////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1948
SUBJECT: GRB030323, BVRcIc field calibration
DATE:    03/03/24 18:46:14 GMT
FROM:    Arne A. Henden at USNO/USRA  <aah@nofs.navy.mil>

A. Henden (USRA/USNO) reports on behalf of the USNO GRB team:

We have acquired BVRcIc all-sky photometry for
a 20x20 arcmin field centered at the coordinates
for the HETE burst GRB030323 (HETE trigger 2640)
with the USNOFS 1.0-m telescope on one very marginal
photometric night.  Stars brighter than V=13.5 are saturated and
should be used with care.  We have placed the photometric data
on our anonymous ftp site:
ftp://ftp.nofs.navy.mil/pub/outgoing/aah/grb/grb030323.dat
The astrometry in this file is based on linear plate solutions
with respect to UCAC2.  The external errors are less than 100mas.
There were approaching clouds from a weak frontal system
that do not appear to have reached this field until well
after the observations, but until further calibration
is performed, a systematic error is possible.  Based purely
on the standard star observations, the estimated external
photometric error is 0.03mag.

If an OT is discovered, this calibration will be extended
with additional nights.  We will not be performing U-band
calibration unless requested.  As always, you should check
the dates on the .dat file prior to final publication to get
the latest photometry.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1949
SUBJECT: GRB030323, possible optical counterpart
DATE:    03/03/24 19:40:26 GMT
FROM:    Arne A. Henden at USNO/USRA  <aah@nofs.navy.mil>

A. Gilmore and P. Kilmartin (U. Canterbury) and
A. Henden (USRA/USNO) report:

We have imaged the inner 20x20arcmin of the error circle for
the HETE burst GRB030323 (HETE trigger 2640)
with the Mt. John 0.6m telescope (unfiltered, using
Rc zeropoint) and the USNO 1.0m telescope (Rc filter).
Located in the northern part of the error circle,
we find one fading object that may be the
optical counterpart to GRB030323.  This object does
not appear on any of the ESO/AAO red plates.  Its position,
along with two preliminary comparison stars (photometry
from Henden, GCN 1948), is:

Star       R.A. (2000)  Dec.      Rc
  A     11 06 15.21  -21 47 19.4  14.91
  B     11 06 08.36  -21 45 42.5  16.94
OT     11 06 09.38  -21 46 13.3

where coordinates are based on USNO-A2.0.  A 4x4arcmin
R-band finding chart can be found at
ftp://ftp.nofs.navy.mil/pub/outgoing/aah/grb/grb030323r.jpg
Photometry of the candidate with respect to these two stars yields:

   UTmid(hr) mag   Filter
   07.5868  18.69   Rc
   10.4750  19.56   CR
   12.2083  19.72   CR
   13.6555  19.96   CR
   14.7333  20.42   CR

Photometric errors range from 0.06mag at the beginning to
0.4mag towards the end.

These observations were made as part of the AAVSO GRB
Network, and supported by a grant from the Curry Foundation.

[GCN OPS NOTE (25mar03): The acknowledgement sentence at the end
was added as per author's request.]

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1951
SUBJECT: GRB030323, optical observations
DATE:    03/03/24 20:43:25 GMT
FROM:    Weidong Li at UC Berkeley KAIT/LOSS  <weidong@astron.berkeley.edu>

W. Li, S. Jha, R. Chornock, and A. V. Filippenko (UC Berkeley), report
that unfiltered images of a 12 arcmin x 12 arcmin region centered at the 
position of GRB 030323 (HETE Trigger #2640) were taken with
the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) at 05:28 Mar 24 UT 
(about 7.5 hours after the burst). We found no obvious new source compared
with the DSS II (red) to a limiting magnitude of 19.0 mag. Specifically,
the candidate OT reported by Gilmore, Kilmartin, & Henden (GCN 1949) 
was outside our imaged field. 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1952
SUBJECT: GRB030323, ROTSE-III detection of possible optical counterpart
DATE:    03/03/24 21:15:18 GMT
FROM:    Don Smith at U michigan  <dasmith@rotse2.physics.lsa.umich.edu>

Smith, D. A. & Rykoff E. S. on behalf of the ROTSE collaboration report:

We have observed the full error box of GRB 030323 (HETE trigger 2640) using the
ROTSE-3B 0.45 meter telescope at McDonald Observatory, Texas, starting March
24, 5:47 UT (7.8 hours after the burst).  Ninety one-minute unfiltered
exposures were taken, yielding limiting magnitudes between 17.5 and 18.5,
calibrated against USNO A2.0 R-band.  A source is marginally detected in seven
of these images at the location of the optical counterpart candidate reported
by Gilmore et al.  (GCN Circ. 1949).  We co-added four consecutive sets of
twenty images, and the counterpart candidate is clearly detected in the first
co-added image at a magnitude of 18.4+-0.1 at 5:59 hours UT (limiting magnitude
for this co-added image is estimated at 19.5).  Visual inspection of the other
three co-added images indicate that the source is present near the limiting
magnitude in each frame, and we will continue analysis to derive a light curve.

