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atel_50

Title: Optical and near-IR observations of XTE J1859+226 Authors: R. I. Hynes (Southampton University), C. A. Haswell, A. J. Norton, S. Chaty, D. J. Rolfe, D. A. Lott (Open University), J.-E. Solheim, R. Ostensen (Tromso University), R. A. Garcia (CEA Saclay), R. Fried (Flagstaff), K. O'Brien, K. Horne (St Andrews University), Z. Ioannou (Keele), A. Shafter (San Diego State University), T. M.C. Abbott (Nordic Optical Telescope), K. Krisciunas (University of Washington), R. J. Ivison (University College London), Y. Sano (Nayoro, Hokkaido), W. Chen, C. Shrader (Goddard Space Flight Center), M. Livio (STScI), E. L. Robinson (University of Texas), R. M. Wagner (Ohio State University) Date: 28 Oct 1999; 15:39 UT Provenance: Sylvain Chaty (S.Chaty@open.ac.uk) Subjects: Radio, Millimeter, Sub-Millimeter, Far-Infra-Red, Infra-Red, Optical, Ultra-Violet, X-ray, Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, A Comment, Binary, Black Hole, Neutron Star, Transient, Variables Description: Referred to by ATel #: 51, 55 Following optical and near-infrared monitoring of XTE J1859+226 (IAUC # 7279 , # 7284 ), HST/STIS observations were performed on Oct 18.10-18.38 spanning 112-1026nm. The UV spectrum shows broad (12000km/s FWZI) and deep Lyman alpha absorption, strong CIV 155nm emission (EW 1.1nm, 4000km/s FWZI) and weaker emission lines of CIII, NV, OIII, OIV, OV, SiIV and HeII. Sharp absorption lines of SiII, SiIII, MgII and other species also appear with possible interstellar origin. Preliminary analysis of the 220nm interstellar feature suggests E(B-V)=0.58 +/- 0.07. The dereddened optical-UV spectral energy distribution (SED) is a steep blue power-law (spectral index +1.2) in the optical, flattening in the UV. This SED resembles those of other short period SXTs, suggesting that XTE J1859+226 has a binary period < 1d. A 20% decline in 110-170nm fluxes during the observation coincides with an X-ray decline seen in RXTE/ASM lightcurves. Shorter timescale variations are present but no persistent coherent modulation was detected. Preliminary analyses of 33 hours of optical time-series data collected between October 13.86 and October 20.24 at Nordic Optical Telescope, Braeside, Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope, Keele, Mt. Laguna, St. Andrews and Manastash Ridge Observatory, and also 2.5 hours infrared time-series data at UKIRT on Oct. 18.19-18.31 UT suggest a 1% modulation with period 22-23 minutes. Further HST observations are scheduled for Nov 6.82-6.93, Nov 19.43-19.55; coordinated ground based observations are encouraged. We thank the open policy of the Astronomer Telegram for the announcement of our previous observation campaigns (ATEL #48 and ATEL #49).

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atel_100

Title: Gemini IR Detection of 1E 2259+586 Post-Burst Authors: V. M. Kaspi (McGill/MIT), J. Jensen(Gemini), F. Rigaut (Gemini), A. Hatakeyama (Gemini), P. M. Woods (USRA/NSSTC) Date: 23 Jun 2002; 00:41 UT Provenance: Victoria Kaspi (vkaspi@physics.mcgill.ca) Subjects: Infra-Red, X-ray, Neutron Star, Soft Gamma-ray Repeater, Supernova Remnant, Pulsar Description: V. M. Kaspi (McGill University/Massachusetts Institute of Technology), J. Jensen (Gemini), F. Rigaut (Gemini), A. Hatakeyama (Gemini), P. M. Woods (USRA/NSSTC) report Gemini North 8-m near-IR observations of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 2259+586 field. K_s band data were obtained on June 21, 2002 at 14:44 UT using the NIRI instrument and a 30-min exposure with seeing 0.7". The reported possible IR counterpart to the pulsar (Hulleman et al. 2000, A&A, 358, 605) was detected with preliminary magnitude 20.36 +/- 0.15, 1.34 mag brighter than the quiescent value, indicating the source was 3.4 times brighter (5.4 sigma c.l.) 3 days following the SGR-like X-ray bursts detected with RXTE/PCA (IAUC 7924 ). This confirms the IR identification. Further IR/optical monitoring is advised. A preliminary Gemini/NIRI image can be found at http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~vkaspi/1E2259+586/Gemini.html Note that the relative brightnesses of the pulsar counterpart and star 3 in the Hulleman et al. K_s Keck image are reversed in the Gemini image, demonstrating that the pulsar brightened. Preliminary Gemini Image

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atel_200

Title: Cyclotron Line in XTE J0658-073 Authors: William Heindl (UCSD/CASS), Wayne Coburn (UCB/SSL), Ingo Kreykenbohm (IAAT/ISDC), Joern Wilms (IAAT) Date: 23 Oct 2003; 20:19 UT Provenance: William A. Heindl (wheindl@ucsd.edu) Subjects: X-ray, Neutron Star, Transient, Pulsar Description: Joint RXTE PCA and HEXTE spectral analysis of the 2003 October 20 observation of the 160.7 second accreting pulsar XTE J0658-073 (Morgan et al. 2003, ATEL #199) reveals a strong cyclotron line at ~35keV. We fit a range of continuum models typical of accreting pulsars to the pulse phase averaged spectra. In all cases, significant residual deviations characteristic of a cyclotron feature were detected above ~20keV. To determine spectral parameters, we used a power law which breaks smoothly to a power law times an exponential, modified by an absorption line with a Gaussian optical depth profile (MPLCUT*GABS, Coburn et al. 2002, ApJ, 580, 394), plus an iron line. The resulting parameters are, (continuum): photon index = (1.09 +/- 0.01), break energy = (16.8 +/- 0.1)keV, exponential folding energy = (11.5 +/- 0.3)keV, (cyclotron line): energy = (36 +/- 1)keV, sigma = (7.5 +/- 1.0)keV, central optical depth = (0.33 +/- 0.05). These parameters are typical of cyclotron line pulsars. The line centroid implies a magnetic field of 3E12*(1 + z) G (z is the gravitational redshift at the line-forming region).

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atel_275

Title: New X-ray transient IGR J01363+6610 discovered by INTEGRAL Authors: S. A. Grebenev (IKI, Moscow), P. Ubertini (IASF, Rome), J. Chenevez (DSRI, Copenhagen), A. Orr (ESTEC, Noordwijk), R. A. Sunyaev (IKI, Moscow & MPA, Garching) Date: 11 May 2004; 13:23 UT Provenance: S.A.Grebenev (sergei@hea.iki.rssi.ru) Subjects: Radio, Infra-Red, Optical, X-ray, Gamma Ray, Binary, Black Hole, Neutron Star, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 276, 343 A previously unknown X-ray transient, IGR J01363+6610, was discovered by the IBIS/ISGRI telescope on April 19, 2004 during INTEGRAL observations dedicated to the Galactic Plane Scan. The source position was R.A.=01h36m18s, Decl.=+66d10m36s (equinox 2000.0, position uncertainty 2'). It was within the IBIS field-of-view during 4 subsequent pointings (~2.3 h) and was detected with the total S/N ratio equal to 8.6 and an average flux 17+/-2 mCrab in the 17-45 keV band. The detection was confirmed by the JEM-X telescope during one of the pointings (when the source was near the center of the JEM-X field-of-view). The JEM-X position was R.A.=01h36m04s, Decl.=+66d11m50s (position uncertainty 2'), the flux was about 9 mCrab in the 8-15 keV band. The source was not detected with IBIS/ISGRI during next GPS observations of the region on May 1, 2004. The 3-sigma upper limit was 11 mCrab in the 17-45 keV band. The source was outside the JEM-X field-of-view that time. We encourage observations of this source at other wavelengths.

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atel_360

Title: Orbit Solution for the Millisecond Pulsar IGR J00291+5934 Authors: C. B. Markwardt (U. Maryland & GSFC), D. K. Galloway (MIT), D. Chakrabarty (MIT), E. H. Morgan (MIT), T. E. Strohmayer (GSFC) Date: 7 Dec 2004; 03:07 UT Provenance: Craig B. Markwardt (craigm@lheamail.gsfc.nasa.gov) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient, Pulsar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1660 The INTEGRAL Transient IGR J00291+5934 (ATEL #352), now known to be a 1.67 millisecond X-ray pulsar (ATEL #353), was observed by the RXTE PCA on Dec 5 and 6. The source has decayed to approximately 27 mCrab (2-10 keV). The data were barycentered using the Fox & Kulkarni optical counterpart position (ATEL #354). Pulsations with a sinusoidal frequency modulation are clearly detected in each observation. The best fitting orbit has a period of 147.412 +/- 0.006 min and an a_x sin(i) of 65.0 +/- 0.2 lt-ms. The mass function is 2.81e-5 +/- 0.02e-5 M_sun. Assuming a neutron star of mass 1.4 M_sun, the companion mass must be larger than 0.038 M_sun. The orbit and inferred companion of IGR J00291+5934 appear to be very similar to that of SAX J1808.4-3658, the first known millisecond X-ray pulsar. There is presently no evidence of X-ray eclipses or X-ray bursts. RXTE continues to observe the source.

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atel_420

Title: No radio re-flare in XTE J1118+480 Authors: M. P. Rupen (NRAO/GSFC), V. Dhawan, A. J. Mioduszewski (NRAO) Date: 21 Feb 2005; 20:08 UT Provenance: Michael P. Rupen (mrupen@nrao.edu) Subjects: Radio, Binary, Black Hole, Transient Description: We report recent radio observations of the X-ray binary XTE J1118+480, recently reported as undergoing a second optical outburst (ATEL #412) following a more impressive optical (ATEL #383, ATEL #386, ATEL #393, ATEL #399, ATEL #402), X-ray (ATEL #384, ATEL #390), and radio (ATEL #385, ATEL #387, ATEL #400, ATEL #404) flare. Very Large Array (VLA) observations taken at the beginning of the infrared recovery, on Feb. 13th (MJD 53414.2), gave non-detections with rms noise levels of 0.072 and 0.045 mJy/beam at 4.86 and 8.46 GHz, respectively. Observations on Feb. 20th (MJD 53421.5) also showed no radio source, with rms noise levels of 0.061 (4.86 GHz) and 0.035 (8.46 GHz) mJy/beam. Our last detection of this source was on Feb. 6th (MJD 53407.5), with flux densities at 4.86 and 8.46 GHz of 0.45+/-0.07 and 0.33+/-0.07 mJy, and no detection at 22.46 GHz, with an rms noise of 0.31 mJy/beam. The overall radio light curves, shown at http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~mrupen/XRT/X1118+480/x1118+480.shtml show a roughly linear decay since Jan. 24th (MJD 53394). Further observations are planned. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. XTE J1118+480: radio light curves

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atel_480

Title: Type determination of SN 2005by Authors: Avishay Gal-Yam and George Djorgovski (Caltech) Date: 4 May 2005; 18:29 UT Provenance: Avishay Gal-Yam (avishay@astro.caltech.edu) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 509 Avishay Gal-Yam and George Djorgovski report that a spectrum obtained by Djorgovski with the DBSP spectrograph mounted on the Hale 200" telescope at Palomar Observatory, on May 4 2005 UT, shows this event is a young type II SN. Prominent broad Halpha with a P-cygni profile is superposed on a blue continuum. CCCP homepage

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atel_540

Title: V4641 Sgr entering new period of activity Authors: I. Khamitov, M. Parmaksizoglu, Z. Tunca, Z. Aslan (TUG),R. Burenin, M. Revnivtsev, M. Pavlinksy, R. Sunyaev (IKI),I. Bikmaev, N. Sakhibullin (KGU) Date: 29 Jun 2005; 17:09 UT Provenance: M. Revnivtsev (mikej@mpa-garching.mpg.de) Subjects: Optical, Request for Observations, Binary, Black Hole Description: We observed V4641 Sgr with 1.5-m Russian-Turkish telescope (RTT150) on June 27 from 00:08 till 00:53(UT) in response to HETE alert distributed through Bacodine. The observations were continued during the following two nights on June 27 from 21:24 till June 28 00:53 (UT) and on June 28 from 22:02 till 23:41 (UT). The source was variable during the first night in Rc filter in a time scale of approximately 30 minutes and was brighter by 0.1 mag than the corresponding phase in its light curve in quiescence, showing that source is now entering a new period of activity. The variability is growing, reaching a level about 1 mag above the light curve in the third night of observations. Similar brightening above the phased light curve was observed during the period of activity in 2004 between the optical flares (Revnivtsev et al., ATEL 297; Bikmaev et al., ATEL 309). The phased light curve with June 26, 27 and 28 data points can be found at: http://www.tug.tubitak.gov.tr/~irekk/V4641Sgr/2005/phase_2005June.jpg The light curve with the June 28 data points where we see strong variability can be found at: http://www.tug.tubitak.gov.tr/~irekk/V4641Sgr/2005/lc20050628.jpg We therefore confirm RXTE findings in X-rays (Swank et al., ATEL 536) and earlier VSNET alert. Further observations at all wavelengths are encouraged.

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atel_625

Title: Swift Imaging Observation of XTE J1726-476/IGR J17269-4737 Authors: Albert K. H. Kong (MIT) Date: 12 Oct 2005; 16:48 UT Provenance: Albert Kong (akong@cfa.harvard.edu) Subjects: X-ray, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 628, 632 We report a Swift observation of a new X-ray transient discovered by RXTE (ATel #623) and INTEGRAL (ATel #624). The X-ray Telescope (XRT) observation was obtained in Photon Counting (imaging) mode on 2005 October 12 00:52:58 UT and the on-source exposure time is about 1000s. The source is clearly detected with significant pile-up. The bright point source is located at R.A.=17:26:50.2, Dec.=-47:38:26 and is about 1.2 arcmin from the INTEGRAL position (ATel #624). We estimated an uncertainty of 6 arcsec. The new transient is the only X-ray source in the field of view of the XRT. Optical and infrared observations are encouraged to locate the optical/IR counterpart.

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atel_720

Title: Swift observations of Swift J0911.2+4533 Authors: D. Grupe (PSU), J. Tueller (NASA/GSFC), C. Markwardt (U Md, NASA/GSFC), J. A. Kennea (PSU), A. Falcone (PSU), R. Mushotzky (NASA/GSFC), S. Barthelmy (NASA/GSFC), H. Krimm (NASA/GSFC), S. Campana (OAB), O. Godet (U Leicester), G. K. Skinner (CERS), K. Mukai (NASA/GSFC), S. T. Holland (NASA/GSFC), M. Ajello (MPE), J. Greiner (MPE), and T. Belloni (INAF) Date: 3 Feb 2006; 16:02 UT Provenance: Dirk Grupe (grupe@astro.psu.edu) Subjects: Optical, Ultra-Violet, X-ray, AGN Description: We report on the X-ray detection in the 0.3-10 keV band of Swift J0911.2+4533. The source was detected in our ongoing Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) hard X-ray survey (Tueller et al. ATEL #668 and #669, Kennea et al. ATEL #677, Ajello et al. ATEL #697). Swift J0911.2+4533 was observed on 2006-01-04 01:16 (UT start time) for a total of 5.5 ks and on 2005-01-07 17:36 (UT start time) for 8.9 ks with the X-ray Telescope (XRT) and UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on board Swift. We found a faint X-ray source at RA (2000) = 09 11 29.91 Dec (2000) = +45 28 02.1 with a position error of 4.0". The position of this source coincides with 2MASX J091129.9+452806. Optical spectroscopy from the SDSS displays very strong [OIII] and [NII] emission lines which classify this source as a Seyfert 2 galaxy with a redshift z=0.0268. A combined power law fit to the BAT and XRT data shows that the X-ray spectrum of this AGN is highly absorbed with a column density of 3.7+1.8/-1.3 e23 cm-2 and a Photon index Gamma = 3.0+1.2/-0.8. The absorbed 0.2-10.0 keV flux is 1.7e-12 ergs/s/cm2, and corrected for absorption 1.5e-10 ergs/s/cm2. The intrinsic 0.2-10 keV luminosity is 3e44 ergs/s. The flux in the 15-150 keV band is 1.8e-11 ergs/s/cm2. Swift J0911+4533 was not detected in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey in the 0.1-2.0 keV band, suggesting that it was also absorbed at the time of the RASS coverage in October 1990. This region was not observed by any other X-ray mission, either. The UVOT analysis confirmed the strong reddening of this Seyfert 2 galaxy. We found the following magnitudes in the 6 UVOT filters: V: 15.83+/-003 B: 16.89+/-0.06 U: 17.10+/-0.06 UVW1: 18.27+/-0.08 UVM2: 19.18+/-0.11 UVW2: 19.17+/-0.07 The UVOT image and the SDSS images suggest that the galaxy is viewed edge-on.

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atel_780

Title: XTE J1709-462: Swift/XRT refined position Authors: J. A. Kennea (PSU), O. Godet (U Leicester) and D. N. Burrows (PSU) on behalf of the Swift/XRT team: Date: 29 Mar 2006; 20:44 UT Provenance: Jamie A. Kennea (kennea@astro.psu.edu) Subjects: X-ray, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 781 In response to the work of Krauss et al. (ATEL #777), we have performed a refined analysis of the Swift/XRT data on XTE J1701-462. We find a refined XRT position for XTE J1709-462 of R.A. = 17:00:58.3, dec. = -46:11:09.0, with a 6.1 arcsecond error radius (90% containment). This refined position lies 1.7 arcseconds from the Chandra position reported in ATEL #777. We therefore conclude that the Swift/XRT position of XTE J1709-462 is consistent with the Chandra reported position.

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atel_925

Title: Radio Detection of Type Ib SNF20061011 Authors: Alicia Soderberg (Caltech) Date: 28 Oct 2006; 23:08 UT Provenance: Alicia M. Soderberg (ams@astro.caltech.edu) Subjects: Radio, Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 933 "I observed the Type Ib SNF20061011 (ATEL 918) with the Very Large Array on Oct 23.1 UT as part of an ongoing program to study the radio properties of Type Ibc supernovae discovered through the SNF and SDSS search campaigns. The SN is clearly detected at 4.9 and 8.5 GHz with a radio luminosity of about 10^27 erg/cm^2/s/Hz. Further observations are planned. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc."

