TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36330
SUBJECT: EP240426b: EP-WXT detection of a new fast X-ray transient
DATE: 24/04/27 05:01:10 GMT
FROM: EP Team at NAOC/CAS <ep_ta(a)bao.ac.cn>
X. Pan, D. H. Zhao (NAOC, CAS), J. Q. Peng (IHEP, CAS), C. C. Jin, Z. X. Ling, Y. Liu, Z. X. Ling, C. Zhang, H. Q. Cheng, W. Chen, C. Z. Cui, D. W. Fan, H. B. Hu, J. W. Hu, M. H. Huang, D. Y. Li, H. Y. Liu, M. J. Liu, Z. Z. Lv, T. Y. Lian, X. Mao, H. W. Pan, H. Sun, W. X. Wang, Y. L. Wang, Q. Y. Wu, X. P. Xu, Y. F. Xu, H. N. Yang, W. Yuan, M. Zhang, W. D. Zhang, W. J. Zhang, Z. Zhang (NAOC,CAS), Y. Chen, S. M. Jia, S. N. Zhang (IHEP, CAS), E. Kuulkers, A. Santovincenzo (ESA), P. O'Brien (Univ. of Leicester), K. Nandra, A. Rau (MPE), B. Cordier (CEA) on behalf of the Einstein Probe team
We report on the detection of a fast X-ray transient EP240426b at 2024-04-26T14:19:06 (UTC) by the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) on board the Einstein Probe (EP) mission during a calibration observation. The position of the source is R.A. = 173.787 deg, DEC = -40.741 deg (J2000) with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin in radius (90% C.L. statistical and systematic). The transient event lasts for ~300 seconds and has a peak flux of ~9.5 x 10^-10 erg/s/cm^2 in the 0.5-4 keV band. The averaged 0.5-4 keV spectrum can be fitted with an absorbed power law with a photon index of 1.8(-0.3/+0.3) (with the column density fixed at the Galactic value of 8.08 x 10^20 cm^-2), giving an unabsorbed flux of 3.6(-0.6/+0.6) x 10^-10 erg/s/cm2 in the 0.5-4 keV band. The 1-sigma uncertainties are given for the above parameters.
Note: EP240426b is about 40 degrees away from the 90% credible region of the recent BH-NS gravitational-wave event S240422ed (GCN 36236), therefore it is an independent source unrelated to this event.
No previously known X-ray sources at a similar flux level are found within the 3 arcmin region around the source position. Further multi-wavelength follow-up observations are encouraged to identify the nature of this X-ray flare.
The above observation was made with the WXT instrument during the commissioning phase of EP. Launched on January 9, 2024, EP is a space X-ray observatory to monitor the soft X-ray sky with X-ray follow-up capability (Yuan et al. 2022, Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics). EP is a mission of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with ESA, MPE and CNES.
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36330.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36329
SUBJECT: LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA S240422ed: Archival radio detection of EP240426a
DATE: 24/04/26 23:01:02 GMT
FROM: akashjanaki98(a)gmail.com
Akash Anumarlapudi (UWM), David Kaplan (UWM), Dougal Dobie (U. Sydney/OzGrav), Tara Murphy (U. Sydney), and Emil Lenc (CSIRO), Tomas Ahumada (Caltech).
We report the radio detection of an archival source positionally consistent with the recently discovered Einstein Probe (EP) transient EP240426a (GCN 36313). EP240426a was detected as a potential counterpart to of the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA event S240422ed (GCN 36236, GCN 36240). A coincident optical source was also detected in the error circle of EP240426a by Palmese et al. (GCN 36317). Here we report the radio observations from the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) Variable And Slow Transients Survey (VAST; Murphy et al. 2021, PASA, 38, e054).
The field of EP240426a was observed regularly as a part of the VAST survey with a biweekly cadence starting in December 2022. We detected a persistent faint source at the location of EP240426a in all epochs. Stacking all the observations together, we find a strong radio source with a flux density of 600+/-40 uJy at a frequency of 888 MHz at this location. We also inspect the archival data from the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) and do not find a point source at this location. Using VAST and VLASS data, we infer the power-law spectral index to be steeper than -0.7, consistent with it being an AGN. We also inspect the WISE colors and using the W4 color and radio fluxes, the estimated FIR to radio ratio is consistent with FIR/radio correlation which supports the AGN hypothesis. Additionally, we analyzed the historic WISE and NEOWISE data at the source location (within 2 arcsec), and found a variable source in the W1 and W2 passbands.
