23 [deg] PROG_VERSION: 12.00 COMMENTS: GRO-COMPTEL GRB location. COMMENTS: Error box indicates 2-sigma statistical COMMENTS: confidence limits only. COMMENTS: ----- COMMENTS: BATSE Trigger No. 006665 COMMENTS: Please DO NOT reply to this message! COMMENTS: Address questions to either: COMMENTS: Alanna Connors(aconnors@comptel.unh.edu) COMMENTS: Bernie McNamara(bmcnamar@nmsu.edu) COMMENTS: ***************************************************** //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// From vxw@capella.gsfc.nasa.gov Sun Mar 29 20:52:24 1998 From: vxw@capella.gsfc.nasa.gov (Bacodine) To: bacodine@lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov Subject: GCN/GRO_COMPTEL_POSITION TITLE: GCN/GRO_COMPTEL BURST POSITION NOTICE NOTICE_DATE: Sun 29 Mar 98 04:34:07 UT NOTICE_TYPE: GRO-COMPTEL Update TRIGGER_NUM: 6665 GRB_DATE: 10901 TJD; 88 DOY; 98/03/29 GRB_TIME: 13475.00 SOD {03:44:35.00} UT GRB_COMPTEL_RA: 104.39d {+06h 57m 34s} (J2000), 104.36d {+06h 57m 26s} (current), 103.51d {+06h 54m 03s} (1950) GRB_COMPTEL_DEC: +41.38d {+41d 22' 48"} (J2000), +41.38d {+41d 22' 57"} (current), +41.45d {+41d 26' 50"} (1950) GRB_ERROR_RA1: 106.26d {+07h 05m 02s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC1: 28.31d {+28d 18' 36"} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_RA2: 113.08d {+07h 32m 19s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC2: 30.05d {+30d 03' 00"} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_RA3: 107.29d {+07h 09m 10s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC3: 46.31d {+46d 18' 36"} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_RA4: 98.84d {+06h 35m 22s} (J2000) GRB_ERROR_DEC4: 44.10d {+44d 06' 00"} (J2000) GRB_COMPTEL_INTEN: 33 [events] GRB_COMPTEL_SIGNIF: 4.3 [sigma] SUN_POSTN: 7.58d {+00h 30m 20s} +3.27d {+03d 16' 29"} SUN_DIST: 92.90 [deg] MOON_POSTN: 22.54d {+01h 30m 09s} +5.69d {+05d 41' 18"} MOON_DIST: 80.11 [deg] PROG_VERSION: 12.00 COMMENTS: GRO-COMPTEL GRB location. COMMENTS: Error box indicates 2-sigma statistical COMMENTS: confidence limits only. COMMENTS: ----- COMMENTS: BATSE Trigger No. 006665 COMMENTS: Please DO NOT reply to this message! COMMENTS: Address questions to either: COMMENTS: Alanna Connors(aconnors@comptel.unh.edu) COMMENTS: Bernie McNamara(bmcnamar@nmsu.edu) COMMENTS: ***************************************************** COMMENTS: Burst location uncertainty contour (2-sigma) follows. COMMENTS: 50 contour points, J2000 coordinates in deg COMMENTS: IP RAsc Decl IP RAsc Decl COMMENTS: ----------------------------------------------------- COMMENTS: 01 100.55 41.07 26 111.01 34.15 COMMENTS: 02 101.10 40.27 27 110.63 35.66 COMMENTS: 03 101.65 39.48 28 110.54 36.43 COMMENTS: 04 102.30 38.73 29 110.36 37.18 COMMENTS: 05 102.85 37.94 30 110.01 38.69 COMMENTS: 06 103.48 37.20 31 109.84 39.44 COMMENTS: 07 104.07 36.43 32 109.67 40.20 COMMENTS: 08 104.62 35.65 33 109.23 41.69 COMMENTS: 09 105.20 34.89 34 108.78 42.57 COMMENTS: 10 105.76 34.10 35 108.40 43.47 COMMENTS: 11 106.33 33.31 36 107.59 44.23 COMMENTS: 12 106.92 32.55 37 106.98 44.44 COMMENTS: 13 107.54 31.80 38 106.43 44.72 COMMENTS: 14 108.26 31.08 39 105.84 44.93 COMMENTS: 15 108.90 30.32 40 105.21 45.06 COMMENTS: 16 109.32 30.01 41 104.55 45.17 COMMENTS: 17 109.79 29.76 42 103.89 45.11 COMMENTS: 18 110.30 29.58 43 103.24 45.01 COMMENTS: 19 110.85 29.54 44 102.59 45.02 COMMENTS: 20 111.26 29.80 45 101.96 44.88 COMMENTS: 21 111.57 30.15 46 101.31 44.82 COMMENTS: 22 111.46 31.03 47 100.88 44.43 COMMENTS: 23 111.36 31.82 48 100.59 43.98 COMMENTS: 24 111.24 32.61 49 100.41 43.00 COMMENTS: 25 111.16 33.38 50 100.30 42.03 COMMENTS: ----------------------------------------------------- ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN/IPN/HUNTSVILLE LOCALIZATION NOTICE_TYPE: Updated (based on the BATSE-LOCBURST location) NOTICE_DATE: Tue Mar 31 16:40:48 GMT 1998 TRIGGER_NUM: 6665 GRB_DATE: 98/03/29 GRB_TIME: 03:44:38.49 UT BACO_RA: 106.16d {+07h 04m 39s} (J2000) BACO_DEC: +41.56d {+41d 33' 26"} HUNT_RA: 108.46d {+07h 13m 51s} (J2000) HUNT_DEC: +40.51d {+40d 30' 35"} HUNT_ERR: 2.01 [degees radius, statistical only] B_H_DELTA: 2.03 [deg] HUNT_SC_AZ: 26.17 [deg] HUNT_SC_EL: 49.40 [deg] {Zen_angle=40.60} SUN_POSTN: 7.58d {+00h 30m 20s} +3.27d {+03d 16' 29"} (Current) SUN_B_DIST: 94.19 [deg] MOON_POSTN: 22.54d {+01h 30m 09s} +5.69d {+05d 41' 18"} (Current) MOON_B_DIST: 81.44 [deg] ANNULUS_RA: 154.3013d {+10h 17m 12s} (J2000) ANNULUS_DEC: 13.1677d {+13d 10' 04"} ANNULUS_RADIUS: 49.879 [deg] ANNULUS_WIDTH: 0.089 [deg] (Total width) COMMENTS: Strong burst. Two overlapping pulses. COMMENTS: Total duration ~40 sec. COMMENTS: Seen above 300 keV. COMMENTS: This GRB was also localized by COMPTEL: RA=104.39, Dec=41.38. COMMENTS: This burst was seen by the SAX-GRBM and -WFC instruments COMMENTS: and localized to RA=105.67, Dec=38.85 (IAUC #6853). COMMENTS: More information about this burst can be found at the GCN URLs: COMMENTS: http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn_main.html COMMENTS: http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/batse_grbs.html and COMMENTS: http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/selected.html and COMMENTS: and the sub-pages therein. This IPN localization is preliminary. The "total width" of the annulus was selected to include all known uncertainties and systematics. The final analysis will reduce this width. All follow-up queries should be addressed to Kevin Hurley (UC Berkeley, khurley@sunspot.ssl.berkeley.edu). The center of the IPN annulus is tabulated below along the segment that intersects the Huntsville error circle. The Distance column is the sky-angle distance between the Huntville location and the sampled position on the arc segment. The position of maximum probability plus the 1-, 2-, & 3-sigma containment probabilities (statistical+systematic) are marked. A detailed description of the format, content, and meaning of this document is given in the URL: http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/ipn.html (J2000) RA DEC Distance 109.864 46.404 5.98 <=== +3-sigma probability 109.820 46.344 5.92 109.777 46.284 5.85 109.733 46.224 5.79 109.690 46.164 5.72 109.646 46.104 5.66 109.603 46.044 5.60 109.560 45.984 5.53 109.517 45.924 5.47 109.474 45.863 5.40 109.432 45.802 5.34 109.389 45.742 5.28 109.347 45.681 5.21 109.305 45.620 5.15 109.263 45.559 5.08 109.221 45.498 