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atel_975

Title: Radio Observations of SN 2007C Authors: Alicia Soderberg (Caltech) Date: 11 Jan 2007; 21:04 UT Provenance: Alicia M. Soderberg (ams@astro.caltech.edu) Subjects: Radio, Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 976 "We observed the Type Ib SN 2007C (CBET 798,800) with the Very Large Array on Jan 11.4 UT as part of an ongoing program to study the radio properties of Type Ibc supernovae. At 8.46 GHz we detect a radio source consistent with the optical SN position. Further observations are planned. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc."

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atel_1050

Title: Fifth set of INTEGRAL observations of GX339-4: preliminary spectral fit results Authors: M. D. Caballero-Garcia (LAEFF/INTA), J. Miller (Univ. of Michigan), E. Kuulkers (ESA/ESAC), M. Diaz Trigo (ESA/ESAC), on behalf of a larger collaboration Date: 5 Apr 2007; 22:06 UT Provenance: Erik Kuulkers (ekuulker@rssd.esa.int) Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Binary, Black Hole, Transient, Variables Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1074 We present the results of preliminary spectral fits to the fifth period of 150 ksec public INTEGRAL ToO observations of GX 339-4 (see ATels #980, #986, #1000, #1012, #1029, #1032, #1048), obtained between UT 2007, Mar 29, 04:40 and Mar 31, 01:42. We made joint spectral fits to spectra obtained with the JEM-X (5-20 keV) and IBIS/ISGRI (23-100 keV) instruments. The spectrum continued to soften, as observed in the previous observation (ATel #1032), with a contribution of the disk compared to the power-law emission (see below) of about 74%. A phenomenological model consisting of an absorbed multi-color disk with T_in = 0.98 ± 0.08 keV plus a power-law with a photon index of 2.6 ± 0.2 fits the spectrum fairly (chi-square per degrees of freedom, d.o.f., of 48/25). We find that, when using a cut-off power-law rather than a power-law, it does not improve the fit (chi-square per d.o.f of 51/23), and we do not find any break energy between 20 and 100 keV compatible with the data. We note that a fit with a compTT model gives slightly worse results (chi-square per d.o.f. of 54/24). The situation resembles that of our second and fourth INTEGRAL observations (ATels #1012 and #1032): approximately same photon index and no evidence for a break at high energies, with characteristics typical of a high state. The unabsorbed total luminosity in the 5-100 keV range, assuming a distance of 8.5 kpc, is about 1 E+37 erg/s. This corresponds to a decrease of about 50% in luminosity with respect to that observed in our fourth observation (ATel #1032). We also examined the JEM-X and ISGRI light curves with a time binning of 1000 sec, in the 3-6, 6-10, 10-15, 15-35, 20-40, 40-60, 60-100, 100-200 keV energy ranges. No strong variability or trends were seen. PostScript figures of the preliminary spectral fit results, as well as the JEM-X and IBIS/ISGRI light curves, can be found at http://isdc.unige.ch/~kuulkers/GX339-4/.

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atel_1110

Title: Optical measurements of HETE J1900.1-2455 with the Large Binocular Telescope Authors: Peter Garnavich (Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame), Paul Callanan, Patrick Elebert and Mark Reynolds (Department of Physics, University College Cork) Date: 14 Jun 2007; 21:41 UT Provenance: Paul Callanan (paulc@ucc.ie) Subjects: Optical, Binary, Neutron Star Description: We acquired a series of 200 s r-band images of the optical counterpart of HETE J1900.1-2455 beginning 2007 June 13 09:37 UT with the Large Binocular Camera (Blue), mounted on the 8.4 m Large Binocular Telescope, Mt. Graham, Arizona. PSF photometry yielded a Sloan R-band magnitude of 18.64 +/- 0.02, or 18.54 +/- 0.02 mag in Johnson-Cousins R-band. This is consistent with previous reports that the X-ray flux has increased again (Degenaar et al. 2007, ATel #1106), and that the object has returned (more or less) to its outburst state. In the R-band, it is currently ~1.7 mag brighter than the measurements from 2 weeks ago (Torres et al. 2007, ATel #1090), and only ~0.5 mag fainter than its previous outburst magnitude (Steeghs et al. 2005, ATel #543). The LBT is an international collaboration among institutions in the United States, Italy and Germany. The LBT Corporation partners are: * The University of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona university system * Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Italy * LBT Beteiligungsgesellschaft, Germany, representing the Max Planck Society, the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, and Heidelberg University * The Ohio State University * The Research Corporation, on behalf of The University of Notre Dame, University of Minnesota and University of Virginia

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atel_1260

Title: The neutron star transient SAX J1810.8-2609 going back to quiescence Authors: M. Linares, N. Degenaar, R. Wijnands (Amsterdam) Date: 6 Nov 2007; 19:28 UT Provenance: Manuel Linares (mlinares@science.uva.nl) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1662 We observed the neutron star transient SAX J1810.8-2609 with Swift-XRT on November 3rd and 5th, in order to follow its way to quiescence. The source was not detected during the individual ~1.6 ksec and ~1.9 ksec observations. We place 95% upper limits on its 0.5-10 keV unabsorbed flux of [3.4-4.2]E-13 erg/cm2/s (November 3rd.) and [2.9-3.6]E-13 erg/cm2/s (November 5th.), where the range given corresponds to the uncertainty in the spectral model assumed (absorbing column density of 0.3E22 cm^-2 and a power law with index 2.5-1.5) and the prescription for low number statistics given by Gehrels (1986) has been applied. At a distance of 5kpc (Natalucci et al., 2000), this corresponds to a luminosity of ~1E33 erg/s. This clearly indicates that the outburst that started in August 2007 (Atels #1175, #1185 and #1227) has finished. Furthermore, by adding both observations (total exposure ~3.5 ksec) a clustering of photons becomes apparent inside a 15 arcsec circle centered in the Chandra position (Jonker et al 2004). Assuming the spectral model above mentioned, this translates to an 0.5-10 keV unabsorbed flux of [1.3-1.7]E-13 erg/cm2/s, or a luminosity of ~4.5E32 erg/s. Comparing our result with the RXTE-PCA flux measured on October 25th. (that corresponds to a 0.5-10 keV luminosity of ~7E35 erg/s assuming the same spectral model), we conclude that the source luminosity has decayed by three orders of magnitude in about ten days. However, given the low quiescent luminosity found by Jonker et al. (2004) in SAX J1810.8-2609 (~1E32 erg/s), we note that our measurement does not necessarily imply that the source has reached quiescence. We thank the Swift team for scheduling the observations.

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atel_1350

Title: Discovery of Radio Emission from SN 2007uy Authors: Alicia Soderberg (Princeton University) Date: 7 Jan 2008; 19:36 UT Provenance: Alicia M. Soderberg (ams@astro.caltech.edu) Subjects: Radio, Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1353, 1355, 1368 I observed the Type Ibc SN 2007uy (IAUC 8908 ) with the Very Large Array beginning on 2008 Jan 6.18 UT. I detect a radio transient at RA=09:09:35.30 Dec=+33:07:09.1 with an uncertainty of 0.1 arcsec in each coordinate which is coincident with the optical position. At 8.46 GHz, the measured flux density of the source is 290 +- 30 microJy. Follow-up observations with the Very Large Array are ongoing. I further note that a simultaneous Swift/XRT observation of the SN reveals a marginally detected X-ray source near the radio SN position. Follow-up observations with Swift are planned and will determine if the X-ray emission can be attributed to the SN. I thank the VLA and Swift scheduling committees for making these ToO observations possible.

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atel_1440

Title: Swift/BAT detects a new outburst from 1E 1145.1-6141 Authors: H. A. Krimm (CRESST/GSFC/USRA), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC),W. Baumgartner (CRESST/GSFC/UMBC), J. Cummings (CRESST/GSFC/UMBC), E. Fenimore (LANL), N. Gehrels (GSFC), C. B. Markwardt (CRESST/GSFC/UMD), D. Palmer (LANL), A. Parsons (GSFC), T. Sakamoto (CRESTT/GSFC/UMBC), G. Sato (GSFC/ISAS), G. Skinner (CRESST/GSFC/UMBC), M. Stamatikos (GSFC/ORAU), J. Tueller (GSFC) Date: 22 Mar 2008; 19:25 UT Provenance: Hans A. Krimm (Hans.Krimm@nasa.gov) Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binary, Transient, Pulsar Description: The Swift/BAT hard X-ray transient monitor reports an outburst from the galactic HMXB source 1E 1145.1-6141. In the daily average for March 21, 2008 (MJD 54546), 1E 1145.1-6141 reached a flux in the 15-50 keV band of 0.037 ± 0.003 counts/sec/cm2, corresponding to 160 mcrab. This is the brightest of the three outbursts seen during the Swift mission above 90 mCrab (Mar 2005, Nov 2006, and now). The last outburst reported in the literature was 130 mcrab seen by INTEGRAL in June 2004 (Bodaghee et al., ATel #290). The source is believed to be an X-ray pulsar. Its normal rate in the BAT is 10-20 mcrab. Swift/BAT Hard X-ray Transient Monitor for 1E 1145.1-6141.

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atel_1525

Title: Continued Radio Non-Detection of SN 2006gy with the VLA at 8.4 and 43 GHz Authors: Michael Bietenholz (Hartebeesthoek Radio Observatory, South Africa and York University, Canada), Norbert Bartel (York University, Canada) Date: 15 May 2008; 16:38 UT Provenance: Michael Bietenholz (mbieten@yorku.ca) Subjects: Radio, Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1657 We continue our VLA monitoring of SN 2006gy, which is among the most luminous supernovae ever seen. On 2008 Feb. 10.0 UT, no radio emission was seen at the optical position with the following 3-sigma upper limits: 8.4 GHz: 0.25 mJy/bm; resolution 1.4", 43 GHz: 0.55 mJy/bm; resolution 0.3". (For our previous upper limits, see Atel 1254.; for other radio upper limits see Argo et al., Atel 1084 and Chandra et al., Atel 1082)

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atel_1625

Title: GASP detection of a bright optical flare and mm-cm activity from the blazar 3C 454.3 Authors: M. Villata and C. M. Raiteri (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, Italy), V. M. Larionov and E. N. Kopatskaya (Astronomical Institute, St.-Petersburg State University, Russia), M. A. Gurwell (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, MA, USA), K. Nilsson and M. Pasanen (Tuorla Observatory, Finland), M. Lister (Purdue University, USA) and the MOJAVE Collaboration, M. F. Aller, A. Arkharov, P. Calcidese, D. Carosati, W. P. Chen, E. Forné, E. Koptelova, P. Leto, and the GASP Collaboration Date: 22 Jul 2008; 11:30 UT Provenance: Claudia M. Raiteri (raiteri@oato.inaf.it) Subjects: Radio, Millimeter, Infra-Red, Optical, AGN, Quasar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1628, 1849, 3003 The GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) reports on the recent observation of a very bright optical flare from the blazar 3C 454.3. After a moderate flare in June 2008, the source rebrightened from R ~ 15 to ~ 13.4 between the end of June and mid July. Noticeable activity has been also observed in the near-IR (Campo Imperatore), at mm wavelengths (SMA), at 43 GHz (Noto) and 14.5 GHz (UMRAO). A VLBA intensity and polarization image of June 25 (MOJAVE) at 15 GHz is shown at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/2cmVLBA/data/2251+158/2008_06_25/2251+158.u.2008_06_25.pcn.jpg

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atel_1750

Title: Spectroscopy of CSS080924:233423+391423: A likely dwarf nova Authors: R. Quimby, A. Rau, E. Ofek, M. Kasliwal, A. Mahabal, A. J. Drake (Caltech), M. Kiewe (Weizmann Inst.) Date: 1 Oct 2008; 01:06 UT Provenance: Robert Quimby (quimby@astro.as.utexas.edu) Subjects: Optical, Cataclysmic Variable, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2654, 5028 We observed the flaring optical transient, CSS080924:233423+391423, discovered by CRTS (ATel #1741), with the Double Beam Spectrograph on the 5-m Palomar Hale Telescope on Sep. 29.16 UT. The spectra (340-1000 nm) reveal numerous emission lines at zero redshift including H-Balmer, HeI, HeII, and CaII H&K features. These features are typical of Galactic dwarf novae. The FWHM measured from the Balmer lines is about 900 km/s. The photometric variations found by CRTS could indicate superhumps from a SU Uma like superoutburst, although the 1.6 mag variations on 10 minute time scales noted at discovery are perhaps atypically large.

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atel_1830

Title: Swift Observation of the Microquasar Cygnus X-3 Authors: G. Stratta (ASDC), F. D'Ammando, Y. Evangelista, M. Tavani (INAF/IASF Roma), N. Gehrels (NASA/GSFC), J. A. Kennea (PSU), G. Pucella, V. Vittorini, E. Costa, M. Feroci, I. Donnarumma, L. Pacciani, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, P. Soffitta, I. Lapshov, M. Rapisarda, S. Sabatini, G. Piano, A. Argan, A. Trois, G. De Paris (INAF/IASF Roma), M. Marisaldi, A. Bulgarelli, F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio, G. Di Cocco, C. Labanti, F. Fuschino, M. Galli (INAF/IASF Bologna), A. Chen, P. Caraveo, A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, A. Pellizzoni, S. Vercellone, F. Perotti, M. Fiorini, A. Zambra (INAF/IASF Milano), G. Barbiellini, F. Longo, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), P. Picozza, A. Morselli (INFN Roma-2), M. Prest (Universita` dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN Roma-1), P. Cattaneo (INFN Pavia), and S. Cutini, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. Santolamazza, S. Colafrancesco, P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti (ASI) Date: 6 Nov 2008; 09:46 UT Provenance: Marco Feroci (marco.feroci@iasf-roma.inaf.it) Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binary Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1839 SWIFT observed the Galactic microquasar Cygnus X-3 following the AGILE detection of the gamma-ray source AGL J2030+4043, whose position is consistent with that of Cygnus X-3 within the AGILE-GRID error box, as reported by Tavani et al. (ATel #1827). Very recently radio observations with the AMI Large Array showed an interesting low flux density of the source, which could precede a major radio flare (Pooley 2008, ATel #1828). SWIFT-XRT started the observation of Cygnus X-3 on 2008-11-04 at 04:44:28 UT. Data were taken in Windowed Timing mode for a total exposure of 5.9 ksec spanning a total of three orbits. During the first orbit (about 3 ksec) the 0.3-10 keV light curve shows an average count rate of 40-60 counts/s. During the second orbit, the count rate initially started at a value near 100 counts/s showing an increase by an additional 40% within a time scale of order of 500 sec. The third orbit shows an average count rate near 90 counts/s. The XRT spectrum in the 2.5-10 keV range during the first orbit can be fitted by an absorbed power law model plus an emission line (pcfabs*(power law + gaussian). Best fit parameters are N_H = (15 +/- 1)E22 cm^-2 with covering factor of 0.93, photon index = 4.0 +/- 0.1, E_line = 6.66 +/- 0.03 keV (sigma = 0.1 keV fixed). The average 2.5-10 keV flux is 3.6E-9 erg cm^-2 s^-1. During the second orbit, data can be fitted by the same model from 2.5 keV up to 9 keV, showing an excess at energies above 9 keV. The emission line is no more visible. Best fit parameters are N_H = (11 +/- 1)E22 cm^-2 and photon index = 3.6 +/- 0.1. The average 2.5-9 keV flux is 9.8E-9 erg cm^-2 s^-1. Compared to the previous SWIFT-XRT observations of Cygnus X-3, in which the 2-10 keV flux ranged between 0.78 and 20.2 E-9 (Moore et al. 2008, ATel #1655), the flux now observed is high with a rapid increase of the activity of the source during the second orbit. Further multifrequency observations of Cygnus X-3 are encouraged

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atel_1920

Title: Swift observes an outburst from the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J16479-4514 Authors: P. Romano (INAF-IASF Palermo), L. Sidoli (INAF-IASF Milano), V. Mangano (INAF-IASF Palermo), J. A. Kennea (PSU), V. La Parola, G. Cusumano, S. Vercellone (INAF-IASF Palermo), K. P. Page (U. Leicester), D. N. Burrows (PSU), N. Gehrels (GSFC) Date: 29 Jan 2009; 17:01 UT Provenance: Pat Romano (romano@ifc.inaf.it) Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, Binary, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 1929 The Swift/BAT caught a new outburst from the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J16479-4514 on January 29 at 06:33:07 UT. The Swift/BAT light curve shows a broad peak with maximum around the trigger time. The time-averaged spectrum from T-419 to T+964 s is best fit by a simple power-law model with a photon index of 2.5+/-0.3 (90% c.l.). The 15-150 keV flux is 2E-9 ergs/cm2/s. Swift slewed to the target, so that the XRT started observing the field at 06:46:46.9 UT, 819.3s after the BAT trigger. The initial WT data (823 to 863 s since the trigger) light curve shows a count rate of 2 to 4 count/s (0.3-10 keV). The following PC data light curve (864-7529 s) shows that the source has declined from 4 to about 0.5 count/s. The PC spectrum, fitted with an absorbed powerlaw model, yields a photon index of 1.00 (-0.25,+0.27) and an absorbing column density of 4.79(-0.88,+1.03)E+22 cm-2. The observed (unabsorbed) 0.3-10 keV flux is 0.9E-10 (1.4E-10) erg/cm2/s. These results are consistent with the ones derived for the previous outburst which occurred on March 19, 2008 (i.e. 315 days ago), recorded by Swift (ATel#1435; Romano et al. 2008, ApJ, 680, L137). Further Swift observations are ongoing.