The ASKAP VAST image for this event can be obtained [here](https://www.vast-survey.org/assets/images/EP240426a.jpg).
This work uses data obtained from Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara / the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. We acknowledge the Wajarri Yamaji People as the Traditional Owners and native title holders of the Observatory site. CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility (https://ror.org/05qajvd42). Operation of ASKAP is funded by the Australian Government with support from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. ASKAP uses the resources of the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre. Establishment of ASKAP, Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory and the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre are initiatives of the Australian Government, with support from the Government of Western Australia and the Science and Industry Endowment Fund.
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36329.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36328
SUBJECT: LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA S240422ed: Swope Follow-up of AT2024hfq, AT2024hfr, AT2024hfs, and AT2024hfx
DATE: 24/04/26 21:52:07 GMT
FROM: Ryan Foley at UC Santa Cruz <foley(a)ucsc.edu>
A. L. Piro, J. D. Simon (Carnegie), A. Polin (Carnegie/Purdue), C. R. Burns (Carnegie), D. A. Coulter (STScI), M. R. Drout (Toronto), R. J. Foley, and C. Rojas-Bravo (UC Santa Cruz)
report on behalf of the Carnegie Gravitational wave ElectroMagnetic follow-up (CGEM) collaboration, the One-Meter Two-Hemisphere (1M2H) collaboration, and the Swope Supernova Survey:
As part of our ongoing search for optical counterparts to the candidate gravitational wave event S240422ed (GCN 36236, GCN 36240), we have obtained imaging with the 1.0m Swope telescope at Las Campanas Observatory of the sources AT2024hfq (GCN 36298, GCN 36319), AT2024hfr (GCN 36298), AT2024hfs (GCN 36298), and AT2024hfx (GCN 36303, GCN 36304, GCN 36308).
Differential PSF photometry of the candidates and local sequence stars was obtained using DAOPHOT. The local sequence photometry was calibrated using the Refcat2 catalog, transformed to the Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP) natural system. The measured magnitudes are listed in the table below. AT2024hfq has a similar magnitude to that reported two nights earlier by DECam. AT2024hfr is likely somewhat brighter than measured by DECam on the previous night. AT2024hfs is consistent with being brighter and redder than the source was on the previous two nights. AT2024hfx is brighter by ~1 sigma than measured on the previous night by PS2.
+-----------+---------------+--------+--------------------+
| ID | JD | filter | magnitude |
+-----------+---------------+--------+--------------------+
| AT2024hfq | 2460426.565 | i | 20.97 +/- 0.14 |
| AT2024hfr | 2460426.590 | i | 19.69 +/- 0.19 |
| AT2024hfs | 2460426.577 | g | 21.07 +/- 0.19 |
| AT2024hfs | 2460426.582 | i | 20.53 +/- 0.25 |
| AT2024hfx | 2460426.551 | g | 19.74 +/- 0.03 |
| AT2024hfx | 2460426.557 | i | 19.88 +/- 0.05 |
+-----------+---------------+--------+--------------------+
We thank Francesco di Mille and the rest of the LCO staff for making these observations possible.
