EP251129a, GRB 251129A
GCN Circular 43249
A. de Ugarte Postigo (LAM), A. Martin-Carrillo (UCD), L. Izzo (INAF/OACN and DARK/NBI), B. Schneider (LAM), D. B. Malesani (DAWN/NBI and Radboud), G. Corcoran (UCD), C. C. Thoene (AbAO), N. R. Tanvir (Univ. Leicester), J. F. Agui Fernandez (CAHA), M. A. Aloy (UV), J. P. U. Fynbo (DAWN/NBI), L. Galbany (IEEC-CSIC), S. Geier (GTC), G. Lombardi (GTC), N. A. Rakotondrainibe (LAM), A. Cabrera-Lavers (GTC), report:
We have continued monitoring the optical counterpart (Angulo et al. GCN 42880) of GRB 251129A (Wenjun et al. GCN 42877) using the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) equipped with OSIRIS+ and HiPERCAM.
We observed the afterglow in imaging using the u, g, r, i, z bands on 8 December 2025 (9.2 day after the burst) and again on 26 December 2025 (27.2 day after the burst). The optical counterpart is well detected in both epochs, with an increase in brightness in all bands. At 27.2 days after the burst, we measure r = 22.24 +/- 0.04 mag. The object is significantly brighter than the candidate host underlying the GRB, which we measure at r ~ 24.16 mag in CFHT archival images.
On 27 December 2025, 28.1 days after the burst, we obtained a 3x1200 s spectrum using OSIRIS+ equipped with grism R1000B, covering the range between 3700 and 7780 AA at a resolving power of ~600. The spectrum shows a continuum over the full spectral range. We do not detect any of the spectral features reported by Sánchez-Ramírez et al. (GCN 42900) at z = 1.460. However, we detect emission features of [OII], [OIII], H-beta and H-gamma from an underlying galaxy at a common redshift of z = 0.505.
At a redshift of z = 0.505, the emergence of a detectable SN is expected, which explains the rebrightening observed in our photometric data. Hence, we suggest that the redshift of GRB 251129A is indeed z = 0.505 and that we are now observing the associated SN. We do note that the observed emission is brighter than what we would expect for a template of SN 1998bw at z = 0.505, even after correction of host galaxy contribution, although our photometry may be affected by the remaining light of the afterglow.
We encourage further follow-up of this event.
This work has used the GRBspec database at http://grbspec.eu (de Ugarte Postigo et al. 2014, doi:10.1117/12.2055774).
GCN Circular 43228
Tao An (SHAO), Ailing Wang (IHEP), Zigao Dai (USTC), and collaborators report on VLA observations of GRB 251129A.
We observed GRB 251129A, also reported as EP251129a (e.g., GCNs 42877, 42879, 42880, 42882, 42884, 42887, 42888, 42891, 42897, 42900, 42902, 42959, 42972, 42985), with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) under program VLA/25B-403 (AA627) on 2025 December 15 UT, approximately 16.0 days after the burst (relative to the SVOM/ECLAIRs trigger at 2025 Nov 29 02:32:05 UT). Observations were obtained in C band (4–8 GHz).
A significant radio source is detected at the GRB position. Using standard wideband imaging, we measure:
- Position (J2000):
RA = 14:57:18.867 ± 0.044 s
Dec = +79:17:34.74 ± 0.09″
- Peak flux density:
75.1 ± 8.4 μJy beam⁻¹ at 5 GHz
62.2 ± 9.4 μJy beam⁻¹ at 7 GHz
The implied in-band spectral index across 5–7 GHz is consistent with being flat within uncertainties. The VLA position is consistent with the reported optical afterglow position (e.g., GCN 42883) and is also consistent with the X-ray localizations reported by SVOM/MXT, Swift/XRT, and Einstein Probe (e.g., GCN 42877, 42884, 42891), supporting the association of this radio source with GRB 251129A.
This VLA detection provides an important radio counterpart to the unusual multi-wavelength behaviour of GRB 251129A reported in earlier GCNs, including its ultra-long high-energy emission and peculiar X-ray temporal and spectral evolution. We note that our eMERLIN observations reported in GCN 43040 resulted in a non-detection at C band between 2025 December 3-5, placing a 3σ upper limit of 0.066 mJy beam⁻¹ on the flux density. The new VLA detection therefore indicates a rising or previously sub-threshold radio afterglow component emerging on week timescales.
More radio observations are encouraged to measure the temporal decay and spectral evolution and to distinguish between internal-engine and external-shock interpretations of this event.
We thank the VLA Time Allocation Committee for approving these observations and the NRAO VLA operations and scheduling teams for the rapid execution and support that made this time-critical observation possible.
GCN Circular 43062
N. S. Pankov (HSE, IKI), E. Klunko (ISTP), R. Ya. Inasaridze (AbAO), A. A. Volnova (IKI), A. S. Pozanenko (IKI) report on behalf of IKI-GRB-FuN:
We observed the field of GRB 251129A initially detected by SVOM (Tan et al., GCN 42877) and also detected by Einstein Probe as EP251129a (Wu et al., GCN 42884) and Swift (Evans, GCN 42888; Page et al., GCN 42891). The observations were carried out with the AS-32 0.7m telescope of the Abastumani Observatory (AbAO) and the 1.5m telescope of the Sayan Solar Observatory (Mondy). The observations started on 2025-11-29 at 18:58 UT at AbAO. The optical afterglow (Angulo et al., GCN 42880