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atel_2010

Title: CRTS Discovery of a very energetic Type IIn Supernova Authors: A..A. Mahabal, A. J. Drake, S. G. Djorgovski, M. J. Graham, R. Williams, W. Max-Moerbeck (Caltech); M. Catelan (PUC, Chile); E. C. Beshore, S. M. Larson, A. Gibbs, R. Kowalski, A. Boattini, R. Hill (LPL/UA); E. Christensen (Gemini Observatory); V. Mohan, A. N. Ramaprakash, A. K. Kembhavi (IUCAA); Date: 10 Apr 2009; 22:45 UT Provenance: Ashish Mahabal (aam@astro.caltech.edu) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2029, 2149 The Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) has spectroscopically characterized CSS080928:160837+041626 (ATel 1768) as a Type IIn SN at z~0.041 using the SMARTS 1.5m telescope using Observations taken on March 27th UT with the following results: ID| RA| Dec | Type| z| Disc. ATel ---|---|---|---|---|--- CSS080928:160837+041626| 16:08:37.23| 04:16:26.7| IIn | 0.041 | ATEL#1768 The object was first marked as a transient by CRTS on 2008-09-28 (unfiltered mag=17.7). It was also present in the 2007-09-13 images, but blended with the brighter star nearby and hence not detected as a transient. Palomar-Quest images from 2007-02-24 do not reveal the presence of the SN. GALEX data from 2008-06-05 shows a well-detected source at this location (NUV 19.93+/-0.04, FUV 21.18+/-0.09). It was not seen in AIS images from 2004-05-17 indicating a brightening in NUV by at least 2.5 mags. Coadded images from SDSS (all filters) reveal the presence of a possible faint host at the location. Assuming that the galaxy has r=23, at z=0.041 it translates to M_r=~-13, almost a 100 times dimmer than the LMC. Palomar 60-inch (P60) data form 2009-03-21 reveals that it is still bright (r=17.60+/-0.04). It has stayed bright for over 500 days, and rising much of the time. In fact the SMARTS spectrum with its Balmer lines (strong H-alpha, H-beta, H-gamma), He I lines (5876, 7065 and possibly others), and an absence of Oxygen lines reveals it to be much more like SN1994Y at T=30 days (Filipenko A.V., ARAA, 1997, 35, 309-355, Fig. 14). There is also some evidence of Fe-I emission and the H-beta shows a P-Cygni like profile. The maximum P60 r-band magnitude was ~17.2 suggesting an absolute magnitude ~-18.8. The evidence is consistent with a type IIn supernova possibly with high density circumstellar material. Additional observations are requested. All current candidate and confirmed SNe as well as finding charts can be found here.

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atel_2070

Title: VLA Radio observations of Type IIn supernova SN 2009fs Authors: Poonam Chandra (RMC, Canada), Alicia Soderberg (CfA, Harvard) Date: 8 Jun 2009; 20:09 UT Provenance: Poonam Chandra (pc8s@virginia.edu) Subjects: Radio, Nova, Supernovae Description: We observed the Type IIn SN 2009fs (CBET 1829) in UGC 11205 with the Very Large Array on 2009 Jun 7.47 UT at 8.46 GHz band. We do not detect any radio counterpart of the SN. We place a 3-sigma radio upper limit of 0.18 mJy in 8.46 GHz band at the optical SN position. We thank the VLA staff for making these observations possible.

A

atel_2150

Title: Strong Millimeter-Band Flaring of 3C454.3 Underway Authors: Mark A. Gurwell (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, MA, USA) Date: 6 Aug 2009; 14:17 UT Provenance: Mark A. Gurwell (mgurwell@cfa.harvard.edu) Subjects: Millimeter, Sub-Millimeter, Request for Observations, AGN, Quasar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2155, 2181, 2200, 2223 The Submillimeter Array (SMA) performs ongoing flux density monitoring of quasars that are typically bright in the mm/submm bands, in order to optimally choose quasars for use as interferometric calibration sources. Through this monitoring effort, we report that the quasar 3C454.3 (J2253+161) is currently flaring strongly at millimeter wavelengths. After reaching 1.3 mm band flux densities of 27 +/- 1.8 Jy on October 3 2008, the quasar showed a substantial long term drop in intensity, reaching a measured nadir of 3 +/- 0.2 Jy on April 3, 2009 (though observations in 2009 are particularly sparse prior to May, and it is possible that the source dipped below 3 Jy during this time). We note that this drop in millimeter flux density is strongly correlated with a drop in the gamma ray intensity as measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) monitoring program (see http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/data/access/lat/msl_lc/ ). Since April, 3C454.3 has been steadily increasing in 1.3 mm band flux density, nearly doubling by July 10 (to 5.4 +/- 0.3 Jy), equivalent to a growth rate of about 4.3% per week. However, monitoring observations over the past 25 days show a dramatic increase in the rate of brightening. On August 3, the flux density was measured to be 10.3 +/- 0.6 Jy, and on August 4 the flux density had grown to 11.3 +/- 1.1 Jy, equivalent to a growth rate of 21-23% per week; this is over 5 times the rate seen in the preceding three month period. Figures showing SMA measurements of 3C454.3 in 2009, including the current flare, as well as observations over the past 5 years (including the major flares of 2005, 2007, and 2008) can be accessed at the link provided at the bottom of this ATel. Past flares (e.g. 2005, 2007, 2008) have typically proceeded for several weeks, followed by a variably-long period of relatively steady flux density, finally succumbing with a rapid decrease to a background state near 3 Jy. This suggests that 3C454.3 may continue to brighten in the millimeter (and submillimeter) bands in the weeks to come. Fermi LAT monitoring, as provided through the website above, may also have detected an increase in gamma ray intensity when looking at the weekly averaged light curve (see http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/glast/data/lat/catalogs/asp/current/lightcurves/3C454.3_604800.png ) that could be related to this millimeter flare. It is our opinion that increased monitoring of the source at all wavelengths is warranted as this flare progresses. [The Submillimeter Array is a joint project between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and is funded by the Smithsonian Institution (USA) and the Academia Sinica (Taiwan).] Submillimeter Array Observations of a 3C454.3 Millimeter-Band Flare

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atel_2220

Title: XMM-Newton gives spectral modeling and updated ephemeris of the Accreting Millisecond Pulsar IGR J17511-3057 Authors: A. Papitto, A. Riggio (INAF OAC), L. Burderi (Univ. Cagliari), T. Di Salvo, A. D'Aì, R. Iaria (Univ. Palermo), M. T.Menna (INAF OAR) Date: 1 Oct 2009; 19:06 UT Provenance: Alessandro Papitto (papitto@oa-roma.inaf.it) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient, Pulsar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2221, 2232 We report on an XMM-Newton Director Discretionary Time ToO observation of the newly discovered Accreting Millisecond Pulsar IGR J17511-3057 (ATEL #2196, #2197, #2198, #2199, and #2215) during its ongoing outburst. XMM-Newton spotted the source for 70 ks starting on 2009 Sep 21.01. The EPIC MOS1 camera, operated in Small Window mode, allowing a precise estimate of the source position: RA = 17 51 08.55 DEC = -30 57 41.7 affected by an uncertainty of 1.1 arcsec. This estimate is consistent with the one obtained from a Chandra observation (ATEL #2215) The absorbed flux of the persistent emission of the source is 2.8(4)E-10 erg cm^-2 s^-1 (2-10 keV). A preliminary analysis of the EPIC pn spectrum shows it is consistent with being fitted by a model composed of a multicolor disk black body ( kTin=0.13(1) keV ), a single temperature black body ( kT=0.73(6)keV ) and a power law of index 1.71(5). The slope of the power law is almost consistent with the value (1.8) estimated by the PCA on board RXTE at the beginning of the outburst (ATEL #2197). Modeling of the ISM absorption indicates an nH equal to 1.16(4)E22 cm^-2. A 6.7keV fluorescence Iron line is barely detected. Errors on flux estimates and spectral parameters are quoted at 90% confidence level. The 245 Hz pulsation first reported by RXTE (ATEL #2197) is clearly detected throughout the observation. Using the best available position estimate given by Chandra (ATEL #2215), a timing analysis reveals the source is spinning at a frequency of 244.8339512(1) Hz. Analysis of the Doppler shifts caused by the orbital motion leads to the following ephemeris: P_orb=12487.51(2) s a sini/c=0.275196(4) lt-s T*=55094.9695351(7) MJD where P_orb is the orbital period of the source, a sini/c is the projected semi-major axis of the neutron star orbit and T* is the epoch of passage of the neutron star at the ascending node of the orbit. The errors in parentheses on the spin and orbital parameters are given at the 1 sigma level. The orbital solution we found is perfectly consistent with the one obtained from RXTE measurements (ATEL #2197). Two type I X-ray burst are also evident in the X-ray light curve, peaking at fluxes of 1.1(1)E-08 erg/s/cm^2 (2-10 keV). We confirm the detection of burst oscillations made by Watts et al. (ATEL #2199). The burst oscillations we observed thanks to XMM-Newton have the very same frequency of the 'persistent' oscillations, and are also phase locked to them. We thank Dr.N.Schartel and the XMM-Newton Team who made this ToO observation possible.

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atel_2280

Title: GBM detection of XTE J1752-223 to above 100 keV Authors: C. A. Wilson-Hodge (NASA/MSFC), A. Camero-Arranz (FECYT/NSSTC), G. Case (LSU), V. Chaplin, V. Connaughton (UAH) for the GBM Earth occultation team Date: 4 Nov 2009; 16:58 UT Provenance: Colleen A. Wilson (Colleen.Wilson@nasa.gov) Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Binary, Black Hole Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2630 The new transient black hole candidate XTE J1752-223 (ATel. #2258; see also ATels. #2259, #2261, #2263, #2268, #2269, #2278), is also detected using the Earth occultation technique with the Gamma Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on Fermi. We detect the source to above 100 keV, with a mean 100-300 keV flux for 2009 Oct 30 - November 2 of 740+/-120 mCrab. The transient rose from undetectable on 2009 October 24 to 560+/-55 mCrab (12-25 keV), 510+/-80 mCrab (25-50 keV), 970+/-120 mCrab (50-100 keV), and 770+/-230 mCrab (100-300 keV) on 2009 November 2. The light curve is variable, especially in the 12-25 keV band, where the flux initially rose to about 240 mCrab (2009 Oct 25-28), suddenly dropped below the detection threshold on 2009 October 29-30, and then rose again 2009 October 31 to November 2. GBM light curve for XTE J1752-223

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atel_2340

Title: VLA Radio observations of Type IIn supernova SN 2009mb Authors: Poonam Chandra (RMC, Canada), Alicia Soderberg (CfA, Harvard) Date: 8 Dec 2009; 12:30 UT Provenance: Poonam Chandra (pc8s@virginia.edu) Subjects: Supernovae Description: We observed the Type IIn supernova SN 2009mb (CBET 2059) with the Very Large Array on 2009 December 07.36 UT at 8.46 GHz band. We do not detect any radio counterpart of the supernova. The peak flux at the optical SN position in 8.46 GHz band is 5+/-48 uJy. We thank the VLA staff for making these observations possible.

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atel_2425

Title: MAXI/GSC detects an increase in X-ray flux from 4U 1711-34 Authors: H. Negoro (Nihon U.), M. Sugizaki, T. Yamamoto, T. Mihara, M. Kohama, Y. E. Nakagawa, T. Saotome (RIKEN), M. Matsuoka, K. Kawasaki, S. Ueno, H. Tomida, M. Suzuki, M. Ishikawa (JAXA), N. Kawai, M. Morii, K. Sugimori (Tokyo Tech.), A. Yoshida, K. Yamaoka, S. Nakahira (AGU), H. Tsunemi, M. Kimura (Osaka U.), M. Nakajima, R. Ishiwata, S. Miyoshi, H. Ozawa (Nihon U.), Y. Ueda, N. Isobe, S. Eguchi, K. Hiroi (Kyoto U.), A. Daikyuji (Univ. of Miyazaki), A. Uzawa, T. Matsumura, K. Yamazaki (Chuo U.) on behalf of the MAXI team. Date: 6 Feb 2010; 12:20 UT Provenance: Mutsumi Sugizaki (sugizaki@riken.jp) Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 9807 MAXI/GSC detected an outburst of a transient X-ray burster, 4U 1711-34 (=2S 1711-339), beginning from 2010-02-03 (MJD=55230). Observations of its previous outbursts in March 2004 (ATEL #255) and the potential quiescent counterpart (ATEL #233, #238, #244) were reported. The fluxes averaged per day in the 1.5-10 keV band were 7+-3 mCrab on 2010-02-03 and 18+-3.5 mCrab on 2010-02-04 (errors represent 1-sigma statistical uncertainty). It had been below the 4-sigma detection sensitivity limit of 10 mCrab per day until 2010-02-02. RXTE PCA Galactic Center observations also detected the increased flux on 2010-02-04 (ref. http://lheawww.gsfc.nasa.gov/users/craigm/galscan/html/4U_1711-34.html ). The MAXI lightcurve and image of the source are updated daily at the following URL: http://maxi.riken.jp/sourcelist.html

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atel_2525

Title: Observations with the ATCA of the brightest known radio hard state in GX 339-4 Authors: S. Corbel (Univ. Paris Diderot & CEA Saclay), J. Broderick (Univ. Southampton), C. Brocksopp (MSSL), T. Tzioumis (ATNF), R. Fender (Univ. Southampton). Date: 30 Mar 2010; 12:33 UT Provenance: S. CORBEL (corbel@discovery.saclay.cea.fr) Subjects: Radio, Infra-Red, Optical, X-ray, Gamma Ray, Request for Observations, Black Hole, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2547, 2745, 3191, 3383 The recurrent black hole candidate GX 339-4 has entered a new outburst early this year (ATel #2380). It has continuously been observed in the hard state (ATel #2384, #2455, #2459), that is typically observed in the rising part of the outburst. Since its reactivation, we have been monitoring GX 339-4 very frequently in radio with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the new CABB back-end (mostly at 5.5 GHz and 9 GHz). The last observations conducted on 2010 March 28 show flux densities of the order of 20 mJy with an inverted radio spectrum (spectral index in the range: +0.1 to +0.2), typical of the powerful self-absorbed compact jets observed in the hard state. This is the brightest level of radio emission ever found for GX 339-4 in the hard state (e.g. Corbel et al. 2003, A&A, 400, 1007) and possibly also for any black hole in the hard state. As GX 339-4 may continue to rise in the hard state for a while (Wu et al. 2019, A&A, 512, 32, but see also ATel #2523 ), it should also continue to rise at radio frequencies. Further multi-wavelength observations, with X-ray, optical and infrared observations (including high time resolution observations), are strongly encouraged in order to probe the contributions of jets at all wavelengths in black holes.

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atel_2600

Title: Discovery of a New Supernova by the Palomar Transient Factory Authors: P. Nugent (LBNL), S. Bradley Cenko, A. M. Miller, D. Poznanski, J. S. Bloom, A. V. Filippenko (UC Berkeley), M. Sullivan (Oxford), D. A. Howell (LCOGT/UCSB), R. M. Quimby, E. O. Ofek, M. M. Kasliwal, S. R. Kulkarni (Caltech), N. M. Law (U. Toronto), R. G. Dekany, G. Rahmer, David Hale, R. Smith, J. Zolkower, V. Velur, R. Walters, J. Henning, K. Bui, D. McKenna (Caltech), and J. Jacobsen (LBNL) Date: 6 May 2010; 22:14 UT Provenance: Peter Nugent (penugent@lbl.gov) Subjects: Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2659 On 2010 May 6.206 UT, data acquired with the Palomar Transient Factory Project (ATEL#1964) were reduced in nearly real-time by the automated subtraction pipeline at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. A source at position RA(J2000) = 12:49:22.81 and DEC(J2000) = -06:23:51.3 at a magnitude of 20.2 in R-band (calibrated with respect to the USNO catalog) was identified at May 6.315 by an autonomous inspection code which classified the source as a likely supernova, marking up the source as PTF10guz. Nothing was seen at this location to a 3-sigma limiting magnitude of 20.6 on May 3.202 UT. Robotized follow-up imaging with the Palomar 60-inch telescope and PAIRITEL was triggered upon the autonomous discovery. A spectrum was obtained using the Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS; Oke et al. 1995, PASP, 107, 375) on the Keck I 10-m telescope at May 6.335, revealing the source to be a peculiar Type Ia supernova at a redshift z of 0.18, near peak brightness. The spectrum is similar to that of SNLS-03D3bb and SN 2006gz, indicating that this SN may belong to the class of Type Ia supernovae that are suspected to arise from super-Chandrasekhar mass progenitors: it has little Ca II (and the blue Ca II feature is narrow), and evidence for C II. In addition, the host galaxy is undetected to a limiting magnitude of 23.1 in co-additions of prior imaging from PTF. At z = 0.18, the SN is approximately at absolute magnitude -19.7 (the host being fainter than -16.6), but based on the blueness of the spectrum and its features, it may not yet have reached maximum light.

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atel_2650

Title: Swift observations of Circinus X-1 Authors: A. Papitto (INAF-OAC), A. D'Ai' (Univ. Palermo), E. Bozzo (ISDC), R. Iaria, T. Di Salvo (Univ. Palermo,) Date: 28 May 2010; 20:54 UT Provenance: Luciano Burderi (burderi@mporzio.astro.it) Subjects: X-ray, Request for Observations, Binary, Neutron Star Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2651, 2653, 2671, 2674, 13557 After the recent detection of an X-ray brightening (ATel #2608), Swift has observed the LMXB, Cir X-1, starting on 2010 May 27.827 (UTC; MJD 55343.826), for a total exposure time of 4.5ks. Considering the ephemeris calculated by Clarkson et al. 2004, the Swift observations we report here took place in the proximity of the predicted epoch of the X-ray dip (MJD 55346.7+/-2.8). During this interval the Swift XRT count-rate was stable within 20% from the average. A 0.5-10 keV spectrum is extracted from Swift XRT data taken in Windowed Timing mode, considering only grade 0 events. The spectrum is dominated by a thermal component with energy kT_1=1.48+/-0.02 keV. A soft excess is indeed clearly visible below 1.5 keV. We successfully model it with a second thermal component (kT_2=0.074+/-0.001 keV), coming from a much wider region than the hotter blackbody. The best fitting absorption column density is nH=(2.14+/-0.05)E22 cm2. The 2-10 keV unabsorbed flux is 9.4+/-0.1 E-10 erg cm-2 s-1 (0.04 Crab). Considering also the values given by Linares et al. 2010 (ATel #2643), this measurement is consistent with the known variations of the X-ray flux along the 16.6 d orbital cycle, even if a source fading on a longer timescale cannot be excluded. No type I X-ray burst is detected during the Swift coverage (see Linares et al. 2010, ATel #2643). In the proximity of the Swift observation we report here, RXTE caught other three bursts with respect to those reported in ATel #2643. The onset of these bursts happened at MJD 55343.354, 55343.757 and 55344.205, respectively. None was simultaneous to the Swift pointing, and no manifest periodic signal is present in the (non barycentred) light curves. Swift will keep monitoring the source activity in the following days, to enlighten the source spectral variations along the binary orbital cycle. We thank the Swift team for promptly scheduling this Target of Opportunity Observation.

