GCN Circular 45299
Subject
EP260806a: Einstein Probe detection of an X-ray transient
Event
Date
2026-08-07T00:18:42Z (12 hours ago)
From
EP Team at NAOC/CAS <ep_ta@bao.ac.cn>
Via
Web form
R.-Z. Li (YNAO, CAS), Y.-H. Cheng (YNU), G.-J. Yang and W.-D. Zhang (NAOC) on behalf of the Einstein Probe (EP) team:
We report on the detection of an X-ray transient by the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) on board the Einstein Probe (EP) mission, designated EP260806a. The transient triggered EP-WXT (ID: 01709277716) at 2026-08-06T23:02:28 (UTC). The WXT position of the source is R.A. = 12.278 deg, DEC = 35.588 deg (J2000) with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin in radius (90% C.L. statistical and systematic).
A 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. = 12.3098 deg, DEC = 35.5614 deg (J2000) with an uncertainty of 20 arcsec in radius (90% C.L. statistical and systematic).
Further information will be updated when the telemetry data is received.
Launched 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).