[AAVSO-HEN] GRB 090301: Swift detection of a burst

[grb at aavso.org]

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TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  8920
SUBJECT: GRB 090301: Swift detection of a burst
DATE:    09/03/01 07:07:31 GMT
FROM:    David Palmer at LANL  <palmer at lanl.gov>

L. Vetere (PSU), C. Gronwall (PSU), J. A. Kennea (PSU),
C. B. Markwardt (CRESST/GSFC/UMD), D. M. Palmer (LANL),
T. Sakamoto (NASA/UMBC), M. H. Siegel (PSU) and M. C. Stroh (PSU)
report on behalf of the Swift Team:

At 06:55:55 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 090301 (trigger=344582).  Swift could not slew to the burst
due to its proximity to the Sun (34 degrees).  The BAT on-board 
calculated location is 
RA, Dec 338.140, +26.642 which is 
   RA(J2000) = 22h 32m 34s
   Dec(J2000) = +26d 38' 32"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including 
systematic uncertainty).  The BAT light curve showed a complex multiple-peak
structure with a duration of about 50 sec.  The peak count rate
was ~20,0000 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~23 sec after the trigger. 

Due to an observing constraint, Swift cannot slew to the BAT position. 
There will thus be no XRT or UVOT data for this trigger. The source 
will become observable again after April 15th. 

Burst Advocate for this burst is L. Vetere (vetere AT astro.psu.edu). 
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.)