[vsnet-grb-info 20399] GRB 180314B: Swift-XRT refined Analysis

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  22495
SUBJECT: GRB 180314B: Swift-XRT refined Analysis
DATE:    18/03/15 05:34:14 GMT
FROM:    Phil Evans at U of Leicester  <pae9 at leicester.ac.uk>

J.A. Kennea (PSU), P.A. Evans (U. Leicester), S.L. Gibson (U.
Leicester), J.P. Osborne (U. Leicester), A. Melandri (INAF-OAB), V.
D'Elia (ASDC), B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU), D.N. Burrows (PSU) and P.
D'Avanzo report on behalf of the Swift-XRT team:

We have analysed 6.4 ks of XRT data for GRB 180314B (D'Avanzo et al.
GCN Circ. 22491), from 102 s to 19.8 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.
22492).

The light curve can be modelled with an initial power-law decay with an
index of alpha=0.08 (+0.09, -0.07), followed by a break at T+1503 s to
an alpha of 1.42 (+/-0.08).

A spectrum formed from the PC mode data can be fitted with an absorbed
power-law with a photon spectral index of 2.55 (+0.21, -0.20). The
best-fitting absorption column is  2.14 (+0.29, -0.27) x 10^22 cm^-2,
in excess of the Galactic value of 8.9 x 10^21 cm^-2 (Willingale et al.
2013). The counts to observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux conversion
factor deduced from this spectrum  is 4.8 x 10^-11 (1.9 x 10^-10) erg
cm^-2 count^-1. 

A summary of the PC-mode spectrum is thus:
Total column:	     2.14 (+0.29, -0.27) x 10^22 cm^-2
Galactic foreground: 8.9 x 10^21 cm^-2
Excess significance: 7.6 sigma
Photon index:	     2.55 (+0.21, -0.20)

If the light curve continues to decay with a power-law decay index of
1.42, the count rate at T+24 hours will be 5.5 x 10^-3 count s^-1,
corresponding to an observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux of 2.7 x
10^-13 (1.1 x 10^-12) erg cm^-2 s^-1.

The results of the XRT-team automatic analysis are available at
http://www.swift.ac.uk/xrt_products/00814305.

This circular is an official product of the Swift-XRT team.