GCN Circular 8996

SUBJECT: GRB 090313: Zadko Telescope observations
FROM: D.M Coward at UWA

T. Vaalsta and D.M. Coward report on behalf of the Zadko Telescope Team.

T. Vaalsta, D. Coward, J. Zadko, A. Imerito, D. Blair, R. Burman,
P. Luckas, S. Gordon, K. Frost, A. Fletcher, J. Moore
(University of Western Australia)
M. Todd, M. Zadnik (Curtin University)
M. Boer, A. Klotz (TAROT)

The Zadko telescope started observing the field of
GRB 090313 (trigger=346386, Mao et al. GCN 8980
Not found
 
 
)
4.26h after the Swift trigger, under difficult conditions due to
significant sky brightness from the Moon.

Preliminary photometry of unfiltered images
taken with an iKon DW436BV camera show a slow
decay of the optical afterglow:


Time(s)     Magnitude
-------------------------------------
21356       18.02 +/- 0.08
22662       18.49 +/- 0.10
24115       18.49 +/- 0.10
26028       18.62 +/- 0.09
27890       18.78 +/- 0.09
29834       18.84 +/- 0.12

Magnitudes were calibrated with respect to the
nearby USNOB1 star 0980-0264084 (13 13 36.392
+08 04 47.69). The optical afterglow is close
to a 16.37 magnitude galaxy (PGC 1338801).

The Zadko Telescope is currently being commissioned.
This message is quotable in publications


Dr David Coward
Senior Research Fellow
School of Physics
University of Western Australia
Crawley WA 6009

Tel: +61 8 6488 4563
Mobile 0423981240
Fax: +61 8 6488 1170