GRB 990705

GRB990705: Intriguing Positional Coincidences

S. G. Djorgovski, S. R. Kulkarni, F. A. Harrison, J. S. Bloom (Caltech),
D. A. Frail (NRAO), M. Feroci, L. Piro, E. Costa, and F. Frontera 
(for the BeppoSAX team), report on behalf of the Caltech-NRAO-BeppoSAX 
GRB collaboration:

We note that GRB990705 (BeppoSAX mail # 99/16 and 99/17) is seen in 
projection at the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud.  The nearest
catalogued LMC object (on the sky) is a planetary nebula MPGN LMC 25,
which is about 17 arcmin away (and well outside the SAX X-ray error circle).
If the burst is indeed located in the LMC or its halo, a search for a 
neutrino signal coincident with, or just prior to the GRB even would be 
most interesting.  

We also note that an IRAS source, IRAS 05110-7208, which is positionally
coincident with a bright (~ 8.8 mag each), close double star on the DSS, 
is located near the edge of the current x-ray error circle, about 96 arcsec 
E and 204 arcsec N of the nominal x-ray center.  It is not yet known if
this double star / IRAS source is in the LMC or in our Galaxy.

If the GRB event was in the LMC or even closer, it may even represent a 
new type of a GRB phenomenon.

This note can be cited.

Giangiacomo Gandolfi, on behalf of BeppoSAX Mission Scientist, reports:
 
A BeppoSAX follow-up of GRB990705 started about 11 hr after the burst.
A quick look analysis of the first five orbits of the MECS data at SOC
shows only one object, previously unknown, inside the refined
error circle of the WFC and located near the edge of the LMC.
 
Preliminary coordinates  are:
 R.A.(2000)= 77.489
 DEC(2000)= -72.132
 
The error radius is 2'
 
BeppoSAX will continue its observation and monitoring of this source up
to a total observing time of 100 ksec.

R. Subrahmanyan (ATNF), S.J. Cunningham (ATNF), M.H. Wieringa (ATNF), 
D. A. Frail (NRAO) and S. R. Kulkarni (Caltech) report on behalf of a 
larger collaboration:

"We obtained a 12 hour integration with the Australia Telescope
Compact Array (ATCA) centered on July 6.33 UT at 4.8 GHz and 8.6 GHz.
The ATCA was pointed at the BeppoSAX WFC position of GRB 990705 as 
given by Frontera (BeppoSAX mail #99/17).

Within the 3-arcmin WFC error circle there are three sources above 5
sigma, the last two of these lie within the 2-arcmin NFI error circle
(Gandolfi, GCN 373
Loading...
 
 ). We report these positions for the purpose of
enabling observations at other wavelengths. We are making no claims at
this time that any of these sources are the afterglow from GRB 990705.
Further ATCA observations are planned to determine which, if any, of
these sources are variable."

AT J0509-7210 :  RA 05:09:56.97, DEC -72:10:13.8 (J2000)
AT J0509-7209 :  RA 05:09:40.74, DEC -72:09:02.9 (J2000)
AT J0509-7208 :  RA 05:09:46.33, DEC -72:08:56.8 (J2000)

This message is citeable.

Infrared and Optical Observations of GRB990705

E. Palazzi, N. Masetti, E. Pian, F. Frontera, L. Amati (ITESRE-CNR,
Bologna), M. Mendez, P. Vreeswijk, E. Rol, T. Galama, F. van der Hooft,
M.  van der Klis, M. Heemskerk, (Univ. of Amsterdam), J. van Paradijs
(U. of Amsterdam and U. of Alabama in Huntsville), L.  Hunt (Astr. Obs.
of Arcetri), L.A. Antonelli, G. Marconi (Astr. Obs. of Rome), E.
Kuulkers (SRON, Utrecht), T. Augusteijn, H. Boehnhardt, C. Lidman, L.
Vanzi (ESO), M. Feroci (IAS-CNR, Rome), and C.  Kouveliotou (MSFC/NASA)
report on behalf of a large collaboration:


"We have observed the error box of GRB990705 (BeppoSAX mail # 99/16 and
99/17) at the ESO NTT with SOFI in H filter for 20 minutes starting on 
July 5.94 UT and for 10 minutes starting on July 6.95 UT. An object of 
H = 16.7 +- 0.1 is detected in the first night at RA = 05 09 55.4, Dec
= -72 08 01 (astrometric uncertainty of 1".5), and not in the second  
night, with a 3-sigma upper limit of H >~ 19.  The position of the  
transient is consistent with that of the X-ray transient detected with
the SAX NFIs (Gandolfi, GCN 373
Loading...
 