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36328.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36327
SUBJECT: LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA S240422ed: BOOTES-6/DPRT optical upper limits for EP240426a
DATE: 24/04/26 21:37:38 GMT
FROM: Alberto Castro-Tirado at Inst.de Astro. de Andalucia <ajct(a)iaa.es>
|I. Perez-Garcia, E. Fernandez-Garcia, M.D. Caballero-Garcia, R. Sanchez-Ramirez, S. Guziy, S.-Y. Wu and A. J. Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC, Granada), P. J. Meintjes and H. J. van Heerden (UFS, South Africa), A. Martin-Carrillo and L. Hanlon (UCD, Ireland), M. Gritsevich (Univ. of Helsinki), |||D. R. Xiong (YNAO) |and C. J. Perez del Pulgar (UMA, Malaga), on behalf of a larger collaboration, report: |Following the detection of a possible X-ray counterpart for LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA S240422ed (LVK collaboration, GCNC 36236), the BOOTES-6/DPRT robotic telescope pointed to the location of EP240426a (discovered by EP-FXT, Sun et al. GCNC 36313) starting at Apr 26, 18:21 UT. No optical counterpart within an uncertainty of 10 arcsec in radius compared to the PanSTARRS DR1 image was found on a 1-hr coadd (60x60s) g'-band image, down to 20.3 mag. This is in agreement with previous reports by Wang et al. (GCNC 36315), Xiong et al. (GCNC 36320), Sun et al. (GCNC 36323) and Elhooseiny et al. (GCNC 36323). We note that the position center is only|5.5 arcsec away from the red galaxy 2MASX J08072584-2927344, which makes difficult the observation at longer wavelengths. We thank the staff at Boyden Observatory for their excellent support. |
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36327.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36326
SUBJECT: LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA S240422ed: GRANDMA Optical Upper Limits for EP240426a
DATE: 24/04/26 21:27:56 GMT
FROM: Damien Dornic <ddornic(a)km3net.de>
E. G. Elhooseiny (NRIAG), D. Dornic (CPPM), M. Pillas, S. Antier (OCA), J. Dibasso (Berkeley) A. Klotz (IRAP), P. Thierry (AGORA association), S. Karpov (FZU), C. Andrade (UMN), M. Coughlin (UMN), P.A. Duverne (APC), P. Hello (IJCLAB), I. Tosta e Melo (UniCT-DFA), T. Pradier (Unistra/IPHC), D. Turpin (CEA), M. Freeberg (KNC), H-B Eggenstein (KNC), J.-G. Ducoin (CPPM)
Report on behalf of GRANDMA collaboration.
We responded to the detection of a candidate counterpart EP240426a by EP/FXT (H. Sun et al, GCN 36313).
We investigated in ATLAS forced photometry any possible previous detection from 2024-04-26T00:41:14 to 2024-04-23T01:27:14. No detection at mag [12.2 - 20.0] mag in the orange filter. We then performed observations with GRANDMA (Kilonova-catcher telescopes in Australia and LesMakes-T60 at la Reunion) of EP240426a from 2024-04-26T11:18:00 to 2024-04-26T18:03:15 UTC, under moderate weather conditions.
We used T0 as the LIGO/Virgo/Kagra S240422ed GW candidate event (LIGO-Virgo-Kagra, GCN 36236).
In the following table we report the preliminary photometry of our
observations. Upper limits are reported at the 5-sigma limit,
in the AB system.
T-T0 (day)| MJD | Observatory | Exp. | Filter | Upp.Mag. | Comments
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.58 |60426.477894 | KNC |10x180s| Johnson V | 16.7 | calibrated in R, Gaia
3.63 |60426.528530 | KNC |7x180s | Rc | 16.6 | calibrated in sdssg, PS1, low elevation and moon
3.76 |60426.652754 | LesMakes-T60|5x120s | Clear | 19.5 | calibrated in sdssr, PS1
3.78 |60426.668757 | LesMakes-T60|15x120s| Clear | 20.9 | calibrated in sdssr, PS1
3.80 |60426.696710 | LesMakes-T60|40x120s| sdssr | 21.2 | calibrated in sdssr, PS1
All the data have been reduced by a single data processing pipeline STDPIPE (Karpov et al., 2022).
In our low latency analysis (Antier & Karpov, in prep), comparing to PS1, we did not find any new candidates in our frames from LesMakes-T60 within 15 arcmin radius centered around ra=121.8567 dec=-29.4609
Our results are consistent with the non-detection reported by GMG (GCN 36315), DECam-r (GCN 36317) and YAHPT (GCN 36323).
We can provide any image from this campaign by request.
We thank the EP collaboration for useful communication.