Images and light curves will soon be available at http://www.rotse.net

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1953
SUBJECT: VLT/FORS2 spectra of GRB 030323
DATE:    03/03/25 06:02:12 GMT
FROM:    Paul Vreeswijk at ESO  <pvreeswi@eso.org>

Paul Vreeswijk (ESO), Ralph Wijers, Evert Rol (U. of Amsterdam), and
Jens Hjorth (U. of Copenhagen) report for the GRACE collaboration:

The field of GRB 030323 (HETE trigger 2640) was observed last night
(March 24/25) in spectroscopic mode with FORS2 at unit-4 of ESO's VLT
at Paranal, Chile. The total exposure time was 1 hour in the 300V and
300I grisms, covering approximately 4000-9300 A with a resolution of
about 12 A. The slit (1" wide) was positioned to cover the position of
the presumed afterglow (Gilmore, Kilmartin & Henden, GCN 1949; see
also GCN 1952), as well as a nearby reference object.

Preliminary reduction of the 300V spectra of the candidate afterglow
shows very strong absorption over the range 516-545 nm, presumably a
complex of Ly alpha clouds around z = 3.3-3.4. The detection of
numerous narrow lines is consistent with this interpretation: we can
identify these with metal-absorption lines (SiII, OI, CII, SiIV, CIV,
AlII) at a redshift of z = 3.372. These Ly alpha and metal-absorption
lines probably originate in the host galaxy of GRB 030323.

We appreciate the assistance of the ESO staff at Paranal; in
particular of Thomas Szeifert and Olivier Marco.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1956
SUBJECT: GRB030323 (=H2640): A Faint, Long GRB Localized by the HETE WXM and SXC
DATE:    03/03/25 21:33:01 GMT
FROM:    Don Lamb at U.Chicago  <lamb@oddjob.uchicago.edu>

C. Graziani, Y. Shirasaki, M. Matsuoka, T. Tamagawa, K. Torii, T.
Sakamoto, M. Suzuki, A. Yoshida, E. Fenimore, M. Galassi, T. Tavenner,
T. Donaghy, Y. Nakagawa, D. Takahashi, R. Satoh, and Y. Urata, on
behalf of the HETE WXM Team;

G. Ricker, J-L Atteia, N. Kawai, D. Lamb, and S. Woosley on behalf of
the HETE Science Team;

R. Vanderspek, J. Villasenor, G. Crew, J. Doty, G. Monnelly, N.
Butler, T. Cline, J.G. Jernigan, A. Levine, F. Martel, E. Morgan, G.
Prigozhin, G. Azzibrouck, J. Braga, R. Manchanda, and G. Pizzichini,
on behalf of the HETE Operations and HETE Optical-SXC Teams;

M. Boer, J-F Olive, J-P Dezalay, C.  Barraud and K. Hurley on behalf
of the HETE FREGATE Team;

write:

At 21:56:57.60 UTC (79017.60 s UT) on 23 Mar 2003, the HETE FREGATE,
WXM, and SXC instruments detected event H2460, a faint, long GRB.

Ground analysis of the WXM data produced a localization which was
reported in a GCN Notice at 02:55:11 UT on 24 Mar, about 5 hours after
the burst.  The WXM localization SNR was 6.  The WXM localization can
be expressed as a 90% confidence circle that is 18 arcminutes in radius
and is centered at

WXM:   RA = +11h 06m 54s, Dec = -21d 51' 00" (J2000).

Ground analysis of the SXC data for the burst produced a more accurate
location which was reported in a GCN Notice at 05:28:51 UT on 24 Mar,
about 7 1/2 hours after the burst.  The SXC localization can be
expressed as a 90% confidence trapezoid, whose base and top are 24.5
and 11 arcminutes, whose height is 4 arcminutes, and whose area is 71
square arcminutes.  The center of the trapezoid lies at

RA = +11h 06m 06s, Dec = -21d 54' 20"  (J2000),

and its corners lie at

RA = +11h 05m 59.0s, Dec = -21d 48' 43"
RA = +11h 05m 56.6s, Dec = -21d 59' 46"
RA = +11h 06m 12.5s, Dec = -22d 06' 43"
RA = +11h 06m 17.8s, Dec = -21d 42" 11"  (J2000).

The SXC localization is trapezoidal because its sides are defined by
the WXM error circle.

