[vsnet-grb-info 18810] GRB 161214B: NOT optical observations, possible counterpart
GCN Circulars
gcncirc at capella2.gsfc.nasa.gov
Thu Dec 15 06:30:01 JST 2016
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 20260
SUBJECT: GRB 161214B: NOT optical observations, possible counterpart
DATE: 16/12/14 21:15:24 GMT
FROM: Daniele Malesani at Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Inst <malesani at dark-cosmology.dk>
D. Malesani (DARK/NBI and DTU Space), D. A. Perley (DARK/NBI), D. Xu
(NAOC/CAS), N. R. Tanvir (Univ. Leicester), G. Fedorets (NOT and Univ.
Helsinki), report on behalf of a larger collaboration:
We observed the field of GRB 161214B (D'Avanzo et al., GCN 20257) with
the Nordic Optical Telescope equipped with the AlFOSC camera. Seeing
conditions were modest (1.2").
In a 300-s image taken in the SDSS r band (mean time 2016 Dec 14.815 UT,
that is 2.2 hr after the GRB), we detect a single object within the
updated XRT error circle (Evans, GCN 20259), which is visible in
archival images (e.g. from the DSS and SDSS). No other objects are
visible within or close to the XRT position (though, the glare of this
object affects negatively the search for such objects). As this field is
covered from the SDSS, we can compute accurate photometry of this
object, r = 18.35 +- 0.02 (AB).
The brightness of this object is 0.76 +- 0.03 mag brighter then its
archival value from the SDSS, and it shows hint of extension in our
images. One possibility is that the detected source is actually the
blending of two very nearby objects, possibly the optical afterglow of
GRB 161014B and an unrelated, foreground star. However, given the modest
seeing of our images, we cannot exclude a real physical association
between the SDSS object and the GRB.
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