GRANDMA is a worldwide telescope network (grandma.ijclab.in2p3.fr) devoted to the observation of transients in the context of multi-messenger astrophysics [2]. Kilonova-Catcher (KNC) is the citizen science program of GRANDMA (kilonovacatcher.in2p3.fr).
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36326.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36325
SUBJECT: LIGO/VIRGO/KAGRA S240422ed: Historical variability for EP240426a
DATE: 24/04/26 21:26:32 GMT
FROM: Andrew Levan at Radboud University <a.levan(a)astro.ru.nl>
A. J. Levan (Radboud), N. R. Tanvir (U. Leicester), D.T.H. Steeghs (Warwick) report for the ENGRAVE collaboration:
The field of EP240426a (Sun et al., GCN 31313), the X-ray transient suggested as a possible counterpart to S240422ed (LVK, GCN 36236), has been observed multiple times in the K-band during 2018-2019 as part of the VISTA Variables in Via Lactea (VVV) survey undertaken with the ESO/VISTA telescope. Image subtraction of several of these images reveals a clear residual signal at the nucleus of 2MASX J08072584-292734.
The presence of past nuclear infrared variability of the source suggests that the most likely origin for both the recent X-ray (Sun et al., GCN 31313) and apparent optical variability (Hu et al., GCN 36317) is due to ongoing AGN variability, and that the source is probably not related to S240422ed.
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36325.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36324
SUBJECT: GRB 240426A: AstroSat CZTI detection
DATE: 24/04/26 17:17:25 GMT
FROM: Gaurav Waratkar at IIT Bombay <gauravwaratkar(a)iitb.ac.in>
G. Waratkar (IITB), J. Joshi (IUCAA), A. Vibhute (IUCAA), V. Bhalerao (IITB), D. Bhattacharya (Ashoka University/IUCAA), A. R. Rao (IUCAA/TIFR), and S. Vadawale (PRL) report on behalf of the AstroSat CZTI collaboration:
Analysis of AstroSat CZTI data with the CIFT framework (Sharma et al., 2021, JApA, 42, 73) showed the detection of a long-duration GRB 240426A. Inspection of INTEGRAL/SPI-ACS data also showed the detection of the burst.
The source was clearly detected in the CZT detectors in the 20-200 keV energy range. The light curve showed a single peak of emission that peaked at 2024-04-26 13:24:10.5 UTC. The measured peak count rate associated with the burst is 122 (+47, -1) counts/s above the background in the combined data of all quadrants, with a total of 1360 (+272, -248) counts. We caution that there is a 0.3 s readout dead time in CZT data during the burst which affects the calculated total counts. The local mean background count rate was 318 (+3, -3) counts/s. Using cumulative rates, we measure a T90 of 20 (+4, -3) s.
It was also clearly detected in the CsI anticoincidence (Veto) detector in the 100-500 keV energy range. The light curve showed a single peak of emission that peaked at 2024-04-26 13:24:09.6 UTC. The measured peak count rate is 403 (+69, -52) counts/s above the background in the combined Veto data of all quadrants, with a total of 3640 (+415, -459) counts. The local mean background count rate was 1412 (+6, -6) counts/s. We measure a T90 of 23 (+1, -3) s from the cumulative Veto light curve.
CZTI is built by a TIFR-led consortium of institutes across India, including VSSC, URSC, IUCAA, SAC, and PRL. The Indian Space Research Organisation funded, managed, and facilitated the project.
CZTI GRB detections are reported regularly on the payload site at:
http://astrosat.iucaa.in/czti/?q=grb
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36324.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36323
SUBJECT: EP240426a: YAHPT optical upper limit
DATE: 24/04/26 16:57:35 GMT
FROM: Tianrui Sun at Purple Mountain Obs,CAS <trsun(a)pmo.ac.cn>
Tian-Rui Sun, Jin-Jun Geng, Jian Chen, Yan-Long Hua and Lei Hu report on behalf of the YAHPT team:
Following the detection of EP240426a by Einstein Probe (Sun et al., GCN 36313),
we use the Yaoan High Precision Telescope at Yaoan Astronomy Observation Station (Yunnan province, China) to search and follow up.
We observed the target position in both Rc and Ic starting from 2024-04-26T12:47:25.100 with 300s exposure.
