GRB 260516D
GCN Circular 44667
M. Brunet, O. Godet, J.-L. Atteia (IRAP), A. Saccardi (CEA/ Irfu), report on behalf of the SVOM/ECLAIRs team
Using the event-by-event data downloaded through the X-band ground station, we report further analysis of SVOM/ECLAIRs observations of GRB 260516D (SVOM burst-id sb260511616 – GCN 44649, trigger time T0 = 2026-05-16T20:39:50 UTC).
The burst that triggered ECLAIRs shows a multiple peak light curve with most emission detected below 50 keV. The burst duration is estimated to be 152 s in the 4-20 keV energy band through imaging.
The time-averaged spectrum from T0-78 s to T0+74 s in the energy range 5-50 keV is best fitted by a powerlaw model with alpha = -2.46 +0.32/-0.38. With this model, the 4-120 keV fluence is (5.3 +0.5/-2.4)e-7 erg/cm² and the 4-120 keV photon flux is 0.22 +0.1/-1.1 ph/cm²/s.
We note that given the value of the photon index, the peak energy is likely to be below 5 keV, which classifies this GRB as an X-Ray Flash.
By considering a Band model with alpha = -1, beta = -2.46 and a peak energy of 4 keV, a redshift of z=1.801 (GCN 44656) and a standard cosmology with H_0 = 67.3 km/s/Mpc and Omega_M = 0.315 (Planck Collaboration, 2014), we estimate the following rest-frame parameters: the isotropic energy E_iso is 8.9e51 erg, and the rest-frame peak energy of the time-averaged spectrum Ep,z is 11.2 keV. With these estimates, GRB 260516D lies below the track of Type-II GRBs on the Amati relation reported by Willingale et al. 2017.
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: Marius Brunet (IRAP) (marius.brunet at utoulouse.fr)
GCN Circular 44661
Y.-H. I. Yin (HKU), Z.M. Wang (BNU), W.F. Wen (SZTU), Z.-X. Ling (NAO, CAS) on behalf of the Einstein Probe (EP) team:
EP-FXT performed an automatic follow-up observation of GRB 260516D detected by SVOM/ECLAIRs (SVOM/sb26051616, Brunet et al., GCN 44649). The follow-up obervation started at 2026-05-16 22:46:58 UTC, approximately 2.1 hours after the SVOM trigger, with a total exposure time of 6080 s.
On-ground analysis of the FXT data found an uncatalogued fading source within the ECLAIRs error circle at R.A., Dec. = 233.8275, 6.5288 deg (J2000) with an uncertainty of about 10 arcsec (radius, 90% C.L. statistical and systematic). This position is consistent with the optical counterpart (Li et al., GCN 44654, Mohan et al., GCN 44655, Izzo et al., GCN 44656, García et al., GCN 44657, Wu et al., GCN 44659, Belkin et al., GCN 44660). The average FXT 0.3-10 keV spectrum can be fitted with an absorbed power-law model, with the Galactic hydrogen column density fixed at 4.71 x 10^20 cm^-2, an intrinsic hydrogen column density of 6.29 (-1.71/+1.71) x 10^21 cm^-2, and a photon index of 2.43 (-0.08/+0.08). The derived unabsorbed average flux in the 0.3-10 keV band is 3.99 (-0.14/+0.15) x 10^(-12) 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 44660
S. Belkin, B. P. Gompertz, M. Wortley, G. Ramsay, D. O'Neill, R. Starling, K. Ackley, M. Dyer, J. Lyman, K. Ulaczyk, D. Steeghs, D. Galloway, V. Dhillon, P. O'Brien, K. Noysena, R. Kotak, R. Breton, J. Casares, L. Nuttall, B. Godson, T. Killestein, A. Kumar, M. Pursiainen, on behalf of GOTO collaboration
We report on optical observations with the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO; Steeghs et al. 2022, Dyer et al. 2024) in response to the SVOM/ECLAIRs detection of the possible short faint burst GRB 260516D (Brunet et al., GCN 44649).
