EP250404a, GRB 250404A
GCN Circular 41787
Subject
GRB 250404A / EP250404a: spectroscopic redshift at z = 1.88 (correction to GCN 40084)
Date
2025-09-11T09:25:59Z (2 months ago)
Edited On
2025-09-11T13:36:52Z (2 months ago)
From
EP Team at NAOC/CAS <ep_ta@bao.ac.cn>
Edited By
Judith Racusin at NASA/GSFC <judith.racusin@nasa.gov> on behalf of Rui-Zhi Li at Yunnan Observatories, CAS <liruizhi@ynao.ac.cn>
Via
Web form
R.-Z. Li, B.-T. Wang, F.-F. Song, J. Mao, H.-C. Feng and J.-M. Bai (YNAO, CAS) and D. B. Malesani (DAWN/NBI and Radboud) report:
We carried out a full reduction of the spectrum of GRB 250404A / EP250404a observed with the GMG-2.4m telescope (Li et al., GCN 40084) using the most up-to-date calibrations and complete pipeline procedures.
A Ly-alpha absorption feature at ~4400 AA was reported by the Xinglong-2.16 m telescope (Zhu et al., GCN 40061).
In the GMG spectrum, the region around ~4400 AA exhibits a smooth continuum, and no typical Ly-alpha absorption feature is identified. However, we identified multiple metal absorption features, including Si IV at 1394 AA, Si IV at 1403 AA, Si II at 1527 AA, C IV at 1549 AA, Fe II at 1608 AA, Al II at 1671 AA, Al III at 1855 AA, Al III at 1863 AA, Zn II/Cr II at 2026 AA, Zn II/Cr II at 2062 AA, Fe II at 2344 AA, Fe II at 2374 AA, and Fe II at 2383 AA. These features consistently indicate a redshift of z = 1.88.
In summary, we conclude that the redshift of the transient is z = 1.88 (see Figure B1 of Yin et al., 2025; doi:10.3847/2041-8213/adf552).
We are grateful to D. B. Malesani for kindly pointing out the issue with the redshift determination.
We apologize for any confusion that our preliminary report may have caused.
GCN Circular 40236
Subject
GRB 250404A / EP250404a: GRBAlpha detection
Date
2025-04-24T15:03:18Z (6 months ago)
From
Marianna Dafčíková at Masaryk University <500025@mail.muni.cz>
Via
Web form
M. Dafcikova, J. Ripa (Masaryk U.), A. Pal (Konkoly Observatory), N. Werner (Masaryk U.), M. Ohno, H. Takahashi (Hiroshima U.), L. Meszaros, B. Csak (Konkoly Observatory), N. Husarikova, F. Munz , M. Topinka, M. Duriskova, M. Kolar, L. Szakszonova, J.-P. Breuer, F. Hroch (Masaryk U.), T. Urbanec, M. Kasal, A. Povalac (Brno U. of Technology), J. Hudec, J. Kapus, M. Frajt (Spacemanic s.r.o), R. Laszlo, M. Koleda (Needronix s.r.o), M. Smelko, P. Hanak, P. Lipovsky (Technical U. of Kosice), G. Galgoczi (Wigner Research Center/Eotvos U.), Y. Uchida, H. Poon, H. Matake (Hiroshima U.), N. Uchida (ISAS/JAXA), T. Bozoki (Eotvos U.), G. Dalya (Eotvos U.), T. Enoto (Kyoto U.), Zs. Frei (Eotvos U.), G. Friss (Eotvos U.), Y. Fukazawa, K. Hirose (Hiroshima U.), S. Hisadomi (Nagoya U.), Y. Ichinohe (Rikkyo U.), K. Kapas (Eotvos U.), L. L. Kiss (Konkoly Observatory), T. Mizuno (Hiroshima U.), K. Nakazawa (Nagoya U.), H. Odaka (Univ of Tokyo), J. Takatsy (Eotvos U.), K. Torigoe (Hiroshima U.), N. Kogiso, M. Yoneyama (Osaka Metropolitan U.), M. Moritaki (U. Tokyo), T. Kano (U. Michigan) -- the GRBAlpha collaboration.
The long-duration GRB 250404A / EP250404a (Fermi/GBM detection: GCN 40050; EP/WXT detection: GCN 40051; Wind/Konus detection: GCN 40087) was observed by the GRBAlpha 1U CubeSat (Pal et al. 2023, A&A, 677, 40; https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023A%26A...677A..40P/abstract).
The detection was confirmed at the peak time 2025-04-04 14:20:37.4 UTC. The T90 duration measured by GRBAlpha is 67 s and the overall significance during T90 reaches 19 sigma.
The light curve obtained by GRBAlpha is available here: https://grbalpha.konkoly.hu/static/share/GRB250404A_GCN.pdf
All GRBAlpha detections are listed at: https://monoceros.physics.muni.cz/hea/GRBAlpha/
GRBAlpha, launched on 2021 March 22, is a demonstration mission for a future CubeSat constellation (Werner et al. Proc. SPIE 2018). The detector of GRBAlpha consists of a 75 x 75 x 5 mm3 CsI scintillator read out by a SiPM array, covering the energy range from ~50 keV to ~1000 keV. To increase the duty cycle and the downlink rate, the upgrade of the on-board data acquisition software stack is in progress. The ground segment is also supported by the radio amateur community and it takes advantage of the SatNOGS network for increased data downlink volume.
GCN Circular 40141
Subject
EP250404a: Nanshan 0.43m Telescope optical observatios
Date
2025-04-13T13:41:02Z (7 months ago)
From
Abdusamatjan Iskandar at XAO,CAS <abudu@xao.ac.cn>
Via
Web form
S. Yaqup, J.Z. Liu, A. Iskandar, Y. Zhang, A. Esamdin, C.H. Bai, T.H. Zhong (XAO) report on behalf of optical group of the XAO:
We observed the field of the EP250404a (Einstein Probe mission, Trigger ID 01709133918) with the 0.43m telescope at Nanshan Station of Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO). The observations were started at 2025-04-04T14:54:21(UTC), and obtained a series of gri band images.
The optical afterglow (Jiang et al., GCN 40052; Perez-Garcia et al., GCN 40053; Du et al., GCN 40058;
Zhu et al., GCN 40061; Konno et al., GCN 40063; Odeh et al, GCN 40064; He et al., GCN 40069;
Perez-Fournon et al., GCN 40071; Jelinek et al., GCN 40072; Rakotondrainibe et al, GCN 40073;
Taguchi et al., GCN 40074; Ruocco et al., GCN 40076; Martin-Carrillo et al., GCN 40080; Pavoni et al.,
GCN 40083; Li et al., GCN 40084; Yin et al., GCN 40085; Pankov et al., GCN 40086; Chu Chen et al.,
GCN 40088