 ).  We propose that the transient source
is the infrared counterpart to GRB 990705.  Assuming a power-law
temporal fading, the measured magnitude and upper limit would imply
that the decay index is < -1.4.

In a 10-minutes exposure taken at the VLT with FORS1 in the V filter on
July 6.40 UT in very bad seeing conditions (~2".5) the source is
detected at 3-sigma confidence level with V ~22.5, linked to the
standard sequence PG 2331+055 (Landolt 1992, AJ 104, 340).

A 7.5-min exposure with the ESO 2.2m telescope at La Silla on July 6.44
UT yields no detection, to a 3-sigma limiting magnitude of B ~22,
linked to the USNO-A1.0 star at RA = 05 09 42.59, Dec = -72 07 41.2
(J2000) which has B = 19.1."

This message can be cited.

K. Hurley, on behalf of the Ulysses GRB team, and M. Feroci, on behalf
of the BeppoSAX GRB team, report:

We have obtained a preliminary IPN annulus for GRB990705.  This
annulus is centered at RA=147.5135 deg., Decl.=-8.0335 deg. (J2000),
and has a radius of 76.3049 +/-  0.0128 deg. (3 sigma).  It intersects the
BeppoSAX NFI error circle (GCN 373
Loading...
 
 ) to form a 5.4 arcmin.^2 error
box whose corners are:

RA(2000)	Decl.(2000)
05h 09m 52.5s	-72o 09' 53"
05h 09m 39.2s	-72o 06' 29"
05h 10m 12.1s	-72o 09' 34"
05h 09m 57.9s	-72o 05' 55"

This error box excludes the three radio sources reported in GCN 376
Loading...
 
 ,
but includes the ESO NTT source reported in GCN 377
Loading...
 
 .  A map may be found
at ssl.berkeley.edu/ipn3/990705/.  This annulus can be refined considerably.

K. Hurley, on behalf of the Ulysses GRB team, T. Cline, on behalf of the
NEAR GRB team, and M. Feroci, on behalf of the BeppoSAX GRB team, report:

NEAR observed GRB990705.  Triangulation with NEAR, BeppoSAX, and Ulysses
results in a ~3.5 arcmin.^2 error box which intersects the BeppoSAX NFI
error circle.  The preliminary 3 sigma error box coordinates are:

RA(2000)	Decl.(2000)
5h 09m 37.0s	-72o 05' 56"
5h 09m 46.8s	-72o 08' 26"
5h 09m 57.9s	-72o 05' 56"
5h 10m 07.6s	-72o 08' 25" 

As for the previous IPN localization (GCN 378
Loading...
 
 ), this error box includes
the ESO NTT source reported in GCN 377
Loading...
 
 .  An updated map showing the
three annuli which form the error box may found at
ssl.berkeley.edu/ipn3/990705/.

J. Halpern (Columbia U.), G. Jacoby (NOAO), F. Frontera (ITESRE-CNR, Bologna),
M. Feroci, E. Costa (IAS-CNR, Rome), and L. Piro (ITESRE-CNR, Frascati)
report:

"We (GJ) observed the BeppoSAX NFI error circle of GRB 990705
(Gandolfi GCN #373
Loading...
 
 ) in the R band using the CTIO 1.5m telescope.
A 10 minute exposure was obtained on July 7.44 UT in seeing
of 1.4 arcsec, and 20 minutes were obtained on July 8.42 UT
in seeing of 1.6 arcsec.  At precisely the position quoted for
the fading infrared transient (Palazzi et al. GCN #377
Loading...
 