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atel_2775

Title: XTE J1752-223 has faded to quiescence: optical and infrared magnitudes Authors: D. M. Russell (University of Amsterdam), T. Muñoz Darias (INAF - Brera Observatory), F. Lewis (Open University, University of Glamorgan), P. Soleri (Groningen) Date: 6 Aug 2010; 15:30 UT Provenance: David M. Russell (D.M.Russell@uva.nl) Subjects: Infra-Red, Optical, X-ray, Binary, Black Hole, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2804, 2805, 2818 We have been regularly monitoring the outburst decay of the black hole candidate X-ray binary XTE J1752-223 (discovered by RXTE; ATel #2258) with the 2-m Faulkes Telescopes North and South (located at Haleakala on Maui and Siding Spring, Australia, respectively). Exposures in B, V, R and i'-bands (mostly 100-sec exposures each) were taken every ~ 3 days since 2010-03-22 (MJD 55277). The optical counterpart (ATels #2263, #2268, #2424) is detected up until 2010-07-15 (MJD 55392), after which detections become ambiguous due to close field stars in this crowded region of the Galactic plane. Our light curves are linked below. XTE J1752-223 initially faded slowly from B ~ 19.7, V ~ 18.2, R ~ 17.2, i' ~ 16.2 at the start of our campaign, dropping by ~ 0.8 mag in two months, with evidence for variability on day-timescales (changes up to ~ 0.4 mag in a few days). During this time the source made a transition from the soft state to the hard state (ATels #2518, #2530, #2549) and the synchrotron jet may thereafter make a contribution to the optical and infrared flux. XTE J1752-223 then maintained a ~ constant flux for 1.5 months until ~ 2010-06-27, then faded rapidly (by ~ 2 mag in 18 days), finally reaching V = 21.2 +- 0.3, R = 19.8 +- 0.2, i' ~ 18.9 +- 0.2 by 2010-07-15 (and B = 20.9 +- 0.2 on 2010-07-02, after which it was not detected in B-band). On 2010-07-15 the seeing was 0.9 arcsec, and we are able to resolve the counterpart from a nearby faint star just 0.8 arcsec to the north. Finding charts are linked below. It is uncertain whether the source had reached its quiescent flux level by 2010-07-15 or continued to fade, although the magnitudes a few days later on 2010-07-19 were slightly brighter and images on 2010-08-04 and 2010-08-05 show some faint residual flux at the position of the counterpart, but which includes flux from the close faint star. The quiescent magnitudes of XTE J1752-223 are therefore B >= 20.9 +- 0.2; V >= 21.2 +- 0.3; R >= 19.8 +- 0.2; i' >= 18.9 +- 0.2. This is > 4.2 mag fainter than the V-band magnitude measured near the peak of the outburst, V ~ 16.7 (Curran et al. 2010). On 2010-07-01 we observed XTE J1752-223 in the near-infrared with the Long-slit Intermediate Resolution Infrared Spectrograph (LIRIS) in imaging polarimetry mode on the 4.2-m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, Spain. Conditions were excellent with a seeing of 0.6 - 0.8 arcsec. Images were reduced and combined; the total on source exposure times were 240 sec in H-band and 360 sec in Ks-band. The source was detected and the faint star 0.8 arcsec to the north was resolved from XTE J1752-223 (see finding charts linked below). Magnitudes were estimated using 2MASS stars in the field, yielding H = 15.6 +- 0.1; Ks = 15.2 +- 0.1 for XTE J1752-223. The Faulkes Telescope observations are part of an ongoing monitoring campaign of ~ 30 low-mass X-ray binaries (Lewis et al. 2008, arXiv:0712.2751). The Faulkes Telescope Project is an educational and research arm of the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGTN). The William Herschel Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. DMR acknowledges support from a Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) Veni Fellowship. FL acknowledges support from the Dill Faulkes Educational Trust. Light curves and finding charts of XTE J1752-223

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atel_2875

Title: INTEGRAL detection of the new MAXI transient MAXI J1659-152 Authors: I. Vovk (ISDC-University of Geneva), E. Kuulkers (ESA/ESAC, Spain), J. Alfonso-Garzón (LAEX-CAB/INTA-CSIC, Spain), V. Beckmann (APC, France) , E. Bozzo (ISDC, Switzerland), T. Bird (Southampton, UK), S. Brandt (DTU Space, Denmark) J. Chenevez (DTU Space, Denmark), T. Courvoisier (ISDC, Switzerland), M. Del Santo (INAF/IASF-Roma, Italy), A. Domingo (LAEX-CAB/INTA-CSIC, Spain), K. Ebisawa (ISAS, Japan), P. Jonker (SRON, The Netherlands), P. Kretschmar (ESA/ESAC, Spain), C. Markwardt (GSFC, USA), T. Oosterbroek (ESA/ESTEC, The Netherlands), A. Paizis (INAF-IASF, Italy), K. Pottschmidt (UMBC/NASA GSFC, USA), C. Sánchez-Fernández (ESA/ESAC, Spain), R. Wijnands (UvA, The Netherlands) Date: 27 Sep 2010; 10:59 UT Provenance: Nami Mowlavi (Nami.Mowlavi@obs.unige.ch) Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Binary, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2880, 2881, 2884, 2888, 2890 During the observations of the Galactic bulge program (see ATel #438), performed from 2010 September 25 at 20:51:11 to 2010 September 26 at 00:32:57, INTEGRAL detected hard X-ray emission from a position consistent with that of the newly discovered transient MAXI J1659-152 (GCN #11299, GCN #11296, and ATel #2873), also detected in the radio band (ATel #2874) at 4.8 GHz. The source is detected at 17 sigma in the IBIS/ISGRI mosaic image (20-40 keV energy band), and the best determined source coordinates are RA=254.746 DEC=-15.250 (J2000). The estimated error is 1.6 arcmin (90 % c.l.). The source is also detected in the 40-80 keV energy band at a significance of 11 sigma. The ISGRI spectrum (total exposure time is 5.2 ks) is best fit with a simple power-law model with photon index 2.2 +/- 0.3 at 90% c.l. The estimated flux in the 20-100 keV energy band is 4.1E-9 erg/cm^2/s (~250 mCrab). The source was outside the JEM-X FOV during the whole duration of the observations. Further observations of the region around the transient source are currently planned for 2010 September 29 at 03:22:44 as part of the Galactic bulge monitoring program. Galactic Bulge monitoring program web-page

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atel_2940

Title: INTEGRAL and RXTE spectral analysis of IGR J17480-2446, the new transient in Terzan 5. Authors: C. Ferrigno (ISDC/University of Geneva), S. Brandt (DTU Space, Denmark), E. Kuulkers (ESA/ESAC), P. Bordas (ISDC/IAAT), E. Bozzo (ISDC/Univeristy of Geneva), J. Chenevez (DTU Space, Denmark), C. Kouveliotou (NASA/MSFC), A. J. van der Horst (NASA/MSFC/ORAU), on behalf of a larger collaboration Date: 15 Oct 2010; 09:07 UT Provenance: Nami Mowlavi (Nami.Mowlavi@obs.unige.ch) Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient, Pulsar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 2946, 2952, 2958, 2974, 3000, 3892 During the ongoing INTEGRAL ToO observation of MAXI J1659-152, IBIS/ISGRI detected again the recently discovered X-ray transient located in the direction of Terzan 5 (ATels #2919, #2920, #2922 ,#2924, #2929, #2932, #2933, #2937, #2939). An association of the source with the transient LMXB EXO 1745-248 was initially suggested (ATels #2919, #2920), but this was considered less likely after the reanalysis of archival Chandra and RXTE observations (ATels #2933, #2937). Since the transient was first reported using INTEGRAL data (ATel #2919), we suggest to name it IGR J17480-2446.  The IBIS/ISGRI spectrum of IGR J17480-2446 obtained from the latest available INTEGRAL data (from 2010 October 13 at 20:18 to 2010 October 15 at 00:05) can be reasonably well described in the 20-80 keV energy range by a power-law with photon index 5.2+/-0.3 (at 90% c.l., chi^2/d.o.f.=1.1/5). The estimated 20-40 keV flux is 6.3e-10 erg/cm^2/s (effective exposure time of 43 ks at large off-axis angles of 12-14 degrees). These results can be compared with the previous INTEGRAL observations performed on 2010 Oct 10 and 2010 Oct 11 (ATels #2919, #2924), when the 20-40 keV fluxes were respectively 3.4e-10 erg/s/cm^2 and 4.8e-10 erg/s/cm^2, and the power-law index 2.6+/-0.2 and 2.4+/-0.2. We also analyzed the RXTE/PCA observations performed on 2010-10-13 at 00:13 UTC and on 2010-10-14 between 04:23 and 08:42 UT, excluding the eclipse and the Type I X-ray burst (ATels #2929, #2932, #2939). The broad band spectrum can be fitted using a multi-component model: photoelectric absorption fixed at the value 0.5e22 cm^-2 (found using Swift/XRT, ATel #2922), a black-body, a cut-off power-law and a broad Gaussian line centered at 6.6 keV due to the contamination from the Galactic ridge emission. The evolution of the spectral parameters evidences 1) a similar black-body temperature in the two observations, respectively kT=(1.3+/-0.2) keV and kT=(1.1+/-0.1) keV 2) an increased contribution of the black-body emission with an effective emitting radius passing from (3.2+/-0.8) km to (8.8+/-1.3) km for a 10 kpc distance, 3) a lowering of the cut-off energy from (12.2+/-1.4) keV to (5.0 +/-0.2) keV, 4) a hardening of the spectral index from 0.6+/-0.2 to 0.20+/-0.12, 5) an increase of the 3-20 keV flux from (2.8e-9+/-0.2e-9) erg/s/cm^2 to (8.4e-9+/-0.3e-9) erg/s/cm^2. The INTEGRAL observation reported here is contemporary to the second RXTE observation and the joint spectral fitting evidences a good agreement of the two data-set, confirming that IGR J17480-2446 is probably passing from a hard to a soft state, while still in the raising part of the outburst. A more in-depth analysis of the type-I X-ray burst observed with the JEM-X monitor on board INTEGRAL (ATel #2924) revealed the presence at 3.2 sigma c.l. of burst oscillations during the ~20 s following the burst on-set at the barycentric corrected frequency of 11.04+/-0.01 Hz, in agreement with the result reported in ATel #2932. Further INTEGRAL observation of the FOV around the source will be performed on 2010 October 16 at 19:21:40.

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atel_3050

Title: Fermi LAT detection of increasing gamma-ray flux from B2 1520+31 Authors: David Sanchez (LLR/Ecole Polytechnique/CNRS/IN2P3) on behalf of the Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration Date: 22 Nov 2010; 20:23 UT Provenance: Berrie Giebels (berrie@poly.in2p3.fr) Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, AGN, Blazar Description: The Large Area Telescope (LAT), one of the two instruments on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, has detected enhancement of the gamma-ray flux of a source positionally consistent with the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar B2 1520+31 (RA: 15 22 09.99 , Dec: +31 44 14.4 , J2000, A. J. Beasley et al. 2002, ApJS, 41, 13 ) with a redshift of z=1.487 (D. Sowards-Emmerd et al. 2005, ApJ, 626, 95). Preliminary analysis indicates that the source flux was (1.8±0.3)x10-6 photons cm-2 s-1 (E>100 MeV, where errors are statistical only) on November 18. The source was still at a high activity state on November 19, 20 and 21, with a decreasing flux of (1.3 ± 0.3)x10-6 photons cm-2 s-1. This flux is a factor 100 greater than reported in the first year LAT Catalog (1FGL J1522.1+3143, Abdo et al. 2010, ApJS 188, 405). In consideration of the ongoing activity of this source, we strongly encourage multiwavelength observations. The Fermi-LAT already detected a flaring episode on April 2009 (ATel #2026) during which the source reached a lower daily flux of (1.0±0.3)x10-6 photons cm-2s-1 Because Fermi operates in an all-sky scanning mode, regular gamma-ray monitoring of this source will continue. The Fermi LAT contact people for this source is Dario Gasparrini (dario.gasparrini@asdc.asi.it). The Fermi LAT is a pair conversion telescope designed to cover the energy band from 20 MeV to greater than 300 GeV. It is the product of an international collaboration between NASA and DOE in the U.S. and many scientific institutions across France, Italy, Japan and Sweden.

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atel_3150

Title: The optical and near-infrared counterpart to IGR J17091-3624 Authors: M. A.P. Torres (SRON/CfA), P. G. Jonker (SRON/CfA/RU), D. Steeghs (Warwick/CfA), J. S. Mulchaey (Carnegie) Date: 8 Feb 2011; 10:28 UT Provenance: Manuel Torres (mtorres@cfa.harvard.edu) Subjects: Infra-Red, Optical, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 3159, 3167, 3913, 4773, 8795 We report the detection of the optical and near-infrared counterparts to the X-ray transient IGR J17091-3624 (Kuulkers et al. 2003, ATel #149). This finding is based on optical observations of the currently ongoing outburst (Krimm et al. 2011, ATel #3144, #3148) as well as optical and near-infrared pre-outburst images. All epochs of imaging were acquired with the 6.5m Magellan Baade telescope at LCO. OPTICAL IMAGING: Our outburst observations consist of two 180s I-band images obtained during 2011 Feb 6 08:47-08:56 UT using the IMACS imaging spectrograph. The frames were acquired with an image quality of 0.7 arcsec and a projected pixel scale of 0.20 arcsec/pixel. The field of IGR J17091-3624 was also imaged with similar integration times, image quality and instrumental set-up on 2005 April 9 UT when following the outburst of the X-ray transient IGR J17098-3628 (see Steeghs et al. 2005, ATel #478, #494). At that time IGR J17091-3624 was in quiescence. An astrometric calibration of the data sets was performed using 2MASS objects in the field of view. This delivered a positional RMS < 0.1 arcsec. No flux standards were observed during the nights. The instrumental magnitudes derived from PSF-photometry have been calibrated assuming I=17.12 for the USNO B1.0 object 0535-0482649. We searched for counterpart candidates within the 3.6 arcsec Swift X-ray position for IGR J17091-3624 (Kennea et al. 2007, ATel #1140) by comparing the two epochs of imaging. Our 2011 outburst images show a I = 18.35 +/- 0.03 mag point-like source at R.A (J2000)=17:09:07.62, Dec (J2000)=-36:24:25.35. The 2005 images show this object at I = 20.32 +/- 0.02 (see finding chart). The positional coincidence within the Swift error circle and apparent variability does support this source as the optical counterpart for IGR J17091-3624. NEAR-INFRARED IMAGING: Our pre-outburst data consist of a series of 15s Ks-band images totalling 225s on source and acquired on 2008 Jun 23 05:16-05:27 UT with the PANIC camera. The observations were performed during good sky conditions with 0.45 arcsec imaging quality. Additional 3s exposures were acquired to derive an astrometric and absolute flux calibration of the data using 2MASS objects in the field of view. This delivered a positional RMS < 0.1 arcsec and a photometric zero point accuracy of ~ 0.1 mag. Visual inspection shows an infrared source consistent with the optical counterpart and with the Ks=16.65 candidate infrared counterpart 'C2' reported in Chaty et al. (2008,A&A,484,783). PSF-fitting reveals that this object is actually two unresolved point-like sources of similar brightness and separated by 0.4 arcsec. The brighter of these two is the true infrared counterpart to IGR J17091-3624 (it matches the astrometric position reported above) and has Ks=16.98 +/- 0.04. The other source NE of IGR J17091-3624 is likely a field star with Ks=17.19 +/- 0.04. Our outburst imaging has allowed us to securely identify the optical and near-infrared counterpart to the recurrent transient IGR J17091-3624. The detection in quiescence offers the opportunities to study this X-ray binary in more detail. Finding Chart

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atel_3240

Title: MASTER SN candidate in PGC1539979 discovery Authors: D. Cheryasov, E. Gorbovskoy, P, Balanutsa, V. Lipunov,,V. Kornilov, A. Belinski, N. Shatskiy, N. Tyurina, D. Kuvshinov, V. Chazov, A. Kuznetsov, D. Zimnukhov, M. Kornilov (SAI, Moscow), A. Tlatov, A. V. Parhomenko, D. Dormidontov (Kislovodsk solar station of the Pulkovo observatory RAS), V. Yurkov, I. Kudelina ,Yu. Sergienko, D. Varda (Blagoveshchensk Educational University), V. Krushinski, I. Zalozhnih, A. Popov (Ural State University), K. Ivanov, S. Yazev, N. Budnev, E. Konstantinov, O. Chuvalaev, V. Poleschuk, O. Gres,(Irkutsk State University) , V. Shumkov, S. Shurpakov (MASTER team member) Date: 28 Mar 2011; 09:43 UT Provenance: Vladimir Lipunov (lipunov2007@gmail.com) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient Description: The MASTER auto-detection system at Kislovodsk detected a new transient source as the SN candidate at the position (R.A., Dec) = 08h 39m 18.37s, +17d 43m 15s.9, (J2000) with a typical uncertainty of 0.5" (offset is 20.7E 11.4S from PGC1539979 galaxy) at 2011-03-26.76 (UT). The OT is seen at 3 images. There is no minor planet and any object brighter 21 mag in DSS at this place. The unfiltered magnitude is about 18.90+-0.4 ( exposition 180s, mag limit =20.0). The spectral observations are needed. The discovery image is available atSN110328/sn.jpg"> http://observ.pereplet.ru/images/SN110328/sn.jpg MASTER Robotic Net

