EP251129a, GRB 251129A
GCN Circular 43040
Tao An (SHAO), Ailing Wang (IHEP), Emmanuel Bempong-Manful (UoM), Zigao Dai (USTC), and collaborators report on e-MERLIN observations of GRB 251129A.
We observed GRB 251129A (GCN 42877, 42879, 42880, 42882, 42884, 42887, 42888, 42891, 42897, 42900, 42902, 42959, 42972, 42985) with the e-MERLIN array in the C band between 2025 December 3, 17:40 UT and December 5, 04:19 UT (project RR20009). Four antennas, Pickmere (Pi), Darnhall (Da), Knockin (Kn), and Cambridge (Cm), participated in the observation.
Observing setup:
- Frequency coverage: 4.82–5.33 GHz (C band), total bandwidth 512 MHz
- Antennas: Pi, Da, Kn, Cm
- Polarizations: Right and left circular
- Spectral setup: 4 × 128 MHz spectral windows, 128 × 1 MHz channels per window (post-averaging)
- Observation span: 2025-12-03 17:40 UT to 2025-12-05 04:19 UT
The data were processed using the standard e-MERLIN pipeline followed by calibration and imaging in CASA.
No significant radio emission was detected at the position of GRB 251129A. We place a 3σ upper limit of 0.066 mJy beam⁻¹ on the flux density.
We encourage coordinated and continued radio follow-up to further constrain the flux density and probe potential variability at C band and complementary frequencies. We thank the e-MERLIN TAG and operations teams for their support.
GCN Circular 42985
H. Yang, M. Brunet, O. Godet, J.-L. Atteia (IRAP), W. J. Xie (NAOC), W. J. Tan (IHEP), D. F. Kong (GXU)
Using the event-by-event data downloaded through the X-band ground stations, we report further analysis of ECLAIRs observations of GRB 251129A/EP251129a (SVOM burst-id sb25112901, GCN 42877) detected at T0 = 2025-11-29T02:32:05 UT, which was also detected by EP/WXT (GCN 42884).
The burst that triggered ECLAIRs shows a featureless light curve, and is detected from T0-41 s to T0+3200 s in the 4-120 keV energy band, indicating that it may be an ultra-long GRB or a very bright afterglow or a combination of both. The peculiar multi-wavelength temporal behavior of this event makes it a burst of great interest.
ECLAIRs observations of GRB 251129A/EP251129a were interrupted by a slew and by a pass through the SAA, which divides the data into three time intervals for the time-averaged spectra analysis.
The time-averaged spectrum from T0-41 s to T0+77 s (before the slew) in the 4-120 keV is well fitted by a power-law model with a photon index of 1.7+/-0.1 and a corresponding 4-120 keV flux of (1.5+/-0.2)e-8 erg/cm^2/s.
The spectrum from T0+190 s to T0+585 s (after the slew and before the SAA transit) in the 4-120 keV is well fitted by a power-law model with a photon index of 2.1+/-0.1, with a 4-120 keV flux of (3.9+0.5-0.4)e-9 erg/cm^2/s.
The spectrum from T0+1600 s to T0+3200 s (after the SAA transit) in the 4-120 keV is well fitted by a power-law model with a photon index of 2.0+/-0.1, with a 4-120 keV flux of (1.5+0.1-0.3)e-9 erg/cm^2/s.
Overall, the ECLAIRs spectral analysis shows that GRB 251129A/EP251129a is decreasing in fluxes, and shows no significant spectral evolution from T0+190 s to T0+3200 s. The photon index measured from T0+190 s to T0+3200 s is consistent with that measured from EP/FXT at T0+2643 s (GCN 42902). The long-lasting emission seen by ECLAIRs matches the X-ray emission of the uncatalogued source seen by SVOM/MXT (GCN 42877).
All the quoted errors are at the 68% confidence level.
The Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a China-France joint mission led by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA), French Space Agency (CNES), and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which is dedicated to observing gamma-ray bursts and other transient phenomena in the energetic universe. ECLAIRs was developed jointly by CNES, CEA-IRFU, CNRS-IRAP, CNRS-APC.
The SVOM/ECLAIRs point of contact for this burst is: Hui Yang (IRAP) (hui.yang@irap.omp.eu)
GCN Circular 42972
L. P. Xin, H. L. Li, Y. L. Qiu, C. Wu, Z. H. Yao, Y. N. Ma, X. H. Han, J. Wang, Y. Xu, P. P. Zhang, W. J. Xie, Y. J. Xiao, H. B. Cai, L. Lan, J. R. Xu, J. S. Deng, J. Y. Wei (NAOC), J. Palmerio (CEA) report on behalf of the SVOM/VT team.
SVOM/VT performed further ToO observations for GRB 251129A / EP251129a triggered by SVOM/ECLAIRs (sb25112901, Tan et al., GCN 42877, GCN 42879) and Einstein Probe (Wu et al., GCN 42884).