 ),
we see nothing to a 3-sigma limiting magnitude of R < 22.0
on July 7, and R < 22.3 on July 8.  Photometric calibration
was performed using the Landolt standard field of PG 0231+051.
For reference we measure R = 16.45 for the neighboring USNO-A2.0
star at RA 05:09:53.822, Dec -72:08:26.04.

The nearest R-band source to the IR transient is an extended or confused
object (difficult to evaluate because of the high stellar density in this
field) of core magnitude R = 19.70 +/- 0.05, which is also clearly visible on
the ESO Sky Survey J plate.  We measure its position, (J2000) RA 05:09:55.44,
Dec -72:07:58.7, with respect to 40 stars from the USNO-A2.0 catalog having
an rms error of 0.45 arcsec.  Since this object is 2.3 arcsec north of the 
infrared transient, and since the IR position was reported with an
uncertainty of 1.5 arcsec, more precise astrometry of the IR image would be 
desirable to register it with the optical and to investigate the relationship,
if any, between these objects.  It seems prudent, however, to presume that
there is no connection.

This message may be cited."

Updated Astrometry for the IR Counterpart of GRB990705


E. Palazzi, N. Masetti, and E. Pian (ITESRE-CNR, Bologna) report: 

"We have carefully checked the astrometry of the NTT+SOFI image taken on
July 5.94 UT (Palazzi et al. GCN # 377), and have found that the correct
coordinates of the IR transient are

RA (2000) = 05 09 54.5, 
Dec (2000) = -72 07 53

The astrometric uncertainty is 0".5.

The NTT+SOFI images relative to the IR transient detection (GCN # 377) can
be viewed at

http://tonno.tesre.bo.cnr.it/~masetti/grb990705.html"

This message can be cited.

L. Amati and F. Frontera, ITESRE, CNR, Bologna,  L.A. Antonelli, Osservatorio 
Astronomico di Roma, G. Cusumano, IFCAI, CNR, G. Gandolfi and E. Costa,   
Palermo, M.R. Daniele, BeppoSAX SDC, Telespazio, Roma, and P. Giommi,
BeppoSAX SDC, ASI, Rome. on behalf of the BeppoSAX Team report:

"The BeppoSAX NFIs observed the region of GRB990705 (IAUC 7218) from
Jul 6.142 (11 hours after the BeppoSAX GRBM+WFC trigger) to Jul 8.096 UT
for a total MECS on source exposure time of 78 ksec.

A preliminary analysis of the data shows a strong and variable contamination 
of the field by stray radiation coming from LMC X-2, which lies just outside 
the detector field of view (52 arcmin from the center). A more refined 

quick-look analysis detection reported in GCN #373
Loading...
 
 .


[GCN OP NOTE: Circular 383 contained a typographical error which was corrected
in Circular 384 (a few minutes later).  Please disregard 383.]

L. Amati and F. Frontera, ITESRE, CNR, Bologna,  L.A. Antonelli, Osservatorio 
Astronomico di Roma, G. Cusumano, IFCAI, CNR, G. Gandolfi and E. Costa,   
Palermo, M.R. Daniele, BeppoSAX SDC, Telespazio, Roma, and P. Giommi,
BeppoSAX SDC, ASI, Rome. on behalf of the BeppoSAX Team report:

"The BeppoSAX NFIs observed the region of GRB990705 (IAUC 7218) from
Jul 6.142 (11 hours after the BeppoSAX GRBM+WFC trigger) to Jul 8.096 UT
for a total MECS on source exposure time of 78 ksec.

A preliminary analysis of the data shows a strong and variable contamination 
of the field by stray radiation coming from LMC X-2, which lies just outside 
the detector field of view (52 arcmin from the center). A more refined 
analysis is required and at this stage we are not able to confirm the 
quick-look analysis detection reported in GCN #373
Loading...
 
 .
 

This message may be cited."