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atel_3360

Title: Broad-band radio behaviour of flaring blazar 4C+38.41 Authors: E. Angelakis, L. Fuhrmann, I. Nestoras, R. Schmidt, J. A. Zensus, T. P. Krichbaum (F-GAMMA team, MPIfR, Bonn, Germany), H. Ungerechts, A. Sievers, D. Riquelme (IRAM, Granada, Spain) Date: 18 May 2011; 15:11 UT Provenance: Emmanouil Angelakis (angelaki@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de) Subjects: Radio, Millimeter, Infra-Red, Gamma Ray, AGN, Black Hole, Blazar, Quasar, Variables Description: Referred to by ATel #: 3483 Broad-band radio behaviour of flaring blazar 4C+38.41 Following the recent flaring activity of 4C38.41 (J1635+3808, RA= 16:35:15.5, DEC:+38:08:04.5, J2000) reported at NIR band with ATel #3238 and #3335 and gamma-rays with ATel #3333, we here report on the recent activity of the source at radio bands. The reported activity in the high energy bands seems to be taking place during a long-term increasing trend at cm/mm wavelengths. The source has been observed with the Effelsberg 100-m and the IRAM 30-m telescope, since January and late March 2007, respectively. Since then, it has been showing a persistent, long-term increasing trend until May 2011, dominant at all wavelengths. Indicatively, at 4.85 GHz (60 mm) the flux density increased from 2.8 Jy on Jan. 29, 2007 to 3.5 Jy on May 1, 2011 and at 32 GHz (9 mm) from roughly 2 Jy on Feb. 24, 2007 to 3.6 Jy on May 5, 2011.The 4-year long light curves of the source can be found here. Interestingly, the frequencies below 23 GHz show a flattening / mild decrease over the last months. The long term trend can also be seen in the temporal evolution of the spectrum, which appears rather flat as it can be seen here with some short-term fluctuations propagating from the mm bands towards longer cm wavelengths. No sign of a quiescent, optically thin spectrum is visible in F-GAMMA single dish data. The F-GAMMA program will continue monitoring the source as part of its regular sample. Future events will be reported accordingly. F-GAMMA program: F-GAMMA (Fermi-GST AGN Multi-frequency Monitoring Alliance) program is the coordinated effort of several observatories and research teams to probe AGN physics through the multi-frequency monitoring approach. The core program relies on monthly observations with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope (operating at 8 frequencies between 2.6 and 43 GHz), the IRAM 30-m telescope (observing at 86 and 142 GHz) and additional measurements with the APEX 12-m telescope (operating at 345 GHz). The core sample consists of roughly 60 Fermi_GST/LAT monitored blazars. The data are taken simultaneously within 40 minutes for Effelsberg and 10 minutes for the IRAM telescope while the cross-station coherency is of order of 10 days. All related details can be found at: www.mpifr.de/div/vlbi/fgamma F-GAMMA web site

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atel_3420

Title: Swift/XRT monitoring of SN2011dh: evidence for fading Authors: R. Margutti, A. Soderberg (Harvard University) Date: 9 Jun 2011; 20:38 UT Provenance: Raffaella Margutti (rmargutti@cfa.harvard.edu) Subjects: X-ray, Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 3432, 3641 We have analyzed 24 ks of Swift/XRT data of SN1011dh (Silverman et al. 2001, Atel #3398; Reiland et al. 2011, CBET #2736) collected in the time period June 3-7. In agreement with Campana & Burrows (2011, Atel #3414) we find that the source is detected at an average level of ~6 E-03 c/s. We furthermore find that the source has faded from ~1.3 E-02 c/s to ~3 E-03 c/s, with a power-law decay index of alpha~ -1.8 (+0.6,-0.6 90% c.l.) The probability of a chance fluctuation is below 0.01% (binomial test), thus we conclude that the observed decay is statistically significant.

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atel_3500

Title: Radio re-brightening of the gamma-ray flaring blazar PKS 1510-089 Authors: L. Fuhrmann, E. Angelakis, I. Nestoras, R. Schmidt, T. P. Krichbaum, J. A. Zensus (F-GAMMA team, MPIfR, Bonn, Germany), H. Ungerechts, A. Sievers, D. Riquelme (IRAM, Granada, Spain) Date: 19 Jul 2011; 10:54 UT Provenance: Lars Fuhrmann (lfuhrmann@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de) Subjects: Radio, Millimeter, AGN, Blazar, Quasar, Variables Description: Referred to by ATel #: 3509, 3523, 3698 Responding to the ATels #3473 and #3470 reporting the recent flaring activity of PKS 1510-089 at gamma-rays beginning of July 2011 as well as ATel #3479 reporting no optical counterpart of this activity, we here report its behavior at radio bands as observed by the F-GAMMA program. Long-term activity: Observations performed with the Effelsberg 100-m and the IRAM 30-m telescope since its pronounced flaring activity of 2009 show that the source is basically following a continuously decaying long-term trend at low to intermediate frequencies, though with smaller "sub-flares" superimposed. The last one of those peaked beginning of 2011 and was most pronounced at short-mm bands. Subsequently, this "sub-flare" decreased reaching a minimum around June 2011 at cm-bands with flux levels of e.g. 1.48+/-0.02, 1.67+/-0.04 and 1.76+/-0.12 Jy at 2.6, 15 and 23 GHz, respectively. Recent activity: Our last Effelsberg observations of July 8, 2011 indicate, however, that the flux densities at cm-bands are inverting their behavior again also showing a pronounced increase compared to June 2011 maybe related to the recent activity of the source at gamma-rays. At nearly all frequencies (from 2.6 up to 23 GHz) the flux densities increased to e.g. 1.55+/-0.03, 2.07+/-0.08 and 2.56+/-0.2 Jy at 2.6, 15 and 23 GHz, respectively. The radio light curves can be accessed separately at low, intermediate and high frequencies. Alternatively, also the evolution of its spectrum as a function of time can be accessed. The source will be continuously monitored and possible future activity will be reported through the current platform. F-GAMMA program: F-GAMMA (Fermi-GST AGN Multi-frequency Monitoring Alliance) program is the coordinated effort of several observatories and research teams to probe AGN physics through the multi-frequency monitoring approach. The core program relies on monthly observations with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope (operating at 8 frequencies between 2.6 and 43 GHz), the IRAM 30-m telescope (observing at 86 and 142 GHz) and additional measurements with the APEX 12-m telescope (operating at 345 GHz). The core sample consists of roughly 60 Fermi-GST/LAT monitored blazars. The data are taken quasi-simultaneously within 40 minutes for Effelsberg and truly simultaneous at the IRAM telescope while the cross-station coherency is of order of 10 days. Data products are publicly accessible here.

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atel_3550

Title: Optical follow-up of SN2011ek Authors: R. Nesci, S. Sclavi (University La Sapienza, Roma Italy) Date: 12 Aug 2011; 08:11 UT Provenance: Roberto Nesci (roberto.nesci@uniroma1.it) Subjects: Optical Description: Prompted by ATel #3541 and CBET #2783, we observed the Supernova with the remote controlled TACOR 23.5cm telescope on top of the Department of Physics of La Sapienza University, Rome Italy, equipped with an Apogee U2 camera and R (Cousins) filter. A comparison sequence was taken from GSC2.3 catalogue. The source was at R=14.58 +/- 0.05 on August 11 00:30 UT (JD 2,455,784.521); it is therefore brighter than the discovery report (CBET #2783) as expected for a SN still in the rising phase.

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atel_3650

Title: MAXI J0556-332 is a transient neutron-star Z source Authors: Jeroen Homan (MIT), Manu Linares (MIT), Maureen van den Berg (Utrecht, Harvard/CfA), Joel Fridriksson (MIT) Date: 17 Sep 2011; 17:52 UT Provenance: Jeroen Homan (jeroen@space.mit.edu) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4524 We report on ongoing RXTE observations of the X-ray transient MAXI J0556-332. This source was discovered on 2011 January 11 (ATel #3102) and has since been monitored on an almost daily basis with RXTE. A preliminary X-ray color analysis of ~470 ks of RXTE/PCA data reveals a somewhat chaotic pattern without a clear structure in the color-color (CD) and hardness-intensity (HID) diagrams. However, analysis of shorter time intervals (~5-10 days) reveals tracks that strongly resemble those of the Z sources, the brightest neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). In particular, near the peak of its current outburst (around 2011 February 9) the CD/HID tracks of MAXI J0556-332 resemble those of the Cyg-like Z sources, with large count rate changes along the so-called horizontal, normal, and (dipping) flaring branches of the Z track. A rapid variability analysis of some of the Cyg-like Z tracks reveals low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) between ~1.5 Hz and ~35 Hz on the horizontal branch; QPOs from MAXI J0556-332 were already reported in ATel #3112. The frequency evolution of these QPOs is in line with what is seen in other Cyg-like Z sources, i.e., increasing from the horizontal branch upturn towards the horizontal/normal branch vertex, and their frequency range is similar to that observed in Cir X-1 (Shirey et al. 1996, ApJ, 469, L21). We note that the strong dipping and eclipse-like features reported in ATels #3106, #3110, #3349 are common in the light curves of Cyg-like Z sources. Currently, at count rates of 40-100 cts/s/PCU (~15%-40% of the peak count rate), the CD/HID tracks are more similar to those of the Sco-like Z sources. We were not able to detect QPOs in the Sco-like phase of the outburst (probably as a result of lower count rates and intrinsically weaker QPOs). MAXI J0556-332 is the third transient Z source discovered in recent years, with XTE J1701-462 (Homan et al. 2010, ApJ, 719, 201) and IGR J17480-2446 (ATel #2952) being the other two. We note that earlier suggestions about the neutron star nature of MAXI J0556-332 were already made based on optical (ATel #3116) and radio observations (ATel #3119) of the source. The count rates of MAXI J0556-332 are a factor of ~10 lower than the transient Z source XTE J1701-462 for similarly shaped CD/HID tracks. Using the 8.8 kpc distance estimate of XTE J1701-462 (Lin et al. 2009, ApJ, 699, 60), and assuming that similarly shaped tracks occur at similar luminosities, we derive a distance of ~20-35 kpc, which should be regarded as a very rough estimate only (as our assumption is uncertain). This translates into a distance from the Galactic center of 25-39 kpc, with a distance below the plane of 8-15 kpc. This would make MAXI J0556-332 a very distant halo source, which is obviously a very unusual location for a LMXB, although other distant Galactic LMXBs have been identified before (Casares et al. 2009, ApJS, 181, 238). No known globular clusters are present within a few degrees on the sky of MAXI J0556-332 (Harris 1996, AJ, 112, 1487). Detection of type-I X-ray bursts, which are expected to occur once the source makes a transition to atoll source behavior, could provide additional information on the source distance and the origin/nature of MAXI J0556-332. Continuing X-ray observations are therefore strongly encouraged.

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atel_3700

Title: Blazar S5 0716+714 is in a flaring state in optical and gamma Authors: D. Blinov, D. Morozova, V. Larionov (St. Petersburg Univ., Russia) Date: 22 Oct 2011; 03:12 UT Provenance: V. Larionov (vlar@astro.spbu.ru) Subjects: Optical, Gamma Ray, AGN, Black Hole, Blazar, Quasar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 3704, 3717, 6086 Our optical photometric monitroring, made as a part of GASP/WEBT project, reveals fast and high amplitude brightening of BL Lac object S5 0716+714. The blazar had R=12.50 on 2011-10-21UT20, one magnitude brighter than our previous estimate R=13.59 on 2011-10-18UT23. At the same time Fermi LAT daily integrated light curve shows historical maximum for this object 1.5e-6 ph cm^-2s^-1 (E>100MeV). Since the optical flux is still rising, observations in all wavelengths are strongly encouraged. Optical preliminary light curve could be found here: http://www.astro.spbu.ru/staff/vlar/plots_optical/s50716r.png . Fermi LAT open access daily light curve for this source: http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/glast/data/lat/catalogs/asp/current/lightcurves/0716+714_86400.png

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atel_3825

Title: Spectroscopic and photometric observations of the M31 nova candidate, PTF11rdv Authors: A. W. Shafter, M. F. Bode, M. J. Darnley (Liverpool JMU, UK), R. Ciardullo (PSU), Y. Cao (Caltech), K. Hornoch (Astronomical Institute, Ondrejov, Czech Republic) Date: 24 Dec 2011; 22:32 UT Provenance: Allen W. Shafter (aws@nova.sdsu.edu) Subjects: Optical, Nova, Transient Description: We report spectroscopic and photometric observations of the recent M31 nova candidate, PTF11rdv (M31N 2011-12a?), discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (Cao & Kasliwal, ATel #3800). At our request, a spectrum (410–900 nm) was obtained by M. Shetrone on 2011 Dec. 21.18 UT with the 9.2-m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (+ Marcario Low-Resolution Spectrograph). The spectrum reveals strong Balmer, He I (λ 587.6 nm; λ 667.8 nm; λ 706.5 nm) and O I (λ 844.6 nm) emission lines (FWHM Hα ~1500 km/s; EW Hα ~ -100.0 nm), along with weak emission features of Fe II (multiplets 37, 38, 42, 48, 49), superimposed on a flat continuum. These observations confirm that PTF11rdv is a nova in M31. We tentatively classify the nova as a member of the Fe II spectroscopic class, although the presence of strong He I emission is somewhat unusual for this class of nova at this stage of its development. Consistent with the Fe II type, the nova appears to be evolving quite slowly. Below we tabulate photometric observations of PTF11rdv obtained using the 0.65-m telescope at Ondrejov: UT Date R Mag \--------------- ---------------- Dec. 09.915 17.26 +/- 0.09 Dec. 10.691 17.83 +/- 0.1 Dec. 11.679 18.55 +/- 0.1 Dec. 12.975 18.73 +/- 0.15 Dec. 14.887 18.76 +/- 0.15 Dec. 15.838 18.54 +/- 0.15 Dec. 18.869 18.63 +/- 0.15 Dec. 19.711 18.8 +/- 0.2 A.W.S. thanks the NSF for support through AST-1009566. K.H. thanks P. Zasche, P. Kusnirak, and J. Vrastil for assistance with the photometric observations.

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atel_3975

Title: Swift XRT and UVOT observations of renewed activity from MAXI J1836-194 Authors: Y. J. Yang, R. Wijnands (University of Amsterdam) and J. A. Kennea (PSU) Date: 18 Mar 2012; 23:06 UT Provenance: Jamie A. Kennea (kennea@astro.psu.edu) Subjects: X-ray, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4038, 4255 We report a pointed Swift observation of the black hole X-ray transient MAXI J1836-194 (ATel #3611, #3613). The source is suggested to be a black hole candidate based on its timing and spectral properties, and the radio detection during the rise of the previous outburst (ATels #3618, #3628). The source was first detected by MAXI/GSC on August 30, 2011 (ATel #3611), and it was on for about 3 months. Swift could not observe the source due to Sun constraints from mid-November, 2011 to mid-February, 2012. When the source became visible again, it has entered to its quiescence. On March 14, Krimm et al. (ATel #3966) reported an increase in the source flux as observed with the Swift/BAT. Our proposed Swift follow-up observation taken on March 18 shows that the source is actively accreting. Preliminary results show that the average count rate of the source is around 7.6 +/- 0.3 c/s. The spectrum is best fitted with an absorbed power-law model with a column density NH = 2.5(+/-0.7)e+21 cm^-2, and a power-law photon index 1.63+/-0.17. This is consistent with a black hole in the low/hard state at beginning of an outburst. We obtained an unabsorbed flux (0.3-10 keV) of 4.7(+/- 0.4)e-10 erg cm^-2 s^-1. In addition to the X-ray, the optical/UV counterparts were also detected (at the >5-sigma level) using the Swift UV/Optical telescope. The magnitudes are v = 16.05 +/- 0.07; b = 16.83 +/- 0.06; u = 16.38 +/- 0.06; uvw1 = 17.11 +/- 0.08; uvm2 = 17.78 +/- 0.12; uvw2 = 17.66 +/- 0.08. More Swift observations has been requested. Follow-up observations in other wavelengths are strongly encouraged. We thank the Swift team for their prompt arrangement of the observation. This work made use of data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester.