Observations of the field were obtained with GOTO-N on 2026-05-16 and 2026-05-17 UT in the GOTO L-band (400-700 nm). Images were processed immediately after acquisition using the GOTO pipeline (Lyman et al. 2026). Difference imaging was performed using deeper template observations of the same pointings.
We detect the optical afterglow candidate reported by SVOM/VT (Li et al., GCN 44654), the GROWTH-India Telescope (Mohan et al., GCN 44655), GTC/OSIRIS+ (Izzo et al., GCN 44656), SVOM/COLIBRÍ (García García et al., GCN 44657), and LCO (Wu et al., GCN 44659). The source was initially detected with L = 19.29 +/- 0.05 AB mag at 2026-05-16 22:03:56 UT (T0 +1.40 hr), before fading to L = 21.01 +/- 0.34 AB mag at 2026-05-17 01:26:52 UT (T0 +4.78 hr). These two detections imply a preliminary temporal decay index of alpha_L = 1.30 +/- 0.26, consistent with the optical decay reported by García García et al. (GCN 44657).
GOTO (https://goto-observatory.org) is a network of telescopes that is principally funded by the STFC and operated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, Spain, and Siding Spring Observatory in NSW, Australia, on behalf of a consortium including the University of Warwick, Monash University, Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, the University of Leicester, the University of Sheffield, the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT), the University of Turku, the University of Portsmouth, the University of Manchester, the University of Birmingham, and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC).
GCN Circular 44659
C. Wu (NAOC), A. Saccardi (CEA/Irfu), L.P. Xin (NAOC) report on behalf of the SVOM mission team:
We observed the field of the SVOM/ECLAIRs GRB 260516D (Brunet et al., GCN 44649) with the LCO 1m telescope at McDonald Observatory and Cerro Tololo equipped with the Sinistro instrument.
Our observation started on 2026-05-17 at 06:26:56 UT (about 9.79 hr after the trigger) and we obtained 3x200 s exposures in the SDSS r and 3x200 s exposures in the Pan-STARRS z filters.
The optical counterpart (Li et al., GCN 44654; Mohan et al., GCN 44655; García et al., GCN 44657) with redshift of 1.801 (Izzo et al., GCN 44656) is faintly detected in our images. We measure the following magnitudes calibrated against the Pan-STARRS DR1 catalog, and not corrected for Galactic extinction:
r = 21.75 +/- 0.10 AB (mid-time 9.88 hr after the trigger);
z > 21.2 AB (3-sigma, mid-time 10.00 hr after the trigger).
This project is funded by the SVOM collaboration.
GCN Circular 44657
Leonardo García García (UNAM), Francis Fortin (IRAP), Stéphane Basa (UAR Pytheas), William H. Lee (UNAM), Alan M. Watson (UNAM), Edilberto Aguilar-Ruiz (UNAM), Jean-Luc Atteia (IRAP), Camila Angulo (UNAM), Dalya Akl (NYUAD), Sarah Antier (IJCLAB), Rosa L. Becerra (UNAM), Nathaniel R. Butler (ASU), Damien Dornic (CPPM), Jean-Grégoire Ducoin (CPPM), Ramandeep Gill (UNAM), Noémie Globus (UNAM), Marion Guelfand (CPPM), Asuka Kuwata (UNAM), Massimiliano Lincetto (CPPM), Nikos Mandarakas (LAM), Diego López-Cámara (UNAM), Francesco Magnani (CPPM), Enrique Moreno Méndez (UNAM), Margarita Pereyra (UNAM), Ny Avo Rakotondrainibe (LAM), Fredd Sánchez Álvarez (UNAM), Benjamin Schneider (LAM), Antonio de Ugarte Postigo (LAM) and Andrea Saccardi (CEA) report:
We imaged the field of the SVOM/ECLAIRs GRB 260516D (M. Brunet et al., GCN Circ. 44649) using the DDRAGO two-channel wide-field imager on the COLIBRÍ telescope. We observed from 2026-05-17 04:04 to 05:51 UTC (from to 7.48 to 9.25 hours after the trigger) and obtained 15 minutes of exposure in the r filter and 44 minutes of exposure in the z filter.
