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THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 2067      2004 Dec 18 22.42UT
Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise,  Basingstoke,
Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074
INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK             GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK
WORLD WIDE WEB                         http://www.theastronomer.org
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GRB 041218: OPTICAL COUNTERPART
In GCN 2858 S.Mereghetti, D. Gotz, (IASF, Milano), S.Shaw, M. Beck, A. 
Paizis (ISDC, Versoix), J.Borkowski (CAMK, Torun) on behalf of the IBAS 
Localization Team report:

A 60 s long GRB has been detected with the INTEGRAL Burst Alert System 
(IBAS) on December 18 at 15:45:25 UT. The GRB has been detected with 
IBIS/ISGRI in the 15-200 keV band (IBAS Alert # 2072).

Its coordinates (J2000)  are:
RA 24.7731 [degrees], DEC 71.3346 [degrees]

with an uncertainty of 2.5 arcmin  (90% c.l. radius)

On GCN 2860, K. Torii (Osaka University) reports:
The entire error region of GRB 041218 was observed with the 14-inch 
Automated Response Telescope at Osaka University in Toyonaka. The 
observation started at 2004 December 18 15:47:34 UT while the early data 
suffered from cloud passages.

In a stacked image (60-s x 4 frames obtained between 15:58 UT and 
16:09UT), we do not identify a new object brighter than about 16.0 mag 
(USNO-A2.0 R). On the other hand, we note a low S/N afterglow candidate 
(R~16.5) at position (R.A., Dec.) = (01 39 7.6, +71 20 30) (J2000) (1.5" 
uncertainty) in the preliminary analysis.

Javier Gorosabel et. al.,, Madrid, report:

We have acquired multicolour optical observations with the 2.2m CAHA 
telescope (+BUSCA) starting at ~18:00 UT at the position of GRB 041218 
(GCN 2858). Visual comparison reveals an object that shows a clear 
decay. The position is:

RA 01:39:07.7 DEC +71:20:28.8 (2000)

Guy M Hurst