5.02 109.179 45.437 4.95 109.138 45.376 4.89 109.096 45.314 4.83 109.055 45.253 4.76 109.014 45.191 4.70 108.973 45.130 4.63 108.932 45.068 4.57 108.891 45.006 4.51 108.850 44.944 4.44 108.810 44.882 4.38 108.769 44.820 4.32 108.729 44.758 4.25 108.689 44.696 4.19 108.649 44.633 4.13 108.610 44.571 4.06 108.570 44.508 4.00 <=== +2-sigma probability 108.531 44.446 3.94 108.491 44.383 3.87 108.452 44.320 3.81 108.413 44.257 3.75 108.374 44.194 3.68 108.335 44.131 3.62 108.297 44.068 3.56 108.258 44.004 3.50 108.220 43.941 3.44 108.182 43.878 3.37 108.144 43.814 3.31 108.106 43.751 3.25 108.068 43.687 3.19 108.031 43.623 3.13 107.993 43.559 3.07 107.956 43.495 3.01 107.919 43.431 2.95 107.882 43.367 2.89 107.845 43.303 2.83 107.808 43.239 2.77 107.772 43.174 2.71 107.735 43.110 2.66 107.699 43.045 2.60 107.663 42.981 2.54 107.627 42.916 2.49 107.591 42.851 2.43 107.555 42.787 2.37 107.520 42.722 2.32 107.484 42.657 2.27 107.449 42.592 2.21 107.414 42.527 2.16 107.379 42.461 2.11 107.344 42.396 2.06 107.309 42.331 2.01 107.275 42.265 1.97 <=== +1-sigma probability 107.240 42.200 1.92 107.206 42.134 1.88 107.172 42.069 1.83 107.138 42.003 1.79 107.104 41.937 1.75 107.070 41.871 1.72 107.037 41.806 1.68 107.003 41.740 1.65 106.970 41.673 1.62 106.937 41.607 1.59 106.904 41.541 1.56 106.871 41.475 1.54 106.838 41.409 1.52 106.806 41.342 1.50 106.773 41.276 1.49 106.741 41.209 1.48 106.709 41.143 1.47 106.677 41.076 1.46 106.645 41.009 1.46 106.613 40.942 1.46 <=== Max probability 106.582 40.876 1.47 106.551 40.809 1.48 106.519 40.742 1.49 106.488 40.675 1.51 106.457 40.608 1.52 106.426 40.540 1.55 106.396 40.473 1.57 106.365 40.406 1.60 106.335 40.339 1.63 106.304 40.271 1.66 106.274 40.204 1.69 106.244 40.136 1.73 106.214 40.069 1.77 106.185 40.001 1.81 106.155 39.933 1.85 106.126 39.866 1.90 106.096 39.798 1.94 106.067 39.730 1.99 106.038 39.662 2.04 <=== -1-sigma probability 106.009 39.594 2.09 105.980 39.526 2.14 105.952 39.458 2.19 105.923 39.390 2.24 105.895 39.322 2.30 105.867 39.254 2.35 105.839 39.185 2.41 105.811 39.117 2.47 105.783 39.049 2.52 105.756 38.980 2.58 105.728 38.912 2.64 105.701 38.843 2.70 105.673 38.775 2.76 105.646 38.706 2.82 105.619 38.637 2.88 105.593 38.569 2.94 105.566 38.500 3.00 105.539 38.431 3.07 105.513 38.362 3.13 105.487 38.293 3.19 105.461 38.224 3.26 105.435 38.155 3.32 105.409 38.086 3.38 105.383 38.017 3.45 105.358 37.948 3.51 105.332 37.879 3.58 105.307 37.810 3.64 105.282 37.740 3.71 105.257 37.671 3.77 105.232 37.602 3.84 105.207 37.532 3.91 105.182 37.463 3.97 105.158 37.393 4.04 <=== -2-sigma probability 105.133 37.324 4.10 105.109 37.254 4.17 105.085 37.185 4.24 105.061 37.115 4.30 105.037 37.046 4.37 105.013 36.976 4.44 104.990 36.906 4.51 104.966 36.836 4.57 104.943 36.767 4.64 104.920 36.697 4.71 104.897 36.627 4.78 104.874 36.557 4.85 104.851 36.487 4.91 104.828 36.417 4.98 104.806 36.347 5.05 104.784 36.277 5.12 104.761 36.207 5.19 104.739 36.137 5.26 104.717 36.067 5.33 104.695 35.997 5.39 104.673 35.926 5.46 104.652 35.856 5.53 104.630 35.786 5.60 104.609 35.716 5.67 104.588 35.645 5.74 104.567 35.575 5.81 104.546 35.504 5.88 104.525 35.434 5.95 104.504 35.364 6.02 104.483 35.293 6.09 <=== -3-sigma probability -------------------------------- THE END -------------------------------- ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6854 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 J. in 't Zand and J. Heise, Space Research Organization of the Netherlands, Utrecht; L. Piro, Istituto Astrofisica Spaziale, CNR, Rome; L. A. Antonelli, BeppoSAX Science Data Center, Rome; M. Daniele, G. Gennaro, G. Spoliti, and V. Torroni, BeppoSAX Science Operation Center, Rome; and E. Pian, Istituto di Tecnologie e Studio delle Radiazioni Extraterrestri, CNR, Bologna, report: "The BeppoSAX Wide Field Camera error box of GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853) was observed with the BeppoSAX Narrow Field Instruments (NFI) starting on Mar. 29.449 UT (7.0 hr after the burst). A previously unknown x-ray source, 1SAX J0702.6+3850, was detected by the MECS (units 2 and 3) at R.A. = 7h02m36s, Decl. = +38o50'.4 (equinox 2000.0; preliminary error radius 1'). This position is 1'.0 from the centroid of the WFC position. The source 1SAX J0702.6+3850 was brightest at the start of the observation; in the first five hours, the average countrate was 0.013 +/- 0.0015 count/s (1.6-10 keV) in the two MECS units, corresponding to (7.8 +/- 0.9) x 10E-13 erg cmE-2 sE-1. The source faded by a factor of about 3 over 14 hr. We propose 1SAX J0702.6+3850 as the x-ray afterglow of GRB 980329." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 March 31 (6854) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 36 SUBJECT: GRB980329 optical observations DATE: 98/04/01 13:55:07 GMT FROM: Sylvio Klose at TLS_Tautenburg S. Klose, H. Meusinger & H. Lehmann (Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Germany) report: The error box of GRB 980329 was imaged in V, R & I on March 29.8 - 30.0 UT, and in R and I on March 31.8 - 31.9 UT, using the Tautenburg Schmidt telescope equipped with the Schmidt focus CCD camera. Further R-band images were obtained on March 31.8 UT with the 2.2-m telescope at Calar Alto, Spain, equipped with CAFOS. A comparison of these images shows no object in the final 1-arcmin GRB error box for which the R-magnitude has declined by more than about 0.5 mag. Based on this finding it seems that the magnitude of the GRB afterglow was R > 20 about 15 hours after the burst (or the magnitude of the optical afterglow did not notably vary over this time span). R-band images (gif-files) taken on March 29.85 and 30.0 UT are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.tls-tautenburg.de in the directory /pub/klose. Further images will be make available, when deeper I-band images are obtained. Comments are welcome. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 37 SUBJECT: GRB980329 optical observations DATE: 98/04/01 17:06:12 GMT FROM: Adriano Guarnieri at U. of Bologna A. Guarnieri, C. Bartolini, A. Piccioni, Universita' di Bologna, G. Clementini and G. Valentini, Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna; A. Castro-Tirado and Javier Gorosabel, Laboratorio de Astrofisica Espacial y Fisica Fundamental (LAEFF-INTA, Madrid); A. Pedrosa, Centro de Astrofisica da Universidade do Porto; M.R. Zapatero-Osorio, A. Alonso, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, IAC, Tenerife; J. Greiner, Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam; E. Costa, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, Frascati, on behalf of the BeppoSAX team; report: R-band images containing the error box for 1SAX J0702.6+3850 (IAUC 6854) were obtained on Mar 29.79 and 30.81 at the 1.52-m telescope at Bologna Observatory, on Mar 29.90, 30.91 and 31.95 at the 1.0-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope at La Palma, Canary Islands, and on Mar 31.02 and 31.92 at the OAN 1.52-m telescope at the German-Spanish Calar Alto Observatory. No variable object is found down to R = 22. Any variation was smaller than 0.3. Observations at other wavelenghts, especially infrared, are encouraged. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6855 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 A. Guarnieri, Universita di Bologna; G. Clementini and G. Valentini, Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna; A. Castro-Tirado and J. Gorosabel, Laboratorio de Astrofisica Espacial y Fisica Fundamental, Madrid; and A. Pedrosa, Centro de Astrofisica da Universidade do Porto, report on behalf of a large collaboration: "R-band images containing the error box for 1SAX J0702.6+3850 (IAUC 6854) were obtained on Mar. 29.79 and 30.81 UT at the 1.52-m telescope at Bologna Observatory, on Mar. 29.90, 30.91, and 31.95 at the 1.0-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope at La Palma, and on Mar. 31.02 and 31.92 at the OAN 1.52-m telescope at the German-Spanish Calar Alto Observatory. No variable object is found down to R = 22; any variation was smaller than 0.3 mag. Observations at other wavelengths, especially infrared, are encouraged." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 1 (6855) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6856 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980326 AND GRB 980329 M. S. Briggs, G. Richardson, R. M. Kippen, and P. M. Woods, University of Alabama in Huntsville, report on behalf of the BATSE team: "GRB 980326 (IAUC 6851) was observed with BATSE on Mar. 26.88811 UT as trigger 6660. The event lasted about 5 s and exhibited three narrow pulses. Its peak flux (integrated over 0.5 s) and fluence (50-300 keV) are 8 x 10E-7 erg cmE-2 sE-1 and 1 x 10E-6 erg cmE-2, respectively. GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853) was observed with BATSE on Mar. 29.15600 as trigger 6665; the event was very intense and lasted about 55 s, exhibiting a 10-s-long, highly structured peak. Its peak flux (integrated over 0.5 s) and fluence (50-300 keV) are 8 x 10E-6 erg cmE-2 sE-1 and 5 x 10E-5 erg cmE-2, respectively. The BATSE locations are consistent with the locations of the reported optical transient for GRB 980326 (IAUC 6852) and the SAX/NFI x-ray counterpart for GRB 980329 (IAUC 6854). Location maps can be found at http://www.batse.msfc.nasa.gov/~kippen/batsebr." S. A. Ilovaisky and C. Chevalier, Observatoire de Haute- Provence (OHP), write: "Two 15-min R-band CCD exposures of the SAX NRI error box for the GRB 980329 gamma-ray burst (IAUC 6853, 6854) were taken by T. Bremnes, University of Basel, with the 1.2-m OHP telescope on Mar. 31.87 UT (65 hr after the burst). More than 15 objects are seen down to mag 21 within the 1' error circle. Comparison with a film copy of the second Palomar Sky Survey red plate for this region reveals one object within the NFI error circle that is present in our frames and not on the Palomar plate. This object, for which we derive a preliminary magnitude of R = 20.6, is located near a bright (R = 15.8) star, and has coordinates R.A. = 7h02m38s.8, Decl. = +38o50'27" (equinox 2000.0), as derived using the Digitized Sky Survey and the USNO-A1 catalogue. This is 30" east of the center of the 1' radius error box. Our average R-band image is available at http://www.obs-hp.fr/~ilovaisky/grb980329.html. Further imaging of this field is needed." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 2 (6856) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 38 SUBJECT: GRB980329 optical observations DATE: 98/04/03 04:39:09 GMT FROM: George Djorgovski at CalTech GRB 980329 optical observations: S. G. Djorgovski, S. R. Kulkarni (Caltech), J. Tonry, A. Barger, E. Fulton (U. Hawaii), R. Gal, J. Sievers, and K. Adelberger (Caltech), on behalf of the Caltech GRB collaboration, report: We obtained CCD images of the field of the proposed x-ray counterpart of GRB 980329 (IUC 6854), using the University of Hawaii 88-inch telescope at Mauna Kea, on UT 1998 March 30 and 31 (about 1 and 2 days after the burst). R band images taken on UT March 30 have a limiting magnitude of R ~ 22.3, and images taken on March 31 have a limiting magnitude of R ~ 23.0. Additional B and V band images were also obtained on March 31. No significantly variable objects have been found in these data. Moreover, there were no objects in these CCD images which are not also present in the digital version of POSS-II (DPOSS), which reach about 1 to 1.5 magnitudes deeper than the publicly available DSS (POSS-I) images, above the limit of the photographic survey. The (stellar) object mentioned by Ilovaisky and Chevalier (IAUC 6856) is detected in DPOSS red images, and CCD images, and it does not vary. It is most likely a foreground Galactic star. There is a very blue stellar object outside the SAX error circle, and thus probably unrelated to the GRB, at RA = 07:02:42.66 DEC= +38:49:15.8 (J2000). Additional, much deeper R and I band images of the field, with a limiting magnitude of R ~ 27, were obtained at the WMKO Keck-II 10-m telescope on UT April 02. Again, there are no significantly variable objects present within the limits of the earlier (March 30 and 31) CCD data. Further observations of the field with the Keck telescope are in progress. These images are shown at http://astro.caltech.edu/~george/grb/grb980329.html This note can be cited. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 39 SUBJECT: GRB980329 near IR observations DATE: 98/04/03 04:43:52 GMT FROM: Don Lamb at U. of Chicago J. M. Quashnock, D. E. Vanden Berk, D. M. Cole, A. R. Cooray, D. Q. Lamb, F. J. Castander, K. Gloria, and D. Long, University of Chicago, on behalf of the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC), report: "Between Apr. 1.167 UT and Apr. 1.277, we made near-infrared observations of a region of the sky that includes the entire SAX NFI error box for GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853, 6854), using the GRIM II instrument mounted on the ARC 3.5-m telescope at Apache Point Observatory. At the epoch Apr. 1.167-1.177 and at a position R.A. = 7h02m38s.7, Decl.