The data were reduced, coadded, calibrated, and analysed with the COLIBRÍ ASU pipeline.
The photometry was calibrated using nearby stars from the PanSTARRS DR1 catalog, is in the AB system, and is not corrected for Galactic extinction.
We detect the source reported by Li et al. (GCN Circ. 44654) and de Ugarte Postigo et al. (GCN Circ. 44656) with preliminary unsubtracted magnitudes of:
r = 21.65 +/- 0.07,
z = 21.66 +/- 0.16.
Using the combined r’ and r- band photometry from GCNs 44655 and 44656 together with our COLIBRI observations, we estimate the optical afterglow temporal decay index to be approximately alpha ≈ 1.4.
We thank the staff of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional at Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, as well as the technical and engineering teams at CEA, CPPM, IRAP, LAM, OHP, OSU Pytheas, and UNAM.
COLIBRÍ is an astronomical observatory developed and operated jointly by France (AMU, CNES and CNRS) and Mexico (UNAM and SECIHTI). It is located at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional on the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico.
GCN Circular 44656
L. Izzo (INAF/OACN and DARK/NBI), D. B. Malesani (DAWN/NBI and Radboud), A. de Ugarte Postigo (LAM), S. Geier (GTC), A. Martin-Carrillo (UCD), C. C. Thoene (AbAO), M. A. Aloy (UV), J. P. U. Fynbo (DAWN/NBI), L. Galbany (IEEC-CSIC), G. Lombardi (GTC), N. A. Rakotondrainibe (LAM), B. Schneider (LAM), N. R. Tanvir (Univ. Leicester), F. Perez Toledo (GTC) report:
We observed the optical counterpart (Li et al., GCN 44654; Mohan et al., GCN 44655) of GRB 260516D (Brunet et al., GCN 44649) using the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) equipped with the OSIRIS+ instrument.
In the 30-s acquisition image (beginning on 2026-05-17 at 02:54:51, that is 6.25 hr after trigger), the optical afterglow is well detected with a magnitude 21.0 ± 0.1 (AB), calibrated against nearby Pan-STARRS objects, and not corrected for Galactic extinction.
A total of 3 spectra of 900 s were secured, starting at 03:06:24.010 UT (6.44 hr after trigger), using grism R1000B. Continuum is visible over the range 3650-7800 AA. A number of metal absorption features are detected, which we interpret as due to, among others, C II, C IV, Si II, Fe II, Al II, and Al III, all at a common redshift z = 1.801, which we suggest to be the redshift of GRB 260516D.
This work has used the GRBspec database at http://grbspec.eu (de Ugarte Postigo et al. 2014, doi:10.1117/12.2055774).
GCN Circular 44655
T. Mohan (IITB), V. Swain (IITB), A.P. Saikia (IITB), S. Patil (IITB), V. Bhalerao (IITB), G.C. Anupama (IIA), S. Barway (IIA) and R. Norbu (IAO) report on behalf of the GIT team:
We observed the field of GRB 260516D (Brunet et al., GCN 44649), with 0.7m GROWTH-India Telescope (GIT). We started the observation at 2026-05-16 22:19:57 (UTC), i.e., 1.67 hours after the trigger, and obtained multiple exposures in the r' filter. The observations were carried out at relatively high airmass (~2). We report the detection of the possible counterpart whose coordinates are RA, Dec = 233.827989 (deg), 6.529308 (deg). No known minor planet was found at the source position during the time of observation. The photometric results are as follows:
| MJD (mid) | Filter | tmid-t0 (minutes) | Exposure Time (sec) | Magnitude (AB) |
| ------------ | ------ | ----------------- | ------------------- | -------------- |
| 61176.93225 | r' | 102.62 | 1x300 | 19.17 +- 0.10 |
| 61176.94497 | r' | 120.93 | 1x420 | 19.45 +- 0.09 |
The measurement is calibrated against PanSTARRS DR1 (Chambers et al., 2016) and not corrected for Galactic extinction.
