[vsnet-grb-info 5540] GRB 080123: Swift detection of a short burst

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  7203
SUBJECT: GRB 080123: Swift detection of a short burst
DATE:    08/01/23 04:43:57 GMT
FROM:    Jamie A. Kennea at PSU/Swift-XRT  <kennea at astro.psu.edu>

T. N. Ukwatta (GSFC/GWU), W. H. Baumgartner (GSFC/UMBC),
M. M. Chester (PSU), N. Gehrels (NASA/GSFC),
S. T. Holland (CRESST/USRA/GSFC), E. A. Hoversten (PSU),
S. Immler (CRESST/GSFC/UMD), J. A. Kennea (PSU),
V. Mangano (INAF-IASFPA), F. E. Marshall (NASA/GSFC),
D. M. Palmer (LANL), T. Sakamoto (NASA/UMBC),
B. Sbarufatti (INAF-IASFPA) and D. E. Vanden Berk (PSU) report on
behalf of the Swift Team:

At 04:21:57 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 080123 (trigger=301578).  Swift slewed immediately to the burst. 
The BAT on-board calculated location is 
RA, Dec 338.929, -64.890 which is 
   RA(J2000) = 22h 35m 43s
   Dec(J2000) = -64d 53' 23"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including 
systematic uncertainty).  The BAT light curve showed a double-peaked
structure with a duration of about 0.5 sec.  The peak count rate
was ~6000 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~0.1 sec after the trigger. 

The XRT began observing the field at 04:23:38 UT, 102 seconds after the
BAT trigger. Using prompt downlinked data, we find a bright, fading X-ray 
source located at RA, Dec 338.9446, -64.9011 which is
  RA(J2000)  = 22h 35m 46.71s
  Dec(J2000) = -64d 54' 04.0"
with an uncertainty of 1.6 arcsec (radius, 90% containment). 
This location is 46 arcseconds from the BAT on-board position,
outside the BAT error circle. 

UVOT took a finding chart exposure of nominal 100 seconds with the
White (160-650 nm) filter starting 111 seconds after the BAT trigger. 
No afterglow candidate has been found in the initial data products. 
Image catalog data are not available at this time. The 8'x8' region
for the list of sources generated on-board covers 100% of the BAT
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 0.03. 

Burst Advocate for this burst is T. N. Ukwatta (tilan.ukwatta 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.)