We did not detect any possible new optical counterpart with an uncertainty of 10 arcsec in the coadded image.
UT (start) |5 sigma Upper Limit| Exposure Time | Filter
2024-04-26T12:47:25.100| 21.26 | 300*8s | Rc
2024-04-26T12:42:22.700| 21.12 | 300*8s | Ic
This non-detection result of the transient is in agreement with the previous circulars (Wang et al., 36315; Xiong et al.,36320).
We used the USNO B1.0 catalogue (R2mag and Imag) as the magnitude reference for calibration.
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36323.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36322
SUBJECT: XMM-Newton observation of EP240426a
DATE: 24/04/26 16:45:04 GMT
FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA <xmmtoo(a)sciops.esa.int>
XMM-Newton has scheduled an observation of the field of EP240426a, the
potential X-ray counterpart of S240422ed (The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA
Collaboration, GCN 36236) reported in GCN 36313,
at location RA=08h07m25.61s, Dec=-29d27'39.2'', starting at 20:10
UT, on April 26 2024, for an exposure time of 45 ks.
This message is intended only for the recipient(s) named above. It may contain proprietary information and/or
protected content. Any unauthorised disclosure, use, retention or dissemination is prohibited. If you have received
this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately. ESA applies appropriate organisational measures to protect
personal data, in case of data privacy queries, please contact the ESA Data Protection Officer (dpo(a)esa.int).
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36322.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…
TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER: 36321
SUBJECT: LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA S240426dl: Identification of a GW compact binary merger candidate
DATE: 24/04/26 16:29:40 GMT
FROM: emiliarose.chick(a)ligo.org
We identified the compact binary merger candidate S240426dl during real-time processing of data from LIGO Hanford Observatory (H1) and LIGO Livingston Observatory (L1) at 2024-04-26 15:18:03.773 UTC (GPS time: 1398179901.773). The candidate was found by the CWB [1], GstLAL [2], and MBTA [3] analysis pipelines.
S240426dl is an event of interest because its false alarm rate, as estimated by the online analysis, is 5.2e-08 Hz, or about one in 7 months. The event's properties can be found at this URL:
https://gracedb.ligo.org/superevents/S240426dl
The classification of the GW signal, in order of descending probability, is Terrestrial (70%), BBH (30%), BNS (<1%), or NSBH (<1%).
Assuming the candidate is astrophysical in origin, the probability that the lighter compact object is consistent with a neutron star mass (HasNS) is <1%. [4] Using the masses and spins inferred from the signal, the probability of matter outside the final compact object (HasRemnant) is <1%. [4] Both HasNS and HasRemnant consider the support of several neutron star equations of state. The probability that either of the binary components lies between 3 and 5 solar masses (HasMassGap) is <1%.
Three sky maps are available at this time and can be retrieved from the GraceDB event page:
* bayestar.multiorder.fits,0, an initial localization generated by BAYESTAR [5], distributed via GCN notice about 25 seconds after the candidate event time.
* cwb.multiorder.fits,0, an initial localization generated by cWB [1], distributed via GCN notice about 2 minutes after the candidate event time.
* cwb.multiorder.fits,1, an initial localization generated by cWB [1], distributed via GCN notice about 7 minutes after the candidate event time.
The preferred sky map at this time is cwb.multiorder.fits,1. For the cwb.multiorder.fits,1 sky map, the 90% credible region is 2024 deg2.
For further information about analysis methodology and the contents of this alert, refer to the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Public Alerts User Guide https://emfollow.docs.ligo.org/.
[1] Klimenko et al. PRD 93, 042004 (2016) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.93.042004
[2] Tsukada et al. PRD 108, 043004 (2023) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.108.043004 and Ewing et al. (2023) arXiv:2305.05625
[3] Aubin et al. CQG 38, 095004 (2021) doi:10.1088/1361-6382/abe913
[4] Chatterjee et al. ApJ 896, 54 (2020) doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab8dbe
[5] Singer & Price PRD 93, 024013 (2016) doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.93.024013
View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/36321.
---
To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser:
https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0L…