= +38o50'27" (J2000.0) consistent with that of the R=20.6 object reported in IAUC 6856, we find an object of magnitude J = 17.7 +/- 0.1. This object is approximately 6.4" South and 3.0" West of the bright R=15.8 star reported in IAUC 6856, for which we measure J = 13.9 +/- 0.1. At the epoch Apr. 1.267-1.277 (approximately 2.5 hours later), we find no measurable change (less than approximately 0.1 mag) in the J magnitude of the object." This report is citable. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 40 SUBJECT: GRB980329 VLA observations DATE: 98/04/03 07:10:15 GMT FROM: Greg Taylor at NRAO G.B. Taylor, D.A. Frail (NRAO), S.R. Kulkarni (Caltech), and the BeppoSAX GRB team report: We have observed the field containing the proposed x-ray counterpart 1SAX J0702.6+3850 of GRB 980329 (IAUC 6854) with the VLA at 8.4 GHz on UT 1998 Mar 30.2, April 1.1, and April 2.1. Observations on April 1.1 detected a radio source VLA J0702+3850 within the 1 arcminute error circle of 1SAX J0702.6+3850. The coordinates of VLA J0702+3850 are: ra = 07h02m38.02170s dec = 38d50'44.0170" (equinox J2000) with an uncertainty of 0.05 arcsec in each coordinate. The size of this radio source is less than 0.25 arcsec. The density of sources on the sky stronger than 250 microJy at this frequency is 0.0145 arcmin**-2. The flux density measurements of VLA J0702+3850 are as follows: Date(UT) 8.4 GHz Flux Density -------- ---------------------- Mar 30.2 166 +/- 50 microJy Apr 1.1 248 +/- 16 " Apr 2.1 65 +/- 25 " where the uncertainty in the measurement reflects the 1 sigma rms noise in the image. These measurements clearly demonstrate that the radio source is variable on timescales of less than 1 day. This rapid variability is similar to that observed in the radio afterglow from GRB 970508. We propose VLA J0702+3850 is the radio afterglow from GRB 980329. Additional radio observations are in progress. This note is citable in publications. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 41 SUBJECT: GRB980329 optical observations DATE: 98/04/03 10:14:45 GMT FROM: George Djorgovski at CalTech S. G. Djorgovski, S. R. Kulkarni, J. Sievers (Caltech), D. Frail and G. Taylor (NRAO), on behalf of the Caltech-NRAO GRB collaboration, report: We have detected a galaxy coincident to within the astrometric errors (about 0.5 arcsec) with the variable radio source detected at the VLA by Taylor et al. (see GCNC#40) on deep R-band images taken with the Keck-II 10-m telescope on 02 April 1998 UT. The galaxy has a magnitude R = 25.7 +- 0.3 (preliminary reductions). The image of the field is shown at http://astro.caltech.edu/~george/grb/grb980329.html. We propose that this is the host galaxy of the radio transient detected at the VLA, which may be the afterglow of GRB 980329. Further observations of this field are in progress. This note can be cited. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 43 SUBJECT: GRB980329 optical observations DATE: 98/04/03 11:00:40 GMT FROM: Sylvio Klose at TLS Tautenburg Sylvio Klose, Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Germany, reports: I-Band images obtained on March on March 29.8-30.0 UT, using the Tautenburg Schmidt telescope equipped with the Schmidt focus CCD camera show an object at the position of the radio source reported by Taylor et al. [GCN Circ #40]. This object was not visible on the I-band images taken on March 31.8-31.9 UT with the Tautenburg telescope (GCN #36). It was also not found on an I-band image taken on April 1.85 UT by H. Lehmann and H. Meusinger, Thueringer Landessternwarte, with the Calar Alto 2.2-m telescope equipped with CAFOS. Since no R-band counterpart was seen on the Tautenburg images taken on March 29.8-30.0 UT, I hesitate to claim the detection of this source. This object is visible on various I-band frames, and also appears if flat-fielding is not performed. Its magnitude is about I=20, but I do not have a photometric standard. These Tautenburg I-band Images are availabe via anonymous ftp from ftp.tls-tautenburg.de in the directory /pub/klose. Comments are welcome. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 44 SUBJECT: GRB980329 infrared observations DATE: 98/04/03 14:03:12 GMT FROM: Andrea Ghez at UCLA J. Larkin, A. Ghez (UCLA) in collaboration with S. Kulkarni, S. Djorgovski (Caltech), D. Frail, and G. Taylor (NRAO) report: We have detected a near infrared counterpart to the variable radio source detected at the VLA by Taylor et al. (see GCNC#40), the R-band source reported by Djorgovski et al. (see GCNC#41), and the possible I-band transient reported by Klose (GCNC#43). Preliminary analysis of observations obtained on UT 1998 April 02 and April 03 at the Keck-I 10-m telescope reveal a K = 21.0 mag source that does not show strong variations (delta K < 0.5 mag). The infrared, optical and radio positions all agree to within the astrometric uncertainties of about 0.5 arcsecond. We suggest that a possible explanation for the relatively red color of the host galaxy (R-K = 4.7 mag) and the lack of optical transient detections may be dust obscuration. This note can be cited. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6860 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 J. M. Quashnock, D. E. Vanden Berk, D. M. Cole, A. R. Cooray, D. Q. Lamb, F. J. Castander, K. Gloria, and D. Long, University of Chicago, on behalf of the Astrophysical Research Consortium, report: "Between Apr. 1.167 and 1.277 UT, we made near-infrared observations of a region of the sky that includes the entire BeppoSAX NFI error box for GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853, 6854), using the GRIM II instrument mounted on the ARC 3.5-m telescope at Apache Point Observatory. During Apr. 1.167-1.177, at R.A. = 7h02m38s.7, Decl. = +38o50'27" (equinox 2000.0) -- consistent with the position of the object of mag R = 20.6 noted on IAUC 6856 -- we find an object of mag J = 17.7 +/- 0.1; during Apr. 1.267-1.277 (about 2.5 hr later), we find no measurable change (less than about 0.1 mag) in the J magnitude of the object. This object is about 6".4 south and 3".0 west of the bright (R = 15.8) star reported on IAUC 6856, for which we measure J = 13.9 +/- 0.1." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 3 (6860) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 45 SUBJECT: GRB980329 optical observations DATE: 98/04/04 01:31:58 GMT FROM: Bradley E. Schaefer at Yale U. R-band observations of the GRB980329 error box were obtained with the 3.5 m WIYN telescope on Kitt Peak on UT 1998 April 1.17 and April 3.10. The position of the radio transient (see GCNC #40) was empty to limits of 24.2 and 23.9 mag respectively. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 46 SUBJECT: GRB980329 near-IR observations DATE: 98/04/04 15:19:06 GMT FROM: Elena Pian at ITESRE-CNR, Bologna F. Mannucci, M. Salvati, P. Tozzi, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy, M. Di Martino, Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, Italy, E. Palazzi and E. Pian, Istituto di Tecnologie e Studio delle Radiazioni Extraterrestri, CNR, Bologna, Italy, on behalf of a large collaboration report: On March 29.84-29.86 UT, the SAX-WFC error box of GRB980329 (IAUC 6853) was imaged at the Gornergrat Infrared Telescope (TIRGO) with ARNICA + J band filter. A preliminary analysis of the data shows that the galaxy reported by Djorgovski et al. (GCNC #41) is detected at 2-sigma significance with a magnitude J = 19.2 (+0.8,-0.5 at 1 sigma). ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 47 SUBJECT: GRB980329 near-IR observations DATE: 98/04/05 00:54:00 GMT FROM: Don Lamb at U. of Chicago D. M. Cole, A. R. Cooray, J. M. Quashnock, D. E. Vanden Berk, D. Q. Lamb, D. E. Reichart, G. T. Richards, K. Gloria, D. Long, and T. Hoyes, University of Chicago, on behalf of the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC), report: "We made near-infrared observations (GCN #39, IAUC 6860) of the SAX NFI error box for GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853, 6854) between Apr. 1.167 UT and Apr. 1.277 UT, using the GRIM II instrument mounted on the ARC 3.5-m telescope at Apache Point Observatory. We find no detectable object, down to a limiting J magnitude of 20.9 +/- 0.5 (1 sigma) at the position R.A. = 7h02m38s.02, Decl. = +38o50'44" (J2000.0) of the variable radio source VLA J0702+3850 proposed by Taylor et al. (GCN #40) to be the radio afterglow from GRB 980329. The measurement by Mannuci et al. (GCN #46) of a magnitude J = 19.2 (+0.8,-0.5) object at the position of the radio source at epoch Mar. 29.84-29.86 UT implies that this object dimmed by J magnitude 1.7 +/- 0.9 during a period of approximately 2.4 days." This report is citable. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 48 SUBJECT: GRB980329 optical observations DATE: 98/04/06 19:07:37 GMT FROM: Elena Pian at TESRE-CNR,Bologna E. Palazzi, N. Masetti, E. Pian, F. Frontera (ITeSRE-CNR, Bologna), L. Nicastro (IFCAI-CNR, Palermo), P. Vreeswijk, T. Galama, P. Groot, J. van Paradijs (U. Amsterdam), M. Della Valle (Oss. Astr. Padova), E. Costa, M. Feroci, L. Piro (IAS-CNR, Rome), C. Kouveliotou (MSFC-NASA), and C. Lidman (ESO) report: The error box of GRB980329 (IAUC 6853) was observed with the NTT at ESO (La Silla, Chile) on March 29.99, 30.99 and April 1.01 UT with EMMI in R and V band filters. Observations lasted 10+10 minutes per filter per night. Limiting magnitudes were ~24.0 in R and 23 in V. On March 29.99, at the position RA = 07h02m38s, Dec = +38deg50'44".1 (J2000), coincident (to within the astrometric errors) with VLA J0702+3850 (GCN #40) and with the galaxy reported by Djorgovski et al. (GCN #41), we detect an R = 23.5 (+/- 0.2) object. The source is not detected in V, and in the subsequent nights is undetected in both bands. Using R = 25.7 (April 2, Djorgovski et al., GCN #41) we obtain a luminosity power-law decay index <~ -1.3. The extrapolation of this power-law to the time of the observations reported by Guarnieri et al. (GCN #37, Mar 29.79), Brocato et al. and Cappellaro (see below) is consistent with their non-detections. The NTT R band images can be found at the Web site http://www.tesre.bo.cnr.it/~nicastro/grb980329, as well as the TIRGO J band images reported in GCN #46. In addition: E. Brocato, A. Piersimoni, and G. Raimondo (Oss. Astr. Teramo) report: We imaged the GRB980329 error circle with the 0.72-m telescope at Campo Imperatore (Teramo) equipped with a Tek-CCD and R band filter on March 29.83 UT for 1800 s. No object brighter than R = 20 is detected at the VLA source position. E. Cappellaro (Oss. Astr. Padova) reports: On March 29.81 and 29.99 UT, the GRB980329 error circle was imaged for 1500 s using the 1.8-m telescope at the Asiago observatory with AFOSC and R band filter. Down to a limiting magnitude of R = 21, no object is found at the VLA source position. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 49 SUBJECT: GRB980329 IPN annulus DATE: 98/04/06 20:12:03 GMT FROM: Kevin Hurley at UC Berkeley K. Hurley (UCB) on behalf of the Ulysses GRB team, M. Feroci (IAS/CNR, Rome) and F. Frontera (ITESRE/CNR, Bologna) on behalf of the BeppoSAX/GRBM Team report: We have derived a preliminary IPN annulus for this burst using Ulysses and the BeppoSAX Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor. The annulus is described by a circle of radius of 49.898 degrees centered at RA(2000) = 154.298 degrees, Declination (2000) = 13.169 degrees. The half-width of the annulus is 0.022 degrees. The annulus intersects the WFC error circle (IAUC 6853) and reduces its area. The intersection points are: RA(2000) Decl (2000) 105.628 o = 7 H 2 M 30 S 38.808 o = 38 o 48 ' 29 " 105.662 o = 7 H 2 M 38 S 38.895 o = 38 o 53 ' 40 " 105.683 o = 7 H 2 M 43 S 38.796 o = 38 o 47 ' 45 " 105.716 o = 7 H 2 M 51 S 38.880 o = 38 o 52 ' 49 " This error box includes the SAX NFI X-ray source (IAUC 6854), radio source (GCN #40) and the optical transient (GCN #48). Further processing will reduce the annulus width. An image may be found at http://ssl.berkeley.edu/ipn3/980329/. