[vsnet-grb-info 9348] GRB 100606A: Gemini-South imaging

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  10831
SUBJECT: GRB 100606A: Gemini-South imaging
DATE:    10/06/07 13:21:32 GMT
FROM:    Nial Tanvir at IofA U.Cambridge  <nrt at ast.cam.ac.uk>

A.J. Levan (U. Warwick) and N.R. Tanvir (U. Leicester) report for
a larger collaboration:

We imaged the location of GRB 100606A (Oates et al. GCN 10824)
using GMOS-S on Gemini South. Observations began at 06:02 UT on June 7th,
approximately 11 hours after the burst, and were obtained in the r, i and 
z-bands, with a total of 900s exposure in each band. Within the refined 
XRT error circle (Evans et al. GCN 10827) we find a faint, and apparently
extended source, with r~25 (using archival zero point), which is barely 
visible in our i and z-band observations, suggesting a relatively blue 
colour. Although it is plausible that this object contains some 
contribution from a faint afterglow, the extended source is apparently 
dominating, and we suggest that this is the host of GRB 100606A.

The faint afterglow (r>25), combined with the apparently high X-ray
column density (Littlejohns et al. GCN 10829) is consistent with
GRB 100606A as a highly extinguished burst.

We thank the staff of Gemini South, especially Peter Pessev, for
the help in acquiring these data.