TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  36909
SUBJECT: GRB 240720A: Swift detection of a burst
DATE:    24/07/20 00:40:15 GMT
FROM:    David Palmer at LANL <palmer@lanl.gov>


R. Gupta (NASA/GSFC), V. D'Elia (SSDC & INAF-OAR) and
D. M. Palmer (LANL) report on behalf of the Neil Gehrels Swift
Observatory Team:

At 00:24:51 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 240720A (trigger=1243868).  Swift did not slew to the burst 
due to a pointing constraint. 
The BAT on-board calculated location is 
RA, Dec 96.700, +30.342 which is 
   RA(J2000) = 06h 26m 48s
   Dec(J2000) = +30d 20' 30"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including 
systematic uncertainty).  The BAT light curve showed a complex
structure with a duration of about 3 sec.  The peak count rate
was ~5400 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~0 sec after the trigger. 

Due to a Sun observing constraint, Swift cannot slew to the BAT
position. There will thus be no immediate XRT or UVOT data for
this trigger. 

Burst Advocate for this burst is R. Gupta (rahulbhu.c157 AT gmail.com). 
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/)