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6864 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 S. Klose, H. Meusinger, and H. Lehmann, Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, report: "I-band images obtained on Mar. 29.8-30.0 UT, using the Tautenburg Schmidt telescope (+ Schmidt-focus CCD camera), show an object with magnitude I about 20 at the position of the fading radio source reported by Taylor et al. (http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/040.gcn3; R.A. = 7h02m38s.0, Decl. = +38o50'44", +/- 1", equinox 2000.0). This object was no longer visible on I-band images taken on Mar. 31.8-31.9 with the Tautenburg telescope (I > 21); it was also not found on an I-band image taken on Apr. 1.85 with the Calar Alto 2.2-m telescope (+ CAFOS; I > 21). No R-band counterpart of this object is seen on Tautenburg images taken on Mar. 29.8-30.0 (R > 22). Images are available via http://www.tls-tautenburg.de/research/grb.html." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 6 (6864) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6865 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 B. E. Schaefer, Yale University, writes: "R-band CCD exposures of the error circle for GRB 980329 (IAUC 6854) were taken with the 3.5-m WIYN telescope on Apr. 1.17 and 3.10 UT. At the position of the radio transient (Taylor et al., http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/040.gcn3), no source was detected, with limits of R > 24.2 and > 23.9, respectively." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 6 (6865) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6866 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 D. M. Cole, A. R. Cooray, J. M. Quashnock, D. E. Vanden Berk, D. Q. Lamb, D. E. Reichart, G. T. Richards, K. Gloria, D. Long, and T. Hoyes, University of Chicago, on behalf of the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC), report: "We made near-infrared observations (IAUC 6860) of the BeppoSAX NFI error circle for GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853, 6854) between Apr. 1.167 and 1.277 UT, using the ARC 3.5-m telescope (+ GRIM II) at Apache Point Observatory. We find no detectable object, down to a limiting magnitude of J = 20.9 +/- 0.5 (1 sigma) at the position of the variable radio source VLA J0702+3850 proposed by Taylor et al. (http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/040.gcn3 and IAUC 6864) to be the radio afterglow from GRB 980329. The measurement by Mannuci et al. (http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/046.gcn3) of an object with J = 19.2 (+0.8,-0.5) at the position of the radio source on Mar. 29.84-29.86 implies that this object dimmed by at least Delta(J) = 1.7 +/- 0.9 over about 2.4 days. J-band images are available in GIF and PostScript formats at ftp://astro.chicago.edu/pub/astro/GRB/." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 6 (6866) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6867 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 Corrigendum. On IAUC 6866, last line, for ftp://astro.chicago.edu/pub/astro/GRB/." read ftp://astro.uchicago.edu/pub/astro/GRB/." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 7 (6867) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 50 SUBJECT: GRB980329 sub-millimeter observations DATE: 98/04/07 18:02:12 GMT FROM: Ian Smith at Rice U I. A. Smith (Rice University) and R. P. J. Tilanus (Joint Astronomy Centre) report on behalf of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) GRB collaboration: We used the SCUBA sub-millimeter continuum bolometer array on the JCMT to observe the variable radio source VLA J0702+3850 proposed by Taylor et al. (GCN #40) as the radio afterglow to GRB 980329. On UT 1998 April 5.2 we detected a source at 850 microns with a preliminary flux density of 5 +/- 1.5 mJy. This source was confirmed on April 6.2 with a flux density of 4 +/- 1.2 mJy, resulting in an average of 4.5 +/- 1 mJy over the two days. The 850 micron source is present in all our separate integrations making us confident it is real. A hint of a fading trend appears to be confirmed by observations on April 7.2 when the (preliminary) 850 micron flux density was 2 +/- 0.8 mJy. The source was not detected at 450 microns with a preliminary rms of 10.0 mJy averaged over the first two days. Assuming these fluxes are due to the burst counterpart, they should represent "clean" measures of its intensity, unaffected by scintillation and extinction. Monitoring with SCUBA is continuing. We wish to thank Dr. L. Avery and Dr. J. MacLeod for their cooperation and valuable help in obtaining these observations, and Dr. G. Watt and Dr. I. Robson for rapidly scheduling the observations. This report may be cited in publications. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6868 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) GRB 980329 I. A. Smith, Rice University; and R. P. J. Tilanus, Joint Astronomy Centre, report on behalf of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) GRB collaboration: "We used the JCMT (+ SCUBA submillimeter continuum bolometer array) to observe the variable radio source VLA J0702+3850 proposed by Taylor et al. (see IAUC 6864) as the radio afterglow to GRB 980329. On Apr. 5.2 UT, we detected a source at 850 microns with a preliminary flux density of 5 +/- 1.5 mJy. This source was confirmed on Apr. 6.2 with a flux density of 4 +/- 1.2 mJy, resulting in an average of 4.5 +/- 1 mJy over the two days. The source is present in all our separate integrations, making us confident that it is real. A hint of a fading trend appears to be confirmed by observations on Apr. 7.2, when the (preliminary) 850- micron flux density was 2 +/- 0.8 mJy. The source was not detected at 450 microns, with a preliminary rms of 10.0 mJy averaged over the first two days. Assuming these fluxes are due to the burst counterpart, they should represent 'clean' measures of its intensity, unaffected by scintillation and extinction." (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 7 (6868) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 51 SUBJECT: GRB980329 Keck K-band observations DATE: 98/04/07 23:43:38 GMT FROM: James Larkin at UCLA J. Larkin and A. Ghez (UCLA) in collaboration with S. Kulkarni, S. Djorgovsk (Caltech), D. Frail and G. Taylor (NRAO) report: We have fully reduced our K-band images of the field surrounding the gamma ray burst GRB980329. We confirm our earlier strong detection of a compact (<0.6'' FWHM) object at the radio coordinates reported by Taylor et al. (see GCN#40) and coincident with the optical counterpart announced by Djorgovski et al. (see GCN#41). The observations include two separate 90 minute exposures at the Keck 10 meter telescope obtained on UT 1998 April 02 and April 03, respectively. The total K-band magnitudes of the object are 20.7+-0.2 mag on April 02, and 20.9+-0.2 mag on April 03. The source is unresolved in our images, even if we include only those frames taken under the best seeing conditions of 0.5 to 0.6 arcseconds. The final K band image can be found at http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~larkin/grb.html This note is citable. