{
  "submitter": "EP Team at NAOC/CAS <ep_ta@bao.ac.cn>",
  "subject": "EP260213a: Einstein Probe detection of a fast X-ray transient",
  "createdOn": 1771036947566,
  "format": "text/plain",
  "bibcode": "2026GCN.43729....1Y",
  "submittedHow": "web",
  "eventId": "EP260213a",
  "body": "J. Yang (ZZU), R.-Z. Li (YNAO, CAS), X. Tian (GXU), W. D. Zhang (NAOC) on behalf of the Einstein Probe (EP) team:\n\nWe report on the detection of a fast X-ray transient by the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) on board the Einstein Probe (EP) mission, designated EP260213a. The transient triggered EP-WXT (ID: 01709258378) at 2026-02-13T19:58:40 (UTC). The WXT position of the source is R.A. = 167.008 deg, DEC = 3.965 deg (J2000) with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin in radius (90% C.L. statistical and systematic). The preliminary analysis of the WXT data shows that the event started at T0=2026-02-13T19:58:00 (UTC), and lasted for approximately 40 seconds. The average WXT 0.5-4 keV spectrum can be fitted with an absorbed power law with a fixed Galactic hydrogen column density of 5.60 × 10^20 cm^-2 and a photon index of 0.6 (+/-0.6). The derived average unabsorbed 0.5-4 keV flux is 1.4 (-0.4/+0.5) × 10^(-9) erg/s/cm^2.\n\nA follow-up observation with the Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT) was performed automatically. Within the WXT error circle, an uncatalogued X-ray source was detected at R.A. = 167.0083 deg, DEC = 3.9451 deg (J2000) with an uncertainty of 20 arcsec in radius (90% C.L. statistical and systematic).\n\nFurther information will be updated when the telemetry data is received.\n\nLaunched on January 9, 2024, EP is a space X-ray observatory to monitor the soft X-ray sky with X-ray follow-up capability (Yuan et al. 2022, Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics).",
  "circularId": 43729
}