GCN Circular 20944

P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC),
A. Cholden-Brown (PSU), J. A. Kennea (PSU), N. P. M. Kuin (UCL-MSSL),
F. E. Marshall (NASA/GSFC), A. Melandri (INAF-OAB),
B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU) and M. H. Siegel (PSU) report on behalf
of the Swift Team:

At 22:29:51 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 170330A (trigger=744773).  Swift slewed immediately to the burst. 
The BAT on-board calculated location is 
RA, Dec 283.326, -13.437, which is 
   RA(J2000)  =  18h 53m 18s
   Dec(J2000) = -13d 26' 12"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including 
systematic uncertainty).  The BAT light curve shows a single peak
with a duration of about 10 sec.  The peak count rate
was ~1000 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~3 sec after the trigger. 

The XRT began observing the field at 22:31:29.6 UT, 98.4 seconds after
the BAT trigger. XRT found a bright, uncatalogued X-ray source located
at RA, Dec 283.3323, -13.4301 which is equivalent to:
   RA(J2000)  = +18h 53m 19.75s
   Dec(J2000) = -13d 25' 48.4"
with an uncertainty of 5.9 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This
location is 33 arcseconds from the BAT onboard position, within the BAT
error circle. No event data are yet available to determine the column
density using X-ray spectroscopy. 

UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter
starting 108 seconds after the BAT trigger. No credible afterglow candidate has
been found in the initial data products. The 2.7'x2.7' sub-image covers 100% of
the XRT error circle. Because of the density of catalogued stars, further
analysis is required to report an upper limit for any afterglow in the
sub-image. The 8'x8' region for the list of sources generated on-board covers
100% of the XRT error circle. Because of the density of catalogued stars,
further analysis is required to report an upper limit for any afterglow in the
region. No correction has been made for the expected extinction corresponding
to E(B-V) of 0.45. 

Burst Advocate for this burst is P. D'Avanzo (paolo.davanzo AT brera.inaf.it). 
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.)