Walter Fulgione, on behalf of the Large Volume Detector collaboration, report:

Concerning the GRB990705 (BeppoSAX mail # 99/16 and 99/17):

the LVD neutrino telescope in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory
was running on July 5th, 16:01:25 UT and it has been steadily taking
data since June 22nd, with an active scintillator mass of 573 ton.

No evidence for any burst of neutrino interactions has been detected
inside a 48 hours time interval around the GRB time.

The data analysis on a wider time interval to find a possible weak
signal or to establish the limit on the neutrino emission is in progress.

Results will be published, as soon as possible, on LNGS Internal Report
(http://scienza98.lngs.infn.it/)

This note can be cited.

Stephen Holland (University of Aarhus),
Michael Andersen (University of Oulu),
Jens Hjorth, Johan Fynbo (University of Copenhagen),
Gunnlaugur Bjornsson (University of Iceland),
Bjarne Thomsen (University of Aarhus),
Andreas Jaunsen (University of Oslo),
Priya Natarajan (University of Cambridge, & Yale), and
Nial Tanvir (University of Hertfordshire)

    We have obtained 8851 seconds of STIS images with the 50CCD (clear) 
aperture of the host galaxy of GRB 990705.  This data was taken as part of 
the Survey of the Host Galaxies of Gamma-Ray Bursts (Holland et al. GCN 698
Loading...
 
 ) 
approximately 387 days after the burst.  The drizzled, combined image is now 
available at "http://www.ifa.au.dk/~hst/grb_hosts/data/index.html".

    Comparison with the H-band image of Masetti et al. (A&A, 354, 473, 2000)
shows that the gamma-ray burst occurred at the position X = 1043 +- 2, 
Y = 1064 +- 2 in the drizzled STIS clear image. This is in the outskirts of 
a spiral arm, 0.9 arcsec west of the apparent nucleus of a face-on spiral 
galaxy.  The galaxy appears to be of type Sc, possibly with a weak bar.  It 
has an angular diameter of 5-6 arcsec, and contains several knots that may 
be star-forming regions.  The magnitude of the galaxy within an aperture 
radius of 2 arcsec is V = 22.8 +- 0.2 after subtraction of foreground stars. 
The large angular extent of the host galaxy suggests that it is at fairly low 
redshift and that GRB 990705 may have been the second nearest GRB (next to 
GRB 980425/SN1998bw) that has been located up to now.  An image of the host 
galaxy and the approximate location of the GRB is available at 
"http://www.ifa.au.dk/~hst/grb_hosts/data/grb990705cd.gif".

VLT-FORS1 observations of the host galaxy of GRB 990705

P. Saracco, G. Chincarini, S. Covino, G. Ghisellini, M. Longhetti, F.
Zerbi
(Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Merate, Italy)
D. Lazzati (Institute of Astronomy,Cambridge, UK)
P. Severgnini (Osservatorio Astronomico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy)

We have obtained twelve 540-second dithered images in the Rc (Bessell)
band centered on the position of  GRB 990705. These images have been
obtained  from  20th to 28th December 2000 at the ESO-VLT UT1 telescope
with FORS1 as a part of a survey of host galaxies (Saracco et al. 2000;
Prog. ID: 66.B-0539(A)).

Observations have been carried out under seeing conditions of 0.6-0.7
arcsec.
The limiting magnitude reached on the final coadded image is Rc=26.6
(3 sigmas within the seeing disk).
We confirm the presence of a late-type (Sc) galaxy located at the
position of
GRB 990705 as previously found by Holland et al. (2000; GCN #753
Loading...
 
 ).

We measure a magnitude Rc=22.2(+-0.1) (galactic extinction A(R)=0.2)
within an aperture radius of 2 arcsec.
Considering the V-band aperture magnitude obtained by Holland et al.
(GCN #753
Loading...
 
 ) we estimate for the host galaxy a color V-Rc=0.6(+-0.2).
Given the large uncertainty in this estimate, such a color is
consistent with that of an Sc galaxy  at redshift z<1.3.

This message can be cited.


--
Paolo Saracco
Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera
Via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate (LC), Italy
Tel. (+39) 039 9991151    www.merate.mi.astro.it/~saracco