The t_90 duration of the burst in the 30-400 keV band was 26 s. The
fluence of the burst was 1.1 x 10-6 ergs cm-2 and the peak flux in 1.2
sec was ~1.2 x 10-9 ergs cm-2 s-1 (i.e., ~ 0.05 x Crab flux) in the
same energy band.

A light curve and skymap for GRB030323 is provided at the following URL:

http://space.mit.edu/HETE/Bursts/GRB030323

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1957
SUBJECT: GRB030323: Upper limits from recent and historical observations.
DATE:    03/03/25 22:41:37 GMT
FROM:    Michael Wood-Vasey at UC Berkeley/LBNL/SNfactory  <wmwood-vasey@lbl.gov>

W. M. Wood-Vasey, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, using images
obtained by R. Bambery, S. Pravdo, M. Hicks, and K. Lawrence
(Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking project, Jet Propulsion Laboratory),
reports historical upper limits for the optical transient for GRB
20030323 of Gilmore et. al (GCN #1949) from images taken with the
Palomar Oschin 1.2-m telescope during the previous year:

UT Date               Limiting Unfiltered Mag
                          ( @ S/N = 3)
------------------------------------------------
2002 Jan 12.56            [ 20.19                
2002 Jan 12.57            [ 20.09                
2002 Jan 13.57            [ 20.16                
2002 Jan 13.58            [ 19.77                
2002 Feb 11.36            [ 20.16                
2002 Feb 11.38            [ 20.19                
2002 Feb 11.40            [ 20.09                
2003 Jan 12.53            [ 20.33                
2003 Jan 12.55            [ 20.31                
2003 Jan 12.56            [ 20.28                
2003 Mar 12.38            [ 20.22                
2003 Mar 20.30            [ 19.69                

A co-addition of these images shows nothing at this location to a
combined limiting magnitude of 21.87 (S/N = 3).

The co-addition is available at:

http://supernova.lbl.gov/~wwoodvas/GRB/#GRB20030323

This message may be cited.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1960
SUBJECT: GRB030323: V, R, I photometry 
DATE:    03/03/26 04:20:54 GMT
FROM:    Gianluca Masi at Bellatrix Astronomical Obs  <gianluca@bellatrixobservatory.org>

G. Masi (University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and European Southern Observatory, 
Chile), B. L. Jensen, J. Hjorth (Copenhagen University) and R. Michelsen 
(Astronomical Observatory, Copenhagen) report: 

We imaged the field around the afterglow candidate reported by Gilmore at 
al. for GRB030323 (GCN 1949) with the Danish 1.54m telescope (La Silla) + 
DFOSC CCD camera. Observations started around March 25.0, 2003 UT. We 
located the source at the following position (J2000.0): 

RA: 11h06m09.40s; Decl.: -21d46'13.2" 

(mean residuals: 0.15"; catalogue: USNO-SA2.0) 

in excellent agreement with the astrometry provided in the GCN cited above. 

We performed time-resolved, R-band photometry, assuming for the reference 
stars the magnitudes provided by Henden et al. (GCN 1948). Results follow: 

25 Mar. 0:01    20.38 Rc
       0:05    20.37
       0:09    20.57
       0:12    20.56
       0:16    20.43
       0:29    20.53
       0:33    20.55
       0:37    20.48
       0:40    20.57
       0:44    20.49
       0:48    20.41
       1:01    20.62
       1:04    20.61
       1:08    20.49
       1:12    20.62
       1:19    20.57
       2:54    20.47
       3:00    20.54
       3:05    20.44
       3:11    20.51
       3:17    20.59 

The candidate showed just a modest fading during the run. 

In addition, we provide V and Ic magnitudes, again based on GCN 1948: 

25 Mar. 2:23  20.10 Ic
25 Mar. 3:35  22.08 V 

If a better calibration for the field will be available, photometry will be 
improved accordingly. 

This message can be cited 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1966
SUBJECT: GRB 030323: SARA Optical Observations
DATE:    03/03/26 22:52:11 GMT
FROM:    Kevin Lindsay at Clemson U  <jlkevin@clemson.edu>

K. Lindsay, D. H. Hartmann, L. Harris, A. Manning (Clemson University),
M. Lopez-Morales (UNC Chapil Hill), M. Castelaz (PARI) 

We have observed the optical afterglow of GRB030323,
originally reported by Henden et al. GCN 1949, with the
SARA 0.9m telescope at KPNO. We obtained 29, 300s
exposures in the Johnson R band filter.  Observations
began at 03:32:56UT, and ended at 07:22:56UT, on March
25th.  The obsevations were carried out under good seeing
conditions.  Aperture photometry was performed, and
calibrated utilizing standards reported by Henden et al.,
GCN 1948.

We find a mean R magnitude of 20.6 +- 0.1.

More information on the SARA Observatory
can be found at http://www.saraobservatory.org/.