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atel_4075

Title: MAXI/GSC detection of a rapid X-ray spectral change in the black hole candidate 4U 1630-472 Authors: S. Nakahira (JAXA), Y. Ueda,(Kyoto U.), K. Yamaoka (Waseda U.), H. Tomida, M. Ishikawa, S. Ueno (JAXA), T. Mihara, M. Sugizaki, M. Serino, T. Yamamoto, M. Matsuoka (RIKEN), H. Negoro, M. Nakajima, F. Suwa, M. Asada, H. Sakakibara, N. Serita (Nihon U.), N. Kawai M. Morii, R. Usui (Tokyo Tech), A. Yoshida (AGU), H. Tsunemi, M. Kimura (Osaka U.), K. Hiroi, M. Shidatsu, R. Sato (Kyoto U.), Y. Tsuboi, M. Higa (Chuo U.) M. Yamauchi, Y. Nishimura, T. Hanayama (Miyazaki U.) report on behalf of the MAXI team Date: 29 Apr 2012; 13:03 UT Provenance: Satoshi NAKAHIRA (nakahira@crab.riken.jp) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Black Hole, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4077, 4395, 4992 We report on a detection of an X-ray spectral change in the black hole candidate 4U 1630-472 with MAXI/GSC. The outburst(ATel#3830,#3945) began on 2011 December 17 (MJD 55912), and the flux peaked at 600 mCrab(2-20 keV) on 2011 December 30 (MJD 55925). From 2012 January 14 (MJD 55940) until 2012 April 13 (MJD 56030), the source stayed in the soft state holding a similar flux around ~270 mCrab (2-20 keV). In the period, the spectrum was well fitted with a model of absorbed disk blackbody and a hard tail, which yields the hydrogen column density of 8 × 1022 cm-2 and the innermost temperature of 1.4-1.6 keV. On 2012 April 28 (MJD 56045), MAXI/GSC detected an X-ray brightening in the 10-20 keV band. The Swift/BAT light curve also indicates an increase of the hard X-ray flux above 15 keV. We estimate that the power-law fraction in the 2-20 keV flux increased from ~10% (MJD 56020-56030) to >30% (MJD 56045) by assuming a fixed photon index of 2.5. This may indicate that the source is undergoing a state transition, possibly into the very high state. Follow-up observations are encouraged. The latest source flux can be checked at the following page: http://maxi.riken.jp/top/index.php?cid=1&jname=J1634-473

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atel_4140

Title: MAXI/GSC detection of a new X-ray transient MAXI J1910-057/Swift J1910.2-0546 Authors: R. Usui (Tokyo Tech), S. Nakahira, H. Tomida (JAXA), H. Negoro (Nihon U.), M. Morii , N. Kawai, K. Ishikawa (Tokyo Tech), S. Ueno, M. Ishikawa (JAXA), T. Mihara, M. Sugizaki, M. Serino, T. Yamamoto, M. Matsuoka (RIKEN), A. Yoshida (AGU), H. Tsunemi, M. Kimura (Osaka U.), M. Nakajima, M. Asada, H. Sakakibara, N. Serita (Nihon U.), Y. Ueda, K. Hiroi, M. Shidatsu, R. Sato (Kyoto U.), Y. Tsuboi, M. Higa (Chuo U.) M. Yamauchi, Y. Nishimura, T. Hanayama, K. Yoshidome (Miyazaki U.), K. Yamaoka (Waseda U.) Date: 1 Jun 2012; 05:44 UT Provenance: Nobuyuki Kawai (nkawai@phys.titech.ac.jp) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Black Hole, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4144, 4145, 4146, 4171, 4195, 4198, 4210, 4246, 4295, 4347, 5063, 15214, 15303 At 2012/05/31 22:36:28 UT (MJD=56078.941991), the MAXI/GSC alert system triggered a new X-ray transient source near 4U 1916-053 (MAXI event ID= 6078777285, reported as the MAXI New-transient E-mail alert No.55, http://maxi.riken.jp/alert/novae/6078777285/6078777285.htm ). The refined source position is: (R.A., Dec) = (287.516, -5.819) = (19 10 04, -05 49 07) (J2000) with a statistical uncertainty of 0.25 deg at the 90% confidence limit and an additional systematic uncertainty of 0.1 deg (90% containment radius). The source position is consistent with the new transient source reported by Krimm et al. with Swift (ATel #4139). Recent MAXI data show that the source flux has gradually increased since the beginning of 31 May 2012. The average fluxes on 31 May 2012 are 45+-7 mCrab (2-4 keV), 38+-7 mCrab (4-10 keV), and 68+-28 mCrab (10-20 keV). The latest light curves and images of MAXI J1910-057 by MAXI/GSC are placed at the following URL: http://maxi.riken.jp/top/index.php?cid=1&jname=J1910-057

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atel_4275

Title: Swift observations of a new outburst of the SFXT IGR J17544-2619 Authors: P. Romano (INAF-IASF Palermo), H. Krimm (CRESST/GSFC/USRA), T. Sakamoto (GSFC/UMBC), D. N. Burrows (PSU),S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), M. M. Chester (PSU), P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), J. A. Kennea (PSU), P. Esposito (INAF-IASFMI), P. A. Evans (U Leicester), N. Gehrels (GSFC), V. Mangano (INAF-IASFPA), D. M. Palmer (LANL), B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU), S. Vercellone (INAF-IASFPA) Date: 25 Jul 2012; 14:47 UT Provenance: Pat Romano (romano@ifc.inaf.it) Subjects: X-ray, Gamma Ray, Binary, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 5179, 5388, 6173, 6227, 6566 The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered on a new outburst from the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT) IGR J17544-2619 on 2012 July 24 at 04:52:46 (image trigger=528432). Swift immediately slewed to the target, so that the narrow field instruments started observing about 398.9 s after the trigger. Using the BAT data set from T-239 to T+963 s from the full telemetry downlink, we report that the time-averaged spectrum from T+0 to T+320 s is best fit by a simple power-law model with a photon index of 2.71 +/- 0.85. The fluence in the 15-150 keV band is (2.9+/-1.3)E-07 erg/cm2. All the quoted errors are at the 90% confidence level. The BAT light curve does not show any significant features. The BAT hard X-ray transient monitor does not show significant source activity before or after the trigger interval. The Swift/XRT light curve reached a count rate in excess of about 10 counts/s. The XRT/PC spectrum (T+409 to T+1192 s, integration time of 783 s) can be fitted with an absorbed power law, with a photon index of 1.0+/-0.4, and an absorbing column density of NH=(3+/-1)E+22 cm-2. The mean flux is ~3E-10 erg/cm2/s (0.3-10 keV, unabsorbed). Previously, Swift observed bright flares from this source on 2007 November 8 (Krimm et al. 2007, Atel #1265), 2008 March 31 (Sidoli et al. 2009, ApJ, 690, 120), 2008 September 4 (Sidoli et al. 2009, MNRAS, 397, 1528), 2009 March 15 (Krimm et al. 2009, Atel #1971), 2009 June 6 (Romano et al. 2011, MNRAS, 410, 1825), 2010 March 4 (Romano et al. 2011, MNRAS, 412, L30), 2011 March 24 (Farinelli et al. 2012, MNRAS, in press, arXiv:1205.7059), 2012 April 12 (Romano et. al 2012, ATel #4040). The historical light curve from the BAT hard X-ray transient monitor (Krimm et al, 2006, ATel #904; 15-50 keV) can be found at http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/results/transients/weak/IGRJ17544-2619 . Scaled Map Transient Analysis

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atel_4400

Title: A New NIR Flare of 4C +38.41 Authors: L. Carrasco, G. Escobedo, E. Recillas, D. Y. Mayya. A. Carraminana, (INAOE, Mexico) Date: 19 Sep 2012; 21:11 UT Provenance: LUIS CARRASCO (carrasco@inaoep.mx) Subjects: Radio, Infra-Red, Gamma Ray, AGN, Blazar, Quasar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4437, 4448 We observed a recent NIR brightening of the flat spectrum radio source (+4C38.41) FBQSJ163515.4+380804 a high redshift blazar (z=1.813). On September 16th, 2012, epoch JD2456186.664525, we determined the flux in the H band to be 13.564 +/- 0.04. This flux level is comparable to the one reported previously in Atel #3335. The NIR flux of this object is rising fast. Yet, the object has not reached the flux level observed on JD 2455635.029352 H = 13.072 +/- 0.05 (ATel#3238). These photometric data points are to be compared with a recent low activity state H = 15.328 +/-0.06 (JD2456093.909456). Observations were carried out with the 2.1m telescope of the Guillermo Haro Observatory operated by the National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (Mexico), equipped with the instrument CANICA a NIR camera. We encourage further multi wavelength coverage.

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atel_4450

Title: Swift J174510.8-262411 in the hard intermediate state Authors: T. Belloni (INAF-OAB, Italy), M. Cadolle Bel (ESAC, Spain), P. Casella (INAF-OAR, Italy), A. Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC, Spain), S. Corbel (CEA, France), M. Del Santo (IAPS, Italy), E. Gallo (Univ. Michigan, USA), V. Grinberg (Univ. Erlangen, Germany), J. Homan (MIT, USA), E. Kalemci (Sabanci Univ, Turkey), J. M. Miller (Univ. Michigan, USA), J. Miller-Jones (Curtin Univ, Australia), S. Motta (ESAC, Spain), T. Muñoz-Darias (Univ. Southampton, UK), M. Nowak (MIT, USA), K. Pottschmidt (NASA-GSFC, USA), J. Rodriguez (CEA, France), D. Russell (IAC, Spain), J. Tomsick (Univ. California Berkeley, USA), J. Wilms (Univ. Erlangen, Germany) Date: 3 Oct 2012; 10:50 UT Provenance: Tomaso Belloni (belloni@merate.mi.astro.it) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Black Hole, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4456, 4471, 4760, 4782 We have been monitoring densely the bright transient Swift J174510.8-262411 (previous X-ray reports include ATel #4381,#4383,#4393,#4401,#4436) with INTEGRAL and Swift. The IBIS 20-150 keV light curve showed a flux increase between 2012 Sep 16 (MJD 56186) and Sep 17 (MJD 56187) and, after a time gap in the observations, a decrease from Sep 18 (MJD 56188.7) until Sep 28 (MJD 56198), after which it has remained constant. The IBIS spectrum softened monotonically through this period. A fit with a power law with a high-energy cutoff showed the photon index increasing from 1.3 to 2.24, while the cutoff energy increased marginally from 97 (-10,+31) keV to 145 (-19,+24). The 20-200 keV flux decreased from 1.5 10e-8 to 8.6 10e-9 erg/cm^2/s. In the same period, the Swift/XRT 0.6-10 keV rate has been steadily increasing (see ATel 4436). A QPO accompanied by band-limited noise is present in the power spectra of all XRT observations, with the frequency being strongly correlated with flux. It has increased from 0.25 Hz in the first observation (2012 Sep 18 19:03-22:18 UT, MJD 56188.8) to 2.4 Hz in the latest available observation (MJD 56202.3, 2012 October 2 7:09-7:28 UT). The energy spectrum on Oct 1 (MJD 56201) showed a slightly steeper spectrum than the last one reported in ATel #4436. The energy spectra and the power density spectra (along with the radio detections reported in ATel #4394,#4410) clearly indicate that in the first part of the campaign the source was brightening both in the hard and soft band and was in the low-hard state (LHS). This was followed by a transition to the hard intermediate state (HIMS), in which the source is currently still found. A further state transition to the soft-intermediate state is expected, which has been associated to relativistic jet ejections in other black-hole X-ray binaries, although it is difficult to predict when this will happen. Observations at all wavelengths are encouraged. We would like to thank the Swift and the INTEGRAL ISOC and ISDC Teams for making these observations possible.

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atel_4590

Title: Supersoft X-ray emission detected from Nova Mon 2012 Authors: Thomas Nelson (Minnesota), Koji Mukai (UMBC and NASA/GSFC), Jennifer Sokoloski (Columbia), Laura Chomiuk (Michigan State), Michael Rupen (NRAO), Amy Mioduszewski (NRAO), Kim Page (Leicester) and Julian Osborne (Leicester) Date: 20 Nov 2012; 17:11 UT Provenance: Thomas Nelson (tnelson@physics.umn.edu) Subjects: X-ray, Nova Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4614, 4633, 4709, 4727, 4737 Nova Mon 2012 is one of only three novae identified as a transient gamma-ray source with the Fermi satellite (ATel #4224, #4310). The nova was discovered in the optical on 2012 August 9 (CBET #3202), although the Fermi detection indicates that the outburst likely started in June. Nova Mon is a bright radio source with spatially resolved substructure (ATel #4352, #4408), and has been detected in X-rays at energies up to 10 keV by the Swift and Chandra satellites (ATel #4321, #4569). Infrared spectra obtained on 2012 November 1 and 2 revealed that Nova Mon has transitioned to the coronal phase, thought to indicate that the ejecta have become optically thin (ATel #4542). We have been monitoring Nova Mon with the Swift satellite since August 2012 (see ATel #4321). Our most recent observation was carried out on 2012 November 18, with a total X-ray Telescope (XRT) exposure time of 1048 s. The source count rate in the 0.3-10 keV energy range was 0.43 counts/s, an increase of 60% from the previous Swift observation on 2012 November 11. In addition to the hard X-ray emission detected in previous observations, a new soft spectral component was observed for the first time. We fit the overall spectrum with an absorbed blackbody plus thermal plasma model (wabs*(bb+apec) in Xspec). The best fit column density of the absorber was N(H) = 8.5 (+0.2,-0.3) x 10^21 cm^-2. The blackbody component had a temperature kT = 0.021 +/- 0.006 keV (T ~ 250,000 +/- 70,000 K), and an observed 0.3-10 keV flux of 5.8 x 10^-12 erg/s/cm^2. The normalization of this component was poorly constrained, making an estimate of the intrinsic luminosity difficult. The thermal plasma component had kT = 0.95 +/- 0.23 keV (T ~ (1.1 +/- 0.8) x 10^7 K) and an observed 0.3-10 keV flux of 5.4 x 10^-12 erg/s/cm^2. Further X-ray monitoring observations are planned, and follow-up observations at other wavelengths are encouraged. We thank Neil Gehrels and the Swift mission operations team for making these observations possible.

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atel_4650

Title: Spectroscopic classification of a LSQ supernova by the Nearby Supernova Factory II Authors: D. Baugh, J. Chen, N. Chotard, C. Wu (THCA); C. Tao (CPPM & THCA), D. Fouchez, A. Tilquin (CPPM); E. Hadjiyska, D. Rabinowitz, C. Baltay, N. Ellman, R. McKinnon, E. Walker, A. Effron (Yale); F. Cellier-Holzem, A. Canto, P. Antilogus, S. Bongard, R. Pain (LPNHE); Y. Copin, E. Gangler, R. Pereira, M. Rigault, G. Smadja (IPNL); G. Aldering, D. Birchall, H. Fakhouri, A. Kim, J. Nordin, P. Nugent, S. Perlmutter, K. Runge, C. Saunders, N. Suzuki, R. C. Thomas (LBNL) E. Pecontal (CRAL); U. Feindt, M. Kowalski (U. Bonn); S. Benitez, W. Hillebrandt, M. Kromer, M. Sasdelli, A. Sternberg, S. Taubenberger (MPA) Date: 15 Dec 2012; 23:49 UT Provenance: Greg Aldering (galdering@lbl.gov) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: The Nearby Supernova Factory II (http://snfactory.lbl.gov) reports the following spectroscopic observations of supernovae based on spectra (range 320-1000 nm) obtained with the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph (Aldering et al 2002, SPIE, 4836, 61) on the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope. Classifications were performed using Superfit (Howell et al 2002, BAAS, 34, 1256) or SNID (Blondin & Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024). Heliocentric redshifts listed to two decimal places are measured from supernova features; all others are published values or measured by us from host galaxy features. Name | RA (J2000) | Dec (J2000) | Discovery | Discovery | Disc. | Spectrum | Redshift | Type | Phase | Notes | | | Date | Source | Mag | Date | | | | LSQ12hnj | 05:12:24.82 | -25:46:57.4 | 20121212 | LSQ | 16.2 | 20121215 | 0.0146 | II | young | not present 20121210

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atel_4725

Title: Spectroscopic confirmation of DES12C3a Authors: C. Lidman, A. Hopkins (Australian Astronomical Observatory), E. Ahn, D. Finley, J. Frieman, J. Marriner, W. Wester (Fermilab), G. Aldering, J. S. Bloom, A. Kim, P. Nugent, S. Perlmutter, R. C. Thomas (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), K. Barbary, J. P. Bernstein, R. Biswas, E. Kovacs, S. Kuhlmann, H. Spinka (Argonne National Laboratory), C. Blake, K. Glazebrook, J. Mould, S. A. Uddin (Swinburne University of Technology), P. J. Brown, K. Krisciunas, N. Suntzeff (Texas A&M University), H. Campbell, C. D'Andrea, R. Nichol, A. Papadopoulos (University of Portsmouth), R. Cane, J. A. Fischer, S. Gilhool, L. Gladney, R. Gupta, J. Mosher, M. Sako (University of Pennsylvania), M. Colless, B. P. Schmidt, R. Sharp (Australian National University), R. A. Covarrubias (University of Illinois / NCSA), T. M. Davis, C. O'Neill (University of Queensland), S. Desai, K. Paech (Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich), R. Kessler (University of Chicago), M. March (University of Sussex), G. Poole (University of Melbourne), M. Smith (University of the Western Cape), R. C. Smith (NOAO/CTIO), M. Sullivan (University of Southampton) Date: 11 Jan 2013; 04:22 UT Provenance: Masao Sako (masao@sas.upenn.edu) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: We report optical spectroscopy by the OzDES collaboration of a supernova candidate discovered by the Dark Energy Supernova Survey (ATel #4668). The spectrum (350-900 nm) of DES12C3a was obtained at the Anglo-Australian Telescope with AAOmega-2dF observed by A. Hopkins. SNID (Blondin & Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) shows this event to be a Type Ia SN at z=0.24 near maximum light. Name | RA(J2000) | Dec(J2000) | Discovery | Discovery | Spectrum | redshift | type | phase | | | date (UT) | i mag | date (UT) | | | DES12C3a | 03:36:19.9 | -29:00:49.6 | 2012 Dec 17 | 25.6 | 2013 Jan 6 | 0.24 | Ia | near max

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atel_4800

Title: Spectroscopic confirmation of DES12S2a Authors: P. J. Brown, K. Krisciunas, J. Marshall, N. Suntzeff (Texas A&M University), E. Ahn, D. Finley, J. Frieman, J. Marriner, W. Wester (Fermilab), G. Aldering, J. S. Bloom, A. Kim, P. Nugent, S. Perlmutter, R. C. Thomas (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), S. Desai, K. Paech (Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich), R. C. Smith (NOAO/CTIO), R. Kessler (University of Chicago), R. A. Covarrubias (University of Illinois / NCSA), R. Cane, J. A. Fischer, S. Gilhool, L. Gladney, R. Gupta, J. Mosher, M. Sako (University of Pennsylvania), H. Campbell, C. D'Andrea, R. Nichol, A. Papadopoulos (University of Portsmouth), M. Sullivan (University of Southampton), M. March (University of Sussex), M. Smith (University of the Western Cape), K. Barbary, J. P. Bernstein, R. Biswas, E. Kovacs, S. Kuhlmann, H. Spinka (Argonne National Laboratory) Date: 8 Feb 2013; 19:02 UT Provenance: Peter J. Brown (grbpeter@yahoo.com) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: We report optical spectroscopy of a supernova (SN) candidate discovered by the Dark Energy Supernova Survey (ATel #4668). The spectrum (450-1000 nm) of DES12S2a was obtained with the 9.2-m Hobby-Eberly Telescope (+Marcario Low-Resolution Spectrograph) by J. Caldwell. The spectrum shows a blue continuum with a narrow H-alpha emission feature atop a broader component indicative of a type IIn SN. The phase at the date of the spectrum given below is based on the DES light curves. Name | RA(J2000) | Dec(J2000) | Discovery | Discovery | Spectrum | redshift | type | phase | | | date (UT) | i mag | date (UT) | | | DES12S2a | 02:47:33.56| -01:06:39.9 | 2013 Jan 13 | 21.3 | 2013 Feb 2 | 0.115 | IIn | 3-4 weeks after explosion