Our results are consistent with other optical detection (Brunet et al., GCN 44649) and upper limits (Jelinek et al., GCN 44653)
The GROWTH India Telescope (GIT; Kumar et al. 2022) is a 70-cm telescope with a 0.7-degree field of view, set up by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) with funding from DST-SERB and IUSSTF. It is located at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (Hanle), operated by IIA. We acknowledge funding by the IITB alumni batch of 1994, which partially supports the operations of the telescope. Telescope technical details are available at https://sites.google.com/view/growthindia/.
GCN Circular 44654
H. L. Li, L. P. Xin, Y. N. Ma, C. Wu, Z. H. Yao, Y. L. Qiu, 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 and A. Saccardi (CEA/Irfu) report on behalf of the SVOM/VT team.
SVOM/VT performed ToO observation to the field of GRB 260516D detected by SVOM/ECLAIRs (sb26051616, Brunet et al., GCN 44649). The observation started at 2026-05-16T22:20:51 UTC, 1.69 hour post trigger in the VT_B (400nm-650nm) and VT_R (650nm-1000nm) channels simultaneously.
An uncatalogued optical source was clearly detected in single frames of both channels within the errobox of SVOM/ECLAIRs (Brunet et al., GCN 44649), compared to the Legacy Survey. The position is at R.A., Dec. = 233.827956, 6.529103 degrees, equivalent to:
R.A. (J2000) = 15:35:18.71
Dec. (J2000) = +6:31:44.77
with an uncertainty of 0.5 arcsec.
The measurements in AB magnitudes are given below:
Mid_time Band Exposure Time Magnitude (AB)
1.71 hour VT_B 70 sec 19.62 +/- 0.05 mag
1.69 hour VT_R 70 sec 19.00 +/- 0.05 mag
Our photometry was not corrected for Galactic extinction.
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 44653
Martin Jelinek, Filip Novotny and Jan Strobl (ASU CAS Ondrejov, CZ),
Sergey Karpov, Martin Masek, Petr Janecek, Jakub Jurysek, Jan Ebr,
Ronan Cunniffe, Petr Travnicek and Michael Prouza
(Institute of Physics, Prague, CZ)
report:
The 25cm robotic telescope FRAM-ORM at La Palma (Spain) reacted
robotically to the SVOM/ECLAIRs alert of GRB 260516D (Brunet et al.,
GCNC 44649), obtaining a series of unfiltered 60s images starting at
20:54:16 UT, i.e. ~948s post trigger.
We do not detect any new or strongly variable source in comparison
to the ATLAS REFCAT2 catalog. In single images the detection limit
gradually improved from R_C > 17.1 in the first frame (midtime ~978s
post trigger), stabilizing at R_C > ~18.3–18.4 around ~2000s post
trigger and remaining there for the rest of the ~one hour sequence.
Combining images in groups of 10 (10x60s), we reach limits of R_C >
~20 (R_C > ~19.3 for the first combined frame).