This report may be cited.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1968
SUBJECT: GRB030323: Detection on 2003/03/24 
DATE:    03/03/27 18:35:44 GMT
FROM:    Michael Wood-Vasey at UC Berkeley/LBNL/SNfactory  <wmwood-vasey@lbl.gov>

W. M. Wood-Vasey (LBNL/UCB), P. A. Price (RSAA/ANU), and D. Fox
(Caltech), using images obtained by R. Bambery, S. Pravdo, M. Hicks,
and K. Lawrence (Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking project, Jet Propulsion
Laboratory), report that an image taken with the Palomar 1.2-m
telescope on 2003 Mar 24.27 UT shows the optical transient of Gilmore
et. al (GCN #1949) at a unfiltered magnitude of 18.83 +0.09-0.08.  Two
previous Mar 24 images taken under poor conditions do not show the OT:
 
UT Date            Unfiltered Mag             
---------------------------------------- 
2003 Mar 24.19   [ 16.59                 
2003 Mar 24.23   [ 16.26                 
2003 Mar 24.27     18.83  +0.09  -0.08   
 
Magnitudes are calibration against >300 USNO-A V1.0 R-band stars in
the 0.25 sq. degree field of the images.  We clarify here that the
limiting magnitudes quoted in GCN #1957 were calculated in the same
manner.
 
This message may be cited. 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1970
SUBJECT: Possible GRB030323 localized by INTEGRAL
DATE:    03/03/27 19:36:36 GMT
FROM:    INTEGRAL Shift Ops at INTEGRAL  <shift@isdcmail.unige.ch>

V. Beckmann and S.E. Shaw on behalf of the INTEGRAL Science Data Center,
J.-P. Roques on behalf of the SPI instrument team, Sergei Molkov (IKI),
and the INTEGRAL Science Working team report the detection of a possible
GRB at 08:42:24 UTC on March 23, 2003.

The burst lasted about 5 seconds.

The preliminary position is RA 19h 49m, DEC -12deg 30' (J2000)
with an uncertainty of 2 degrees radius. The preliminary peak flux over
2 seconds is about 2 * 10^-7 ergs/cm**2/sec between 25 and 100 keV.

The burst has been detected by SPI at large off-axis angle (14.5
degrees), outside the field of view of IBIS.

This message may be cited.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1973
SUBJECT: GRB030323 optical observations
DATE:    03/03/28 06:37:56 GMT
FROM:    Gianluca Masi at Bellatrix Astronomical Obs  <gianluca@bellatrixobservatory.org>

G. Masi (University of Rome "Tor Vergata" and European Southern Observatory, 
Chile), B. L. Jensen, J. Hjorth (Copenhagen University) and R. Michelsen 
(Astronomical Observatory, Copenhagen) report: 


Further to GCN 1960, we performed additional photometry of the OT initially 
reported by Gilmore at al. (GCN 1949). The Danish 1.54m telescope (La Silla) 
+ DFOSC CCD camera were used to grab three, 360s R-band images; summing them 
we obtained the following Rc magnitudes (based on GCN 1948): 

Mar. 26, 00:54 UT   21.3 Rc
Mar. 27, 00:50 UT   21.6 Rc
Mar. 28, 03:45 UT   22.8 Rc 

(Errors around 0.2 mag) 

This message can be cited 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  2006
SUBJECT: GRB 030323: Gemini South VRI obsevations.
DATE:    03/03/29 23:26:48 GMT
FROM:    Jose Maria Castro Ceron at STSciInst  <josemari@alumni.nd.edu>

Jos Mara Castro Cern (STScI),
Javier Gorosabel (IAA-CSIC/STScI),
Andrew S. Fruchter (STScI),
Andrew J. Levan (U. Leicester) and
James E. Rhoads (STScI),

on behalf of a larger collaboration, report:



"We have performed VRI band observartions of the optical afterglow (GCN
1949) of the GRB 030323 (H2460; GCN 1956). For each band 30 x 45 s images
were obtained with the Gemini South 8.1 m Telescope (+Acquisition Camera),
as follows:


 BAND |  UT MAR 2003   |  MAG  |  ERROR(*)
-------------------------------------------
   V  | 27.135--27.161 | 23.04 | +/-0.03
   R  | 27.166--27.186 | 22.27 | +/-0.04
   I  | 27.186--27.205 | 21.78 | +/-0.05
-------------------------------------------
* Only statistical error.


The photometric calibration is based on the star located at
RA(J2000) = 11h 06m 08.82s, DEC(J2000) = -21 46' 37.5", which has been
fixed at V = 18.97, R = 18.28 and I = 17.71 (GCN 1948).

The coadded R band image can be found at:
http://www.stsci.edu/~josemari/GRB/GRB030323/grb030323.gemini.R.gif

This message may be cited."