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Subject: GRB980329 TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 52 SUBJECT: GRB980329 R & I-band observations DATE: 98/04/08 12:08:04 GMT FROM: Holger Pedersen at Copenhagen U. Obs. H.Pedersen (Copenhagen University Observatory), J.Fynbo (Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus), E.Valtaoja (Tuorla Observatory, Turku), M.Tornikoski (Metsahovi Radio Observatory, Helsinki), J.Clasen (Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma), and E.Palazzi (Istituto TeSRE, Bologna), report: Using the 2.56 m Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma, we have obtained a total of seven 600 s R band exposures of the proposed host galaxy (ref. GCN #41, #51). The exposures were taken March 30.924 - 30.942 (2 exp.), March 31.866 - 31.882 (2 exp.), and April 01.879 - 02.029 (3 exp.). One 300 s I band exposure was obtained on March 31.919. The optical transient is not clearly detected in any single exposure, nor in the sum of exposures from any night. However, the sum of all R exposures shows a very faint object at the cited position for which we derive m(R) = 24.8 +/- 0.5 (using the R=15.8 object from IAU Circ. No. 6856 as calibration). The data files can be retrieved from http://www.astro.ku.dk/~holger/g/IMAGES/GRB980329/NOT_R.fits.gz .../NOT_I.fits.gz Further to this, H.Pedersen reports: Using the 45/77 cm Brorfelde Schmidt, a series of seventeen 500 s R band exposures were obtained March 29.860 - 29.973. None of these exposures shows any object at the position of the optical counterpart. During the observing interval, the detection limit deteriorated gradually, from R=18.5 to 18.0 K.Augustesen kindly performed the Schmidt observations. This message can be cited. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Circular No. 6872 Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION Mailstop 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions) BMARSDEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or DGREEN@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science) URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/cbat.html Phone 617-495-7244/7440/7444 (for emergency use only) CORRIGENDA IAUC 6868, GRB 980329, line 5: for (see IAUC 6864) read [GRB Coordinates Network Circular No. 40 (GCN 40; URL given on IAUC 6864); see also http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn_main.html] IAUC 6869, S/1997 U 2, line 7, and IAUC 6870, S/1997 U 1, line 11: for D. Graham read D. Groom (C) Copyright 1998 CBAT 1998 April 8 (6872) Daniel W. E. Green ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 55 SUBJECT: GRB980329, Fading IR counterpart to radio source DATE: 98/04/12 14:10:51 GMT FROM: Mark R. Metzger at CIT M.R. Metzger (Caltech) reports: Near-infrared K-band images of the area surrounding the variable radio source detected by Taylor et al. (GCNC #40), possibly associated with GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853, 6854), were obtained on Apr 6.27 and Apr 8.28 with the Keck-I 10m telescope. The source reported by Larkin et al. (GCNC #51, coincident with the galaxy reported by Djorgovski et al., GCNC #41) was detected on both nights, at K=21.4 +/- 0.2 mag (6.27) and K = 21.9 +- 0.4 mag (8.28). Comparison with the magnitudes reported by Larkin et al. indicates that the source has faded by about 1 mag between Apr 2.3 and Apr 8.28. This suggests that part of the K flux may be IR afterglow of GRB 980329. It is consistent with fading, detections, and upper limits reported previously (GCNC #41, #46, #48, IAUC 6864, 6866, 6868). Further measurements are suggested to estimate the IR brightness of any underlying host. ------------ Mark R. Metzger, mrm@astro.caltech.edu Caltech 105-24 Pasadena, CA 91125 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 59 SUBJECT: GRB 980329 ROSAT observation DATE: 98/04/28 05:57:50 GMT FROM: Jochen Greiner at Astrophys.Inst. Potsdam,Germany J. Greiner (AI Potsdam, Germany), W. Voges (MPE Garching) and F. Frontera (Bologna, Italy), E. Costa and L. Piro (IAS Rome, Italy) report: A ROSAT target-of-opportunity observation was performed towards the position of GRB 980329 (IAUC 6853) between April 1--3, 1998. The total exposure time was 33.5 ksec. No X-ray source is detected within the WFC error box at the 3 sigma significance level or higher (upper limit of 0.0001 cts/s). Adopting a power law spectrum with photon index of 2.0 and only galactic absorption (9*10^20 cm^-2), this corresponds to a flux limit of 9.3E-15 erg/cm^2/s in the 0.1-2.4 keV band. The non-detection of the X-ray afterglow source 1SAX J0702.6+3850 as detected with the BeppoSAX NFI (IAUC 6854) implies that the X-ray flux of the GRB 980329 afterglow decayed according to t^-1.8 or steeper. An image of the ROSAT observation is available at http://www.obs.aip.de/~jcg/grb980329.html. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 157 SUBJECT: GRB980329 R,I flux calibration and R,I,K upper limits DATE: 98/11/19 06:44:24 GMT FROM: James Rhoads at KPNO James Rhoads, Arjun Dey, Buell Jannuzi, and Megan Sosey (on behalf of the KPNO GRB followup team); Sylvio Klose; Daniel Reichart; Andrew Fruchter; and Francisco Castander report: We have used data obtained by Rhoads on the night of 980403 UT to calibrate Klose's I band measurement of the optical transient associated with GRB 980329 (GCNC #43). We find an optical transient magnitude I=20.8 +- 0.3 on March 29.8-30.0 (cf. Reichart et al, in preparation). The corresponding flux density is 11 +- 3 microJansky. The data consisted of 1200 seconds integration per filter on the GRB 980329 field in R band (April 3.147) and I band (April 3.167) at airmass 1.1, plus brief R and I band observations of the SA107 field at airmass 1.4. The data were taken with the 4 meter Mayall telescope and Mosaic CCD Imager at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Weather