TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 44030 SUBJECT: EP260316a: optical upper limit with Kinder observations DATE: 26/03/16 17:12:28 GMT FROM: Janet Chen at National Central University <janetstars@gmail.com> M.-H. Lee, A. Aryan, T.-W. Chen, H.-Y. Hsiao (all NCU), A. K. H. Kong (NTHU), J. H. Gillanders, S. J. Smartt (both Oxford), Y. J. Yang (NYUAD), Y.-H. Lee, A. Sankar.K, C.-H. Lai, Y.-C. Pan, C.-C. Ngeow, W.-J. Hou, C.-S. Lin, H.-C. Lin, J.-K. Guo (all NCU), S. Yang, Z. N. Wang, L. L. Fan, G. H. Sun (all HNAS), H.-W. Lin (UMich), H. F. Stevance, S. Srivastav, L. Rhodes (all Oxford), M. Nicholl, M. Fulton, T. Moore, K. W. Smith, C. Angus, A. Aamer (all QUB), A. Schultz, and M. Huber (both IfA, Hawaii) report: We observed the field of the EP260316a (Jiang et al., GCN 44027) using the 1m LOT at the Lulin observatory, as part of the Kinder collaboration (Chen et al. 2025, ApJ, 983, 86, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/adb428). The first LOT epoch of observations in g-band started at 14:11 UTC on 16th of March 2026 (MJD 61115.591), 1.63 hr after the EP-WXT detection. We utilized the astroalign (Beroiz et al. 2020, A&C, 32, 100384) and astropy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2022, ApJ, 935, 167) packages to align and stack the individual frames. We utilized the Python-based package AutoPhOT (Brennan & Fraser, 2022, A&A, 667, A62) to perform template subtraction with the DESI Legacy Survey (Dey et al. 2019, AJ 157, 168) DR10 image using the 'SFFT' (Hu et al. 2022, ApJ, 936, 157) algorithm. Neither in the stacked nor in the difference image did we detect any signature of a new or uncatalogued source within the EP-FXT localization circle (20"). Moreover, we further used AutoPhOT to perform PSF photometry. The details of the observations and the 3-sigma upper limit (in the AB system) are as follows: Telescope | Filter | MJD (start) | t-t0 (hr) | Exposure (s) | Magnitude| avg. Seeing | Med. Airmass LOT | g | 61115.591 | 1.63 | 300 * 12 | >23.2 | 1".52 | 1.94 The presented magnitudes are calibrated using the field stars from the ATLAS-refcat2 catalog from MAST (Tonry J. L. et al. 2018, ApJ, 867, 105). The reported upper limit is not corrected for an expected galactic extinction of A_r = 0.12 mag in the direction of the transient (Schlafly & Finkbeiner 2011). The methodology, details on the Lulin observatory telescopes, and a compilation of our optical follow-up campaign for FXTs discovered within the first year of operation of the Einstein-Probe mission are presented in Aryan et al. 2025, ApJS, 281, 20, doi:10.3847/1538-4365/adfc69. View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/44030. --- To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser: https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0LW...