GCN Circular 44650
V.Lipunov, E.Gorbovskoy, A.Kuznetsov, K.Zhirkov, I.Panchenko, N.Tiurina, P.Balanutsa, V.Topolev, D.Vlasenko,
G.Antipov, A.Sankovich, Yu.Tselik, Ya.Kechin, V.Senik, A.Chasovnikov, K.Labsina, I. Gorbunov (Lomonosov MSU),
O.Gress, N.Budnev (ISU),
C.Francile, F. Podesta, R.Podesta, E. Gonzalez (Observatorio Astronomico Felix Aguilar (OAFA),
A. Tlatov, D. Dormidontov (Kislovodsk Solar Station of the Pulkovo Observatory),
A.Sosnovskij (CrAO),
A. Gabovich, V.Yurkov (Blagoveschensk Educational StateUniversity),
D.Buckley (SAAO),
R.Rebolo (The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias),
L.Carrasco, J.R.Valdes, V.Chavushyan, V.M.Patino Alvarez, J.Martinez,
A.R.Corella, L.H.Rodriguez (INAOE, Guillermo Haro Astrophysics Observatory)
MASTER-Tavrida robotic telescope [1] located in Russia (Lomonosov MSU, SAI Crimea astronomical station) was pointed to the SVOM GRB260516.86 (trigger No 1778963908,15h 35m 23.71s , +06d 22m 21.4s, R=0.1937) errorbox 767 sec after notice time and 1684 sec after trigger time at 2026-05-16 21:06:32 UT, with upper limit up to 18.6 mag. The observations began at zenith distance = 39 deg. The sun altitude is -25.7 deg.
The galactic latitude b = 45 deg., longitude l = 13 deg.
Real time updated cover map and OT discovered available here:
https://master.sai.msu.ru/site/master2/observ.php?id=3319281
We obtain a following upper limits.
Tmid-T0 | Date Time | Site | Coord (J2000) |Filt.| Expt. | Limit| Comment
_________|_____________________|_____________________|____________________________________|_____|_______|_______|________
1714 | 2026-05-16 21:06:32 | MASTER-Tavrida | (15h 35m 16.63s , +06d 23m 55.5s) | C | 60 | 18.6 |
1783 | 2026-05-16 21:07:41 | MASTER-Tavrida | (15h 35m 20.66s , +06d 25m 06.4s) | C | 60 | 18.6 |
1852 | 2026-05-16 21:08:50 | MASTER-Tavrida | (15h 35m 12.84s , +06d 24m 31.1s) | C | 60 | 18.6 |
Filter C is a clear (unfiltred) band.
The observation and reduction will continue.
The message may be cited.
[1] - V.M. Lipunov, V.G. Kornilov, E.S. Gorbovskoy, N.A. Tiurina & A.S.Kuznetsov, 2023, Astronomical Robotic Networks and Operative Multichanel Astrophysics, Lomonosov MSU PRESS, 591pp.
http : // www.pereplet.ru/lipunov/625.html
GCN Circular 44649
M. Brunet, O. Godet (IRAP), H. Goto (RIKEN/CEA), A. Saccardi (CEA/Irfu) report on behalf of the SVOM mission team:
At 2026-05-16T20:39:50 UTC (T0), SVOM/ECLAIRs triggered and located the gamma-ray burst GRB 260516D (SVOM burst-id sb26051616).
The following trigger information was received on the ground with low latency by the SVOM VHF Alert Network.
The burst was only detected by the Image Trigger (IMT), which produced a sequence of 1 alert. IMT provided the alert with the best signal-to-noise-ratio in the image (SNR) of 6.73 in the [5-20] keV energy band over a time window of 81.92 seconds starting at 2026-05-16T20:38:28.
The localization of the best alert is R.A., Dec. 233.849, 6.373 degrees:
R.A. (J2000) = 15h35m23.71s
Dec. (J2000) = 6d22m21.34s
with a 90% confidence level (C.L.) radius of 11.62 arcmin (including systematic error of 2 arcmin added in quadrature).
Due to the detection significance being below the slew threshold, no immediate slew was performed on this burst.
A Svom ToO has been scheduled.
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. SVOM/ECLAIRs was developed jointly by CNES, CEA-IRFU, CNRS-IRAP, CNRS-APC. SVOM/GRM was developed by the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) of CAS. SVOM/MXT was developed jointly by CNES, CEA-IRFU, CNRS-IJCLab, University of Leicester, MPE.
The Burst Advocate (BA) on shift for this alert is Andrea Saccardi (CEA): andrea.saccardi@cea.fr
Please contact the BA by email if you require additional information.