was photometric with poor image quality (from 1.25 to 1.75 arcsec). Details of the photometric calibration and a table of reference star magnitudes in the GRB 980329 field are at the end of this circular. We used the same data to measure the flux at the location of the transient. No obvious source is present at the location of the transient (7:02:38.0 +38:50:44 J2000.0) in either filter. R band photometry using a 0.75 and 1.25 arcsecond radius apertures, corrected for aperture losses using the curve of growth, yield flux estimates of 0.40 +- 0.25 and 0.80 +- 0.25 microJansky, where the error bar includes contributions from photon counting noise and from sky subtraction uncertainties only. Conservatively, this gives a 3 sigma upper limit of 1.50 microJansky (for a one-sided confidence interval with probability 99.73%) and R > 23.3 magnitudes. For the I band, the aperture-corrected point source fluxes measured in 0.75 and 1.25 arcsecond radius apertures are 0.06 +- 0.51 and -0.12 +- 0.44 microJansky. The first implies a 3 sigma upper limit of 1.48 microJansky and to I > 23.0, while the second gives an upper limit of 1.10 microJansky and I > 23.3 magnitudes. In addition, we report a K band upper limit using data obtained by Dey, Jannuzi, and Sosey (on behalf of the NOAO Deep Widefield Survey team) on 1998 April 3.205 using the Kitt Peak National Observatory 2.1 meter telescope and ONIS camera. No point source is apparent at the location of the transient. The RMS counts in the image imply a 3 sigma upper limit of 13.4 microJansky for a point source (in a 1 arcsec radius aperture and corrected using the curve of growth), which corresponds to K > 19.2 at the 3 sigma level. - Details of the photometric calibrations - Reliable optical fluxes were measured for the Landolt standard stars SA107-212, 213, 357, 359, 351, 457, 456, 600, 599, 612, 626, and 627. Standard star and GRB field photometry was done in a similar fashion, with growth curves derived from multiaperture photometry used to correct all magnitudes to an effective 7" radius. The photometric errors in the GRB frame were taken from the IRAF "mkapfile" task, which applies the aperture corrections. Additional errors were added in quadrature to account for uncertainties in the photometric zero point (+- 0.004 mag in both R and I), color correction terms (+- 0.07*[R-I - 0.42]), and airmass correction term (+- 0.01 mag for I band and +- 0.024 mag for R band). The table of measured magnitudes for objects near GRB 980329: # RA (J2000) Dec R err(R) I err(I) # 7:02:39.0 38:50:32.7 15.7 1.0 15.300 0.2 7:02:37.5 38:50:33.5 15.85 1.0 15.450 0.12 7:02:35.1 38:50:23.2 16.30 0.3 15.988 0.036 7:02:40.1 38:50:11.8 16.9664 0.0314 16.647 0.0155 7:02:39.4 38:50:03.1 18.4428 0.0275 18.093 0.0175 7:02:38.7 38:50:26.9 20.655 0.0646 19.473 0.0623 7:02:36.6 38:50:36.3 20.3862 0.0536 19.331 0.0478 7:02:36.3 38:50:19.8 20.5135 0.0464 19.625 0.0459 7:02:38.4 38:50:50.7 21.2876 0.0688 20.026 0.0711 7:02:51.0 38:49:31.0 17.6592 0.0456 16.668 0.0399 7:02:50.4 38:49:57.1 17.9663 0.0258 17.539 0.0161 # Users of this table should be aware that the magnitude uncertainties for the different stars include some sources of systematic error (airmass and color terms) that are not independent from star to star. Also, the first two entries are substantially saturated in R and I; the third is substantially saturated in R and perhaps marginally in I; and the fourth may be marginally saturated in R. Photometric errors quoted for saturated stars are approximate guesses. More detail, and sections of the processed R and I band images, are available from http://www.noao.edu/noao/grb/980329.html . This report is citable. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 778 SUBJECT: HST/STIS observations of the host galaxy of GRB 980329 DATE: 00/08/27 17:56:02 GMT FROM: Stephen Holland at IFA, U of Aarhus HST/STIS observations of the host galaxy of GRB 980329 Stephen Holland, Bjarne Thomsen (University of Aarhus), Jens Hjorth, Johan Fynbo (University of Copenhagen), Michael Andersen (University of Oulu), Gunnlaugur Bjornsson (University of Iceland), Andreas Jaunsen (ESO), Priya Natarajan (University of Cambridge, & Yale), and Nial Tanvir (University of Hertfordshire) We have used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope to image the host galaxy of GRB 980329. We obtained 8072 seconds of STIS/CCD images with the 50CCD (clear) aperture and 5416 seconds with the F28X50LP (long pass) aperture. This data was taken as part of the Survey of the Host Galaxies of Gamma-Ray Bursts (Holland et al., GCN 698) approximately 880 days after the burst occurred. Combined images are now available at "http://www.ifa.au.dk/~hst/grb_hosts/data/index.html". The drizzled F28X50LP image is based on two orbits worth of data, and will be updated when the data from the third orbit is available. A preliminary determination of the location of the radio transient VLA J070238.0+385044 associated with GRB 980329 (Taylor et al. 1998, ApJL, 502, L115), based on the astrometry of three USNO-A2.0 stars, is (X,Y) = (1039,1027) where the three-sigma uncertainty in the astrometric solution is 20 drizzled STIS pixels (0.5 arcsec). There is a faint, extended object at (X,Y) = (1031,999) in our drizzled 50CCD image. This object is also visible in the F28X50LP image. The object is approximately three sigma southwest of the position of the GRB, and is the best candidate for the host galaxy of GRB 980329. An image showing the location of the galaxy and the GRB is available at "http://www.ifa.au.dk/~hst/grb_hosts/data/grb980329cd.gif". The probable host galaxy has AB magnitudes, in an aperture of radius 0.25 arcsec, of CL = 28.6 +/- 0.3 and LP = 28.1 +/- 0.3. If we assume that the galaxy has a power-law spectrum then the preliminary Kron-Cousins R-band magnitude is R = 27.7 +/- 0.3. We also derived a preliminary calibration based on two stars from Rhoads et al. (GCN 157) and found R = 28.2 +/- 0.3. These results are consistent with each other, and are consistent with the host magnitude being 26.8 < R < 29, as determined by Gorosabel et al. (1999, A&A, 347, L31) from the decay of the optical light curve. The faintness of the galaxy is consistent with it having a redshift of z > 2 (Fruchter 1999, ApJ 512, L1; Lamb et al. 1999, A&AS, 138, 479), although we can not rule out z < 2 from the HST/STIS data alone.