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atel_4900

Title: Possible Supernova discovered by MASTER Authors: S. Shurpakov, D. Denisenko, V. Lipunov, E. Gorbovskoy, P. Balanutsa, N. Tiurina, V. Kornilov, A. Belinski, N. Shatskiy, V. Chazov, A. Kuznetsov, V. Yecheistov, D. Zimnukhov (Moscow State University, SAI), V. Krushinsky, I. Zalozhnih, A. Popov, A. Bourdanov, A. Punanova (Ural Federal University), K. Ivanov, S. Yazev, N. Budnev, E. Konstantinov, O. Chuvalaev, V. Poleshchuk, O. Gress, A. Frolova, (Irkutsk State University), A. Parkhomenko, A. Tlatov, D. Dormidontov, V. Senik (Kislovodsk solar station of the Pulkovo observatory RAS), V. Yurkov, Y. Sergienko, D. Varda, E. Sinyakov (Blagoveshchensk Educational University), P. Podvorotny, V. Shumkov (MASTER team members), H. Levato, C. Saffe (ICATE), C. Mallamaci, C. Lopez and F. Podest (OAFA) Date: 20 Mar 2013; 18:05 UT Provenance: Vladimir Lipunov (lipunov2007@gmail.com) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 4903 MASTER OT J185011.29+302059.5 - PSN in PGC 2813322 MASTER-Amur auto-detection system discovered OT source at (RA, Dec) = 18h 50m 11.29s +30d 20m 59.5s on 2013-03-19.77620 UT. The OT unfiltered magnitude is 16.9m (limit 18.2m). The OT is seen in 2 images. There is no minor planet at this place. We have reference image without OT on 2013-02-24.85995 UT with unfiltered magnitude limit 18.0m. The object is located 11.9" W and 15.1" S of the nucleus of PGC 2813322 galaxy. There is nothing at this position in any catalogs. This area of sky is not covered by SDSS. Color-combined (BRIR) DSS finder chart is uploaded to http://master.sai.msu.ru/static/OT/J185011+302059-BRIR5x5.jpg (5'x5' FOV). Spectral observations are required. The discovery and reference images are available at: http://master.sai.msu.ru/static/OT/185011.29302059.5.png List of optical transients discovered by MASTER Global MASTER Robotic Net

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atel_5010

Title: ASAS-SN Discovery of a Strong AGN Outburst and Dramatic Seyfert Type Change in NGC 2617 Authors: B. J. Shappee (Ohio Sate), J. L. Prieto (Princeton), J. Nugent (University of Oklahoma), C. S. Kochanek, K. Z. Stanek, J. Jencson, A. Talabere, J. F. Beacom (Ohio State), D. Szczygiel, G. Pojmanski (Warsaw University Observatory), M. Dubberley, M. Elphick, S. Foale, E. Hawkins, D. Mullens, W. Rosing, R. Ross, Z. Walker (Las Cumbres Observatory) Date: 26 Apr 2013; 04:37 UT Provenance: Benjamin Shappee (shappee@astronomy.ohio-state.edu) Subjects: Optical, AGN Description: Referred to by ATel #: 5039, 5059, 5103, 5347, 9015, 9030, 11703, 16324 During the ongoing All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN or "Assassin"), using data from the double 14-cm "Brutus" telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, we have discovered a candidate outburst in a known Seyfert galaxy NGC 2617. NGC 2617 is a face-on Sc galaxy at a distance of about 62 Mpc (distance modulus 34.0; NED). ASAS-SN transient source detection was triggered by an image taken at 2013 UT Apr. 10.27 by a ~10% relative flux increase from the inner region (host galaxy + AGN; Brutus CCD camera has 7.5" pixels) of NGC 2617, equivalent to detecting a new point source source of V ~ 16.7 mag superimposed on the image of the galaxy. The ASAS-SN lightcurve of the two fields covering NGC 2617 can be found here. Follow-up imaging obtained by J. Nugent on Apr. 24.14 with the OSMOS + R4K CCD on the 2.4-m telescope at MDM Observatory showed that the central region of NGC 2617 continued to brighten to g = 15.15 +/- 0.05 (calibrated using archival SDSS data of the region), an increase of 1.3 +\\- 0.1 mag (brightening by a factor of 3.3) compared to the archival SDSS g-band image. This corresponds to an absolute g-band magnitude of M_g=-19, after correcting for a small amount of foreground reddening (NED). A comparison between our ASAS-SN image (top-left), the SDSS image (top-right), our follow-up MDM image (bottom-left) and a difference image showing the brightening of the central region between the SDSS image and MDM image (bottom-right) can be found here. The increase in flux is associated with the center of the galaxy to within ~0.03", corresponding to a projected physical distance of less than ~9 pc at NGC 2617 (NED). In order to investigate the nature of this significant brightening, we requested DD time with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5m-telescope. We obtained an optical spectrum (range 350-960 nm) using DIS on UT Apr 25.1. A comparison between the current APO spectrum and a 6dF galaxy survey spectrum taking in 2003 can be found here. NGC 2617 underwent a dramatic spectral evolution and appears to have changed from a Type 2 Seyfert to a Type 1 Seyfert in the intervening decade, possibly associated with the current strong outburst. Continued follow-up is both planned and encouraged. We thank the APO director, S. Hawley, for granting us Director's Discretionary Time for this observation, and the observatory crew.

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atel_5125

Title: e-EVN detection of AGN activity in NGC 2617 Authors: J. Yang (JIVE, Netherlands), Z. Paragi (JIVE, Netherlands), S. Komossa (MPIfR, Germany), I. van Bemmel (ASTRON, Netherlands), and R. Oonk (ASTRON, Netherlands) Date: 12 Jun 2013; 13:45 UT Provenance: Jun Yang (yang@jive.nl) Subjects: Radio, AGN Description: Referred to by ATel #: 5347 NGC 2617 is a Seyfert 1.8 spiral galaxy at z=0.0142 (~60 Mpc, 1 mas = 0.3 pc) that is currently in outburst. The central region of NGC 2617 has brightened by 1.3 magnitudes in April 2013, while there was a dramatic change (Seyfert type 1 now) in the optical spectrum as well, compared to archival 6dF observations taken 10 years earlier (Shappee et al. 2013, ATel #5010). There was increasing X-ray activity reported by Swift/BAT (Shappee et al. 2013, ATel #5059) and INTEGRAL (Tsygankov et al. 2013, ATel #5103). We carried out European VLBI Network real-time e-VLBI observations at 1.6 GHz on 2013 June 7. Compact radio emission was detected with a flux density of 1.5±0.3 mJy, positionally coincident with the nucleus of NGC 2617. These high resolution data constrain the source size to be less than 4 milliarcseconds, corresponding to a projected linear size less than 1.2 pc. The implied lower limit on the brightness temperature is 8.3E+7 Kelvin, indicating a non-thermal origin for the radio emission. The high brightness temperature and radio luminosity (4.8E+37 erg/s) strongly indicate radio activity in the nucleus of NGC 2617. It is currently not known if the radio jet existed before the outburst, or if it was recently activated. Further observations are planned. We thank the EVN PC for approving the 7-hour e-EVN ToO observations during the EVN session. The participating telescopes were Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (Netherlands), Effelsberg (Germany), Torun (Poland), Onsala (Sweden), Jodrell Bank Lovell Telescope (UK), Medicina (Italy), Noto (Italy), and Hartebeesthoek (South Africa). e-VLBI research infrastructure in Europe is supported by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement RI-261525 NEXPReS. The EVN is a joint facility of European, Chinese, South African and other radio astronomy institutes funded by their national research councils.

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atel_5175

Title: Classification of PSN J00513484+2943149 with FLOYDS at Faulkes Telescope North Authors: D. Sand (Texas Tech), S. Valenti, M. L. Graham, D. A. Howell (LCOGT/UCSB), J. T. Parrent (LCOGT/Dartmouth College) Date: 28 Jun 2013; 18:25 UT Provenance: David Sand (dave.j.sand@gmail.com) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: We report a spectroscopic classification of PSN J00513484+2943149 located at RA=00:51:34.84 DEC=+29:43:14.9 (J2000). A spectrum (range 500-1000 nm) obtained robotically on June 28.55 UT with the FLOYDS spectrograph at "Faulkes Telescope North" at Haleakala shows it to be a SN Ia roughly 40 to 50 days after maximum light, and is consistent with the host galaxy (UGC 525) redshift of z=0.0164. Classification was performed via supernova spectrum cross correlation using SNID (Blondin & Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024).

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atel_5300

Title: Liverpool Telescope spectral monitoring of Nova Delphini 2013 reveals dramatic changes in the Hydrogen Balmer lines Authors: M. J. Darnley (LJMU), M. F. Bode (LJMU) Date: 20 Aug 2013; 09:01 UT Provenance: Matt Darnley (M.J.Darnley@ljmu.ac.uk) Subjects: Optical, Nova Description: Referred to by ATel #: 5304, 5312 Since confirming the classical nova nature of Nova Del 2013 (ATel #5279) the Liverpool Telescope (LT) has been monitoring the outburst with approximately hourly cadence (weather/moon permitting). The FRODOSpec instrument on the LT has been deployed in its lower resolution mode (R~2400) with wavelength coverage from 3800-10000 Angstroms. Pronounced P Cygni profiles were present in the Hydrogren Balmer lines in the spectra of Nova Del 2013 from the first LT observations (9:22pm UTC 14th August 2013) and have been reported by a number of other observers (e.g. ATel #5282, #5288, #5291, #5295, #5297). The Balmer series P Cygni profiles were still present in LT spectra taken at 2:53am (UTC) 19th August 2013. However, an LT spectrum of Nova Del 2013 taken at 22:36pm (UTC) 19th August 2013 revealed that the Hydrogren Balmer series P Cygni profiles have all but disappeared. That is, the depth of the absorption component has reduced to the approximate level of the continuum. Subsequent LT spectra have confirmed this change. P Cygni profiles are however still clearly present in Fe II, He I and O I lines. Follow-up observations at all frequencies are strongly encouraged.

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atel_5370

Title: Spectrophotometric evolution of Nova Delphini 2013 Authors: T. N. Tarasova, D. N. Shakhovskoi (Crimean Astrophysical Observatory) Date: 6 Sep 2013; 11:43 UT Provenance: Taya Tarasova (taya_tarasova@mail.ru) Subjects: Optical, Nova Description: Referred to by ATel #: 5378 We continue spectrophotometric observations with the 2.6 m telescope of CrAO (the first results were reported in our previous telegram ATel5291). We carried out observations on August 19 and on September 1 with low resolution spectrograph (R=1000) in the wavelength interval 3300-7575A and on August 20 with high resolution echelle spectrograph (R=33000) in the wavelength interval 4300-7200A. Analyzing low resolution spectra we found drastic changes in the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the nova. The first spectrum (ATel5291) was obtained in the pre-maximal stage and the SED was similar to late A or early F spectrum. On Aug 19 the SED was rather flat, with the Balmer jump virtually absent and on September 1 the SED was still flat, but with pronounced emission bluewards of the Balmer jump. We confirm that the depth of the absorption component of the P Cygni profiles of HI lines reached roughly to the continuum level in the Aug 19 spectrum, as reported in ATel 5297, 5300. In the Aug 19 spectrum lines CaII (3934, 3968) and NaI (5890, 5896) were strong, as mentioned by Munari et al.(ATel 5297). In the Sep 1 spectrum [OI] 6300, 6363 lines appeared. At the same spectrum there is a noticeable broad emission feature about 7111 A that we tentatively identify as CII (20) 7112.36, 7115.12 lines and a weaker feature about 6725A, which we identify as CII (21) 6726.84, 6733.56, 6738.36 lines. In Sep 1 spectrum the profiles of emission Balmer lines were saddle-shaped with the different intensities of the components, the blue emission component was stronger. The radial velocities of the blue and the red components were -40, 560 km/s for Halpha, -110, 460 km/s for Hbeta and -100, 410 km/s for Hgamma. In the high resolution spectrum obtained on Aug 20 the equivalent width of the NaI 5890 absorption line was 0.386 ±0.003 A, coinciding within measurement errors with the value reported by Munari et al. .(ATel 5297).

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atel_5430

Title: NRAO VLA service monitoring observations of Sgr A* Authors: Claire J. Chandler(NRAO) and Lorant O. Sjouwerman(NRAO) Date: 28 Sep 2013; 04:45 UT Provenance: Lorant Sjouwerman (lsjouwer@nrao.edu) Subjects: Radio, AGN, Black Hole, Transient Description: As part of an ongoing community service observing program to follow the expected encounter of the G2 cloud with the black hole Sgr A* in 2013 (https://science.nrao.edu/enews/5.10/index.shtml#g2_encounter), the NRAO Very Large Array observed the Sgr A region starting 2013 September 18 00:52 UT for two hours, cycling through the standard observing bands at their default 8-bit (i.e., up to 2 GHz bandwidth) continuum frequencies. The data from the monitoring program are publicly available through the NRAO data archive immediately after observing has completed, and the flux densities are published by NRAO staff as soon as the data are reduced. The September 18 data were reduced with a modified VLA CASA pipeline, and the flux density of Sgr A* was measured as listed below. Due to the compact configuration of the VLA (i.e., CnB-configuration), and Sgr A* being embedded in the extended emission of the circumnuclear disk and the supernova shell, the lower frequency measurements are upper limits. The cumulative results of the monitoring effort are posted on the service observing web page https://science.nrao.edu/science/service-observing and so far do not indicate a significant brightening of the emission from the direction of Sgr A* over the period 2012 October to 2013 September, within the calibration uncertainties. Measurements of 2013 September 18: 1.5 GHz (4.0 Jy upper limit) 3.0 GHz (1.99 Jy upper limit) 5.5 GHz (1.39 Jy upper limit) 10.0 GHz 1.039 +/-10% Jy 14.0 GHz 1.234 +/-10% Jy 21.2 GHz 1.303 +/-10% Jy 32.0 GHz 1.252 +/-20% Jy 41.0 GHz 1.244 +/-20% Jy

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atel_5525

Title: Optical Spectroscopy of Gamma-ray Nova Sco 2012 in the nebular stage Authors: A. W. Shaw (U. Southampton), P. A. Charles (U. Southampton), C. Knigge (U. Southampton), A. B. Hill (SLAC), P. Woudt (U. Cape Town) and B. Warner (U. Cape Town) Date: 29 Oct 2013; 13:17 UT Provenance: Christian Knigge (christian@astro.soton.ac.uk) Subjects: Optical, Binary, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 5541 We report on recent optical spectroscopy of Nova Sco 2012, which was discovered in June 2012 as a bright transient in the galactic bulge by the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) Collaboration (ATel #4157) and subsequently detected in gamma-rays by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (ATel #4284). Follow-up spectra revealed a standard Fe II nova (ATel #4287). Our new spectroscopic observations were carried out on 2013 September 6 (20:10 - 20:40 UTC), using the Southern African Large Telescope and the Robert Stobie Spectrograph (RSS). We obtained 3x600s exposures from 4060-7120Å at 0.49Å/pixel with a central resolution of 5.7&Aring. Our combined spectrum exhibits Fe II, O I and N I emission lines typical of an Fe II nova, as well as strong forbidden lines consistent with Nova Sco 2012 being in the nebular stage. The strongest lines are the [O III] 4959/5007Å lines followed by Hα. Other strong lines include [Fe VII] at 5721 and 6086&Aring. Hβ is also present, though only at ~3.5% the strength of Hα. Also detected are the N III 4640Å fluorescence feature and He II 4686Å, which we believe are indicative of the hot white dwarf. Optical follow-up when the nova is again accessible is encouraged in order to confirm the putative binary period of ~1.6hr reported in ATel #4157.

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atel_5625

Title: Fermi LAT detection of a short High-Energy Galactic transient Authors: G. Vianello (Stanford University), N. Omodei (Stanford University), E. Bottacini (Stanford University), S. Cutini (ASI/ASDC) on behalf of the Fermi LAT Collaboration, and V. Connaughton (UAH) on behalf of the Fermi GBM Collaboration: Date: 4 Dec 2013; 07:58 UT Provenance: Giacomo Vianello (giacomov@slac.stanford.edu) Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Transient Description: The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board Fermi detected on December 1, 2013 an outburst from a position close to the Galactic plane. The outburst started around 11:22 UTC and lasted for about 5 minutes. The location of the transient is: (R.A., Dec) = (261.32 deg, -37.44 deg) (J2000), corresponding to Galactic coordinates: (L, B) = (350.55 deg, -1.02 deg), with a statistical uncertainty of 0.40 deg (95 % c.l.). There is no known LAT source compatible with that position. We designate the source as Fermi J1725-3726. The detected signal extends up to 1 GeV, and it has a significance of more than 5 sigma in the time interval 11:22 - 11:27 UTC. The spectrum of Fermi J1725-3726 is well described by a power law. The best fit parameters are a photon index of 2.2 +/- 0.4 and a mean energy flux of 9 +/- 5 x 10^-9 erg cm^-2 s^-1 in the energy band 100 MeV - 100 GeV, which corresponds to a photon flux of 1.3 +/- 0.5 x 10^-5 ph cm^-2 s^-1 in the same energy band. The only noteworthy source within the LAT error circle is the X-ray burster XTE J1723-376 (Galloway et al. 2008, ApJS 179, 360, and references therein), which is offset by 0.39 deg from the LAT centroid. Fermi J1725-3726 is not detected in any 5-minute interval from the beginning of November up to December 2, excluding the time interval of the outburst. The upper limits we obtain in those time intervals are below the flux of the transient, indicating that the source was below the detection threshold before the outburst, and returned below it around 11:27 UTC on December 1. An unrelated solar flare triggered the scintillators of the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on-board Fermi at 11:19:41.6 UTC. Solar activity visible in the GBM detectors during the LAT transient outburst masks any potential signal from the LAT transient source. The solar flare is also weakly detected by the LAT at the position of the Sun, ~20 deg away from Fermi J1725-3726. Fermi will operate in an all-sky scanning mode up to December 5. After that, a pre-planned switch to a modified survey mode will further increase the exposure of the regions around the Galactic center, incidentally also enhancing the sensitivity at the position of Fermi J1725-3726. In consideration of the activity of this source we strongly encourage multi-wavelength observations. The Fermi LAT contact person for this source is Giacomo Vianello (giacomov@stanford.edu). All results reported above are preliminary. The Fermi LAT is a pair conversion telescope designed to cover the energy band from 20 MeV to greater than 300 GeV. It is the product of an international collaboration between NASA and DOE in the U.S. and many scientific institutions across France, Italy, Japan and Sweden.