The observations showed the color of the afterglow (Evans, GCN 42888; Angulo et al., GCN 42880; Watson, GCN 42883; Wu et al., GCN 42882; Masi, GCN 42885; Li et al., GCN 42887; Page et al., GCN 42891; Lipunov et al., GCN 42892; Moskvitin et al., GCN 42897; Guziy et al., GCN 42899; Sanchez-Ramirez et al., GCN 42900; Jiang et al., GCN 42902; Yaqup et al., GCN 42942; Kuin et al., GCN 42959) was changed from VT_B-VT_R~0.30+/-0.03 mag at 0.5 hours to VT_B-VT_R~0+/-0.05 mag at around 4 to 50 hours post burst.
The latest measurements are 21.8+/-0.1 mag in both channels at the mid time of 49.83 hours post burst with the exposure time of 47*70 sec.
Our photometry was in AB magnitude and not corrected for Galactic extinction.
More follow-up observations are encouraged.
The Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a China-France joint mission led by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA, China), National Center for Space Studies (CNES, France) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, China), which is dedicated to observing gamma-ray bursts and other transient phenomena in the energetic universe. VT was jointly developed by Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (XIOPM), CAS and National astronomical observatories (NAOC), CAS.
GCN Circular 42959
N.P.M. Kuin (UCL-MSSL) and B. Cenko (NASA/GSFC) report on behalf of the
Swift/UVOT team:
The Swift/UVOT began observations of the field of GRB 251129A 16.8 ks
after the SVOM trigger (Tan et al., GCN Circ. 42877). GRB251129A was
also detected
by the EP (Wu et al, GCN Circ. 16828).
The optical afterglow consistent with the SVOM/COLIBRI position (Angulo et
al. GCN Circ. 42880; Watson, GCN Circ. 42883) is detected in the initial
UVOT exposures.
Preliminary 3-sigma upper limits using the UVOT photometric system (Breeveld
et al. 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1358, 373) are::
Filter T_start(s) T_stop(s) Exp(s) Mag
white 16828 17147 315 19.63 +/- 0.07
white 27564 28089 502 19.69 +/- 0.12
white 111007 117142 1044 20.22 +/- 0.12
white 227072 234439 2745 20.92 +/- 0.17
u 16503 16823 315 20.06 +/-
0.30
The magnitudes in the table are not corrected for the Galactic extinction due
to the reddening of E(B-V) = 0.025 in the direction of the burst (Schlegel
et al. 1998).
GCN Circular 42942
Shahidin Yaqup, Abdusamatjan Iskandar, Jinzhong Liu, report on behalf of optical group of the XAO:
We imaged the field of the GRB 251129A/EP 251129a (GCN Circ. 42877, 42880, 42884 ) using the Nanshan One-meter Wide-field Telescope (NOWT) at Nanshan Station of Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO). We observed from 2025-11-29 20:08:26 to 20:32:43 UTC and obtained 6 x 300 s exposure in the V filter. The stack image photometry was calibrated using nearby stars from the GAIA synthesis catalog, without correction for Galactic extinction.
We detect a source at the position (RA, DEC(J2000) = 14:57:18.88, +79:17:34.8) reported by GCN Circ.42880, with preliminary magnitude of V = 21.74+-0.64 mag.
GCN Circular 42902
Y. H. Jiang, Y. Wu, C. Y. Dai (NJU), Y. Wang (PMO), H. C. Ding, T. Wu (AHNU), W. J. Zhang, Y. Liu (NAO, CAS), on behalf of the Einstein Probe (EP) team:
A follow-up observation of EP251129a / GRB 251129A (Wu et al., GCN 42884, Tan et al., GCN 42877) with the Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT) was performed automatically at 2025-11-29T03:16:08 (UTC), i.e. T0+2643 s, where T0 is reported by SVOM (Tan et al., GCN 42877) , with an exposure time of 5,003 s. The average FXT 0.5-10 keV spectrum of the observation can be fitted with an absorbed power law, with a fixed Galactic hydrogen column density of 2.94 x 10^20 cm^-2, an intrinsic hydrogen column density of 1.40 (-0.05/+0.05) x 10^22 cm^-2, and a photon index of 1.98 (-0.02/+0.02) . The derived average unabsorbed 0.5-10 keV flux is 1.74 (-0.02/+0.02) x 10^(-9) erg/s/cm^2.
We performed two target-of-opportunity (ToO) follow-up observations with FXT at 2025-11-29T05:26:09 (UTC, T0+10,444 s) and 2025-11-29T12:34:30 (UTC, T0+36,145 s), with an exposure time of 2,786 s and 3,091 s, respectively.
