GCN Circular 2870

GRB 041219: Infrared Afterglow Candidate

C. Blake (CfA) and J. S. Bloom (CfA/UCB) report on behalf of a larger
group:

"PAIRITEL continued to image the field of GRB 041219 (GCN #2866) starting
from 19 Dec 2004 01h49m18 UT, about 2.8 minutes after the GRB (see GCN
#2865). That first epoch of imaging had a total integration time of 533
sec. A second epoch of image began at 02h46m59 UT (502 sec total
integration). A comparison with the 2MASS Quicklook and Atlas K-band
images reveals a new point source at RA 00h24m27.6s, DEC +62d50m32.9s
(J2000).  By comparison to nearby 2MASS stars we estimate a magnitude of
K~15.5 in the first epoch. The object is also detected in J-band near the
detection limit (ie. it appears to be heavily reddened) and appears to
have faded between the two epochs.  Observations have ceased due to high
winds."

A finding chart will be posted shortly at:
   http://pairitel.org/grb041219.gif

This message may be cited.