The average FXT 0.5-10 keV spectrum of the first ToO observation can be fitted with an absorbed power law, with a fixed Galactic hydrogen column density of 2.94 x 10^20 cm^-2, an intrinsic hydrogen column density of 1.04 (-0.11/+0.11) x 10^22 cm^-2, and a photon index of 2.45 (-0.05/+0.05) . The derived average unabsorbed 0.5-10 keV flux is 1.56 (-0.04/+0.04) x 10^(-10) erg/s/cm^2.
The average FXT 0.5-10 keV spectrum of the second ToO observation can be fitted with an absorbed power law, with a fixed Galactic hydrogen column density of 2.94 x 10^20 cm^-2, an intrinsic hydrogen column density of 1.49 (-0.46/+0.46) x 10^22 cm^-2, and a photon index of 3.49 (-0.23/+0.23). The derived average unabsorbed 0.5-10 keV flux is 9.20 (-0.75/+0.82) x 10^(-13) erg/s/cm^2.
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).
GCN Circular 42900
R. Sanchez-Ramirez, A. J. Castro-Tirado, S. Guziy, M.D. Caballero-Garcia, I. Perez-Garcia, E. Fernandez-Garcia and S. Wu (IAA-CSIC), A.M. Garcia Rodriguez (IAC), D. Gonzalez (GTC), C. Hernandez (GTC), M. Gritsevich (Univ. of Helsinki), Y.-D. Hu (GXI) and L. Piro (INAF), on behalf of a larger collaboration, report:
Following the detection of GRB 251129A by SVOM/ECLAIRs (Tan et al., GCN 42877, GCN 42879), Einstein Probe (EP Team et al., GCN 42884), and by additional Swift ToO observations (Evans, GCN 42888), we observed the optical afterglow detected by Angulo et al. (GCN 42880) and further reported (Watson, GCN 42883, Wu et al., GCN 42882, Masi, GCN 42885, Li et al., GCN 42887, Lipunov et al. GCN 42892, Moskvitin et al., GCN 42897 and Guziy et al., GCN 42899), with the 10.4m GTC telescope, at the Spanish Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, on the island of La Palma, equipped with the OSIRIS+ instrument.
The spectroscopic data consisted of 900s exposures using grisms R1000B and R2500I, covering the spectral range between 3,600 and 10,000 A. The observations started on Nov 29, 05:32 UT (i.e. 3.01 h after the burst trigger), and were carried out at high airmass (X~2). From a preliminary reduction, we find a highly absorbed continuum, showing several metal absorption with complex velocity structure. We interpret these lines as coming from CrII, FeII, FeII*, MgII, NiII, SiII, ZnII, all at z=1.460. The detection of iron fine structure lines links this system to the GRB.
GCN Circular 42899
S. Guziy, A. Sota, M.D. Caballero-Garcia, R. Sanchez-Ramirez, I. Olivares, I. Perez-Garcia, E. Fernandez-Garcia, S. Wu and A.J. Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC), J.I. Vico Linares, A. Fernandez-Martin and J. Flores-Martin (CAHA), E. Gomez, B. Rodriguez, J.P. Lopez, N. Morant Juan, I. Castillo, A. Lozano-Fernandez, F. Lopez-Martinez, M. Salah-Martinez and R. Ardon-Leon (VIU, Valencia), M. Gritsevich (Univ. of Helsinki) and Y.-D. Hu (GXI), on behalf of a larger collaboration, report:
Following the detection of GRB 251129A/EP251129a by SVOM (Tan et al. GCNC 42879) and EP (Wu et al. GCNC 42884) we imaged the gamma-ray burst error box with both the 0.9 and 1.5m telescopes at Sierra Nevada Observatory. In addition to them, we also used the 1.23m and 2.2m telescopes at the nearby Calar Alto Observatory.
We clearly detect the optical afterglow discovered by Angulo et al. (GCNC 42880), also reported by Wu et al. (GCNC 42882), Masi (GCNC 42885), Li et al. (GCNC 42887), Lipunov et al. (GCNC 42892) and Moskvitin et al. (GCNC 42897). At both Sierra Nevada and Calar Alto observatories we measure R = 19.8 +/- 0.2 and i = 19.9 +/- 0.3 respectively (2.47 h and 2.90 h after the burst onset time).
This preliminary photometry is based on nearby stars from the USNO-B1 catalogue (R2 magnitudes) and SDSS and is not corrected for the Galactic extinction.
GCN Circular 42897
A. S. Moskvitin and O. I. Spiridonova (SAO RAS)
report on behalf of GRB follow-up team.
We observed the field of the SVOM GRB 251129A (Tan et al., GCN 42877)
also detected by Einstein Probe as EP251129a (Wu et al., GCN 42884)
and Swift (Evans, GCN 42888; Page et al., GCN 42891)
with the Zeiss-1000 1m telescope of the SAO RAS on November 29,
15:27:01--16:00:22 UT (t_mid - T0 = 0.54973 days). We obtained
6 * 300 sec images in Rc band.
The optical afterglow (Angulo et al., GCN 42880