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atel_5730

Title: A NIR Flare of the Quasar PKS0446+112 Authors: L. Carrasco, A. Porras, G. Escobedo, E. Recillas, V. Chabushyan, A. Carraminana, D. Mayya (INAOE, Mexico) Date: 7 Jan 2014; 17:32 UT Provenance: LUIS CARRASCO (carrasco@inaoep.mx) Subjects: Radio, Infra-Red, Optical, Gamma Ray, AGN, Blazar, Quasar Description: We report on the NIR flare of the high redshift quasar PKS0446+112 (z=1.207), also known as CGRaBSJ0449+1121, associated with the gamma-ray source 1FGL0448.6+1118. The source has shown Gamma-ray flares in the past. Our NIR photometry for this source shows that on Jan 4th,2014 (JD2456661.773275), the object brightness corresponded to J = 15.43+/- 0.04, H = 14.210 +/- 0.04 and Ks = 13.455 +/- 0.06. These values are about 1 magnitud brighter than our previous photometry, obtained on JD2456609, for this field. Hence it has doubled its flux in the last 50 days. The object is brightest since we started monitoring it on JD 2455275. Our observations are carried out with the 2.1m telescope of the Guillermo Haro Observatory operated by the National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (Mexico), equipped with the instrument CANICA a NIR camera. We strongly encourage further multiwavelength coverage.

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atel_5800

Title: Radio/Millimeter Non-Detection of Type Ia SN 2014J in M82 Authors: Laura Chomiuk (Michigan State), B. Ashley Zauderer, Raffaella Margutti, & Alicia Soderberg (Harvard) Date: 23 Jan 2014; 22:22 UT Provenance: Laura Chomiuk (chomiuk@pa.msu.edu) Subjects: Radio, Millimeter, Supernovae Description: Millimeter/centimeter wavelength observations were obtained last night, UT 2014 Jan 23.3, of the young Type Ia SN 2014J in M82. Both CARMA and VLA yield deep non-detections. A 3 sigma upper limit of 1.2 mJy was measured at 85 GHz with CARMA, as part of the Key Project "A Millimeter View of the Transient Universe". Service observations with the VLA yielded a non-detection of -11.6 +/- 8.0 microJy at 5.5 GHz. These observations imply very low density surroundings around SN 2014J at radius ~10^15 cm.

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atel_5910

Title: Phase shift during an X-ray burst in GRO J1744-28 Authors: A. Sanna, F. Pintore, A. Riggio, L. Burderi (University of Cagliari), T. Di Salvo, A. D'Ai, R. Iaria, N. R. Robba (University of Palermo) Date: 20 Feb 2014; 19:11 UT Provenance: Alessandro Riggio (riggio@dsf.unica.it) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Transient, Pulsar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 5963 We report the detection of coherent pulsations during an X-ray burst of the accreting Neutron Star GRO J1744-28, observed during its ongoing outburst (ATel #5790, #5810, #5845, #5858, #5883). We analyzed all the available Swift observations between February the 2nd and February the 18th 2014. In accordance with previous findings (Atel #5883), we detected 8 X-ray bursts within 5 Swift/XRT observations. The X-ray bursts duration is, on average, 25 seconds, with a mean counts of ~2000 counts. Time of arrival (ToA) of the photons detected during the X-ray bursts were referred to the Solar system barycenter, using the source coordinates reported by Wijnands & Wang 2002, ApJ, 568, L93. ToAs were subsequently corrected for orbital delays using the orbital parameters of the source provided by Atel #5901. We then epoch-folded the ToAs adopting spin frequency and time derivative of the spin frequency reported in Atel #5091. We found evidence of pulsations during one of the X-ray bursts (EPOCH 56701.45129 MJD). We also epoch-folded the ToAs right before this X-ray burst (~140 seconds of data). Both pulse profiles are shown in figure 1. Interestingly, the two pulsations are shifted in phase by 0.19(5) (1 sigma error). We note that, in all the other X-ray bursts the statistic was too low to allow a secure detection of the pulsations.

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atel_6030

Title: OJ287 blazar in a flaring state Authors: S. Zola, T. Kundera, B. Debski, A. Kuzmicz (Astronomical Observatory, Jagiellonian University, Poland), M. Winiarski, W. Ogloza, M. Drozdz, G. Stachowski (Mt. Suhora Observatory, Pedagogical University, Poland), J. Dalessio (University of Delaware, USA) Date: 31 Mar 2014; 16:06 UT Provenance: Staszek Zola (szola@oa.uj.edu.pl) Subjects: Optical, Blazar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 6054 OJ287 has been monitored in the optical wavelength with small telescopes at the Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University (KRK) and the Mt. Suhora Observatory of the Pedagogical University (SUH) in Poland. Additional data were taken by the PROPMT telescope in Chile. We used the comparison (#4) and check (#10) stars of known magnitude proposed by Fiorucci & Tosti (A&AS 116, 403, 1996). We report very rapid changes of OJ287 brightness starting in mid March. The instrumental magnitudes in the wide band R filter are given ( JDhel, R Magnitude, site, comment): 2456730.27541 15.100+-0.015 SUH, 2456731.25835 15.071+-0.021 KRK, 2456737.30408 14.582+-0.003 SUH, 2456738.36951 14.457+-0.017 KRK, 2456739.27900 14.650+-0.011 KRK, 2456742.32245 13.882+-0.011 SUH, 2456743.26370 14.324+-0.007 SUH, 2456744.25108 14.263+-0.020 SUH rapid brightening, 2456744.36149 13.980+-0.018 SUH, 2456745.41507 14.600+-0.003 SUH, 2456746.29703 14.729+-0.014 KRK, 2456746.32228 14.739+-0.007 SUH, 2456747.39331 14.153 KRK rapid brightening, The current brightness changes are rapid and of high amplitude. Two series of measurements of OJ287, taken on March 27th with an interval of 2.5 hours, show a 0.28 mag increase in brightness. Observed continuously over 5.9 hours on March 30th the target brightened by about 0.35 mag. This behavior seems to be consistent with flaring activity originating in the blazar jet.

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atel_6125

Title: Spectroscopic Classification of a La Silla-QUEST Supernova by the Carnegie Supernova Project Authors: E. S. Walker (Yale), E. Hadjiyska (Yale), D. Rabinowitz (Yale), C. Baltay (Yale), N. Ellman (Yale), R. McKinnon (Yale), U. Feindt (U. Bonn), P. Nugent (LBNL/UCB), Mark Phillips (LCO), Nidia Morrell (LCO), Eric Hsiao (LCO), Carlos Contreras (LCO) Date: 6 May 2014; 22:55 UT Provenance: Emma Walker (emma.walker@yale.edu) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient Description: We report the spectroscopic classification of a La Silla-QUEST (LSQ) supernova (see Baltay et al. 2013, PASP, 125, 683) taken using WFCCD on the 2.5-m du Pont Telescope as part of the Carnegie Supernova Project. LSQ14bbv was discovered on 19 April 2014 with a V-band magnitude of 18.4 at RA=09:59:33.12 Dec=-56:59:27.84. A spectrum obtained on 5 May 2014 shows the object to be a Type Ia supernova. Cross-correlation with the "Supernova Identification" code (SNID; Blondin and Tonry 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) reveals the best matches to be the normal Type Ia supernova SN1989B at 8.6days past maximum. SNID also suggests a redshift of 0.057 which corresponds to a photospheric velocity of ~10200 km/s as measured from the minimum of the SiII 6355 Angstrom feature.

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atel_6225

Title: Onset and Rapid Increase of Gamma-Ray activity from the Binary System PSR B1259-63 detected by Fermi LAT Authors: K. S. Wood (NRL), G. A. Caliandro (CIFS/SLAC), C. C. Cheung (NRL), J. Li (IEEC-CSIC), D. F. Torres (IEEC-CSIC), for the Fermi LAT Collaboration Date: 10 Jun 2014; 23:52 UT Provenance: Teddy Cheung (ccheung@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov) Subjects: Gamma Ray, >GeV, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 6231, 6248 The Large Area Telescope (LAT), one of the two instruments on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, is measuring rapid brightening of the binary system PSR B1259-63/SS 2883 in the GeV energy range. The rise is consistent with repetition of the GeV light curve observed at the 2010-2011 periastron. Up to at least 2014-06-05 there were rare marginal detections and no detection at all over 2014-05-25 to 2014-06-05, corresponding to a broad minimum at the same phase of the previous cycle (see Tam et al. 2011, ApJ 736, L10; Abdo et al. 2011, ApJ 736, L11; Chernyakova et al. 2014, MNRAS 439, 432). A difference from analysis published in Atels #6216, #6204, and #6198 is that we model the region around PSR B1259-63 using an internal source list based on 4 years of LAT data. A likelihood binned analysis was performed for a time window of 4 days, shifted in time with steps of 3 hours. The profile of test statistic (TS) values obtained shows a sharp rise, from which we determine onset of GeV activity to be on 2014-06-06 03:00:00 UTC +/- 1.5 h, i.e., 33 days after periastron (2014-05-04). On 2014-06-09 we measure high significance detections at timescales of 1 day and 12 hours. Preliminary analysis of the Fermi LAT data in the one-day time period of 2014-06-09 00:10:04 to 2014-06-10 00:10:04 UTC gives a detection with significance above 5 sigma (or TS ~61, depending slightly on model details), corresponding to flux (E > 100 MeV) of (1.8 +/- 0.3) x 10^-6 ph cm^-2 s^-1, and a photon index of 3.1 +/- 0.2. In a shorter interval of 12 hours starting 2014-06-09 12:10:04 we measure TS = 33, flux (E > 100 MeV) of (2.1 +/- 0.6) x 10^-6 ph cm^-2 s^-1, and a photon index of 3.3 +/- 0.3. If the light curve of this cycle continues to track that of 2010-2011, then the highest intensity of the GeV flaring is expected on June 12. Fermi will continue to operate in a pointed mode to enhance exposure. We strongly encourage observations in other wavelengths. Spectroscopic observations to track evolution of H-alpha equivalent width over coming days to weeks would be particularly valuable because there was a gap in coverage near this phase in the previous cycle. X-ray observations during the next few days (the anticipated GeV maximum) should also be high priority. Observers planning coordinated observations are encouraged to list them at the following site: http://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/ssc/observations/multi/reporting/ because this will assist the Fermi project in planning. The Fermi LAT contact persons for this source are Kent S. Wood (kent.wood@nrl.navy.mil) and G. Andrea Caliandro (caliandr@slac.stanford.edu). The Fermi LAT is a pair conversion telescope designed to cover the energy band from 20 MeV to greater than 300 GeV. It is the product of an international collaboration between NASA and DOE in the U.S. and many scientific institutions across France, Italy, Japan, and Sweden.

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atel_6330

Title: Follow-up imaging of ASASSN-14eb (unconfirmed) Authors: K. Z. Stanek, C. S. Kochanek, A. B. Davis, T. W.-S. Holoien, B. J. Shappee, J. Jencson, U. Basu, J. F. Beacom (Ohio State), J. L. Prieto (Universidad Diego Portales), J. Brimacombe (Coral Towers Observatory), D. Bersier (LJMU), D. Szczygiel, G. Pojmanski (Warsaw University Observatory) Date: 20 Jul 2014; 16:44 UT Provenance: Krzysztof Stanek (stanek.32@osu.edu) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: We obtained follow-up images of ASASSN-14eb (ATel #6329) on UT 2014-07-20 with the LCOGT 1m telescope at CTIO and also the RCOS 16" telescope near Siding Spring Observatory. The source is undetected (V >~ 20 mag) and was most likely a false positive, or a fast-fading transient.

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atel_6390

Title: Bright PSN detected by MASTER Authors: V. Shumkov, P. Balanutsa, D. Denisenko, V. Lipunov, E. Gorbovskoy, N. Tiurina, V. Kornilov, N. Shatskiy, V. Chazov, A. Kuznetsov, V. Vladimirov, V. Yecheistov (Moscow State University, SAI), K. Ivanov, S. Yazev, N. Budnev, E. Konstantinov, O. Chuvalaev, V. Poleshchuk, O. Gress (Irkutsk State University), A. Parkhomenko, A. Tlatov, D. Dormidontov, V. Senik (Kislovodsk Solar Station of Pulkovo Observatory), V. Yurkov, Y. Sergienko, D. Varda, E. Sinyakov, A. Gabovich (Blagoveshchensk Educational University), V. Krushinsky, I. Zalozhnih, A. Popov, A. Bourdanov (Ural Federal University), P. Podvorotny, S. Shurpakov (MASTER team members), H. Levato, C. Saffe (ICATE), C. Mallamaci, C. Lopez, F. Podest (OAFA) Date: 15 Aug 2014; 15:04 UT Provenance: Nataly Tyurina (tiurina@sai.msu.ru) Subjects: Supernovae Description: MASTER OT J162412.26+091303.0 - possible Supernova in PGC058025 galaxy MASTER-Kislovodsk auto-detection system discovered OT source at (RA, Dec) = 16h 24m 12.26s +09d 13m 03.0s on 2014-08-13.73925 UT. The OT unfiltered magnitude is 16.6m (limit 19.5m). The OT is seen in 4 images. There is no minor planet at this place. We have reference image without OT on 2012-08-14.76881 UT with unfiltered magnitude limit 19.2m. There is PGC058025 galaxy. The OT offset are 2.7W and 11.5N. Spectral observations are required. The discovery and reference images are available at: http://master.sai.msu.ru/static/OT/162412.26091303.0.png List of Optical Transients discovered by MASTER Global MASTER Net

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atel_6570

Title: PESSTO spectroscopic classification of optical transients Authors: F. Olivares (MAS, UNAB), P. Zelaya (MAS, PUC), H. Kuncarayakti, S. Gonzalez-Gaitan, L. Galbany (MAS, DAS), K. Maguire (ESO), M. Fraser (CAM), C. Inserra (QUB), S. J. Smartt (QUB), K. W. Smith (QUB), M. Sullivan (Southampton), S. Valenti (LCOGT), O. Yaron (Weizmann), D. Young (QUB), I. Manulis (Weizmann), L. Wyrzykowski (Warsaw Observatory) Date: 13 Oct 2014; 15:52 UT Provenance: Lluis Galbany (lluisgalbany@gmail.com) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 6573 PESSTO, the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects (see Valenti et al., ATel #4037; http://www.pessto.org ), reports the following supernova classification. Target was supplied by the OGLE-IV Real-time Transient Search (Wyrzykowski et al., 2014 arxiv:1409.1095; http://ogle.astrouw.edu.pl/ ). All observations were performed on the ESO New Technology Telescope at La Silla on 2014 October 12, using EFOSC2 and Grism 13 (3985-9315A, 18A resolution). Classifications were done with SNID (Blondin & Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024). Classification spectra can be obtained from http://www.pessto.org (via WISeREP). Name | RA (J2000) | Dec (J2000) | Disc. Date | Disc. Source | Disc Mag | z | Type | Phase | Notes OGLE-2014-SN-096 | 01 35 25 | -73 38 49 | 20140801 | OGLE | 19.6 | 0.04 | II | >~+16d | Match to 99em (1) (1) Low S/N.

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atel_6630

Title: MAXI/GSC observation of an unexpected X-ray outburst from the Be/X-ray binary pulsar GRO J1008-57 Authors: M. Nakajima (Nihon U.), T. Mihara (RIKEN), S. Ueno, H. Tomida, S. Nakahira, M. Kimura, M. Ishikawa, Y. E. Nakagawa (JAXA), M. Sugizaki, M. Morii, M. Serino, J. Sugimoto, T. Takagi, A. Yoshikawa, M. Matsuoka (RIKEN), N. Kawai, T. Yoshii, Y. Tachibana (Tokyo Tech), A. Yoshida, T. Sakamoto, Y. Kawakubo, H. Ohtsuki (AGU), H. Tsunemi, D. Uchida (Osaka U.), H. Negoro, K. Fukushima, T. Onodera, K. Suzuki, T. Namba, M. Fujita, F. Honda (Nihon U.), Y. Ueda, M. Shidatsu, T. Kawamuro, T. Hori (Kyoto U.), Y. Tsuboi, A. Kawagoe (Chuo U.), M. Yamauchi, Y. Morooka (Miyazaki U.), K. Yamaoka (Nagoya U.) report on behalf of the MAXI team: Date: 28 Oct 2014; 09:57 UT Provenance: Motoki Nakajima (nakajima.motoki@nihon-u.ac.jp) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient, Pulsar Description: Referred to by ATel #: 6656, 6664, 6819, 6823, 6917, 8547, 10529 The MAXI/GSC nova alert system again detected an unexpected X-ray flux increase from the Be/X-ray binary pulsar GRO J1008-57 on 2014 October 22 (MJD 56952). After the previous normal outburst reported on 2014 September 13 (MJD 56913 ; Atel#6465), the 4-10 keV source flux stayed at ~10 mCrab brightness. On October 16 (MJD 56946), the flux turned into an increase again. The daily-averaged flux in the 4-10 keV band reached 32 +- 6 mCrab on October 22 (MJD 56952), and the latest data is 75 +- 15 mCrab (MJD 56957). According to the orbital ephemeris (T_0=54416.65(MJD), Porb=249.48 d ; Kühnel et al. 2013), the trigger date is consistent with the 0.16 orbital phase. The present activity resembles the beginning of the giant outburst observed in 2012 (Atel#4561). We encouraged multi wavelength observations. The latest light curve and the image are available at the following URL:http://maxi.riken.jp/top/index.php?cid=1&jname=J1009-582

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atel_6780

Title: A New NIR Flare of the QSO TXS 2241+406 Authors: L. Carrasco, E. Recillas, A. Porras, D. Y. Mayya, J. Leon-Tavares, V. Chavushyan, A. Carraminana, (INAOE, Mexico) Date: 4 Dec 2014; 13:54 UT Provenance: LUIS CARRASCO (carrasco@inaoep.mx) Subjects: Radio, Infra-Red, Optical, Gamma Ray, AGN, Blazar, Quasar, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 6829, 8030 We report on a new NIR flare of the QSO TXS 2241+406 also known as BZB J2244+4057 (z=1.171), associated with the Gamma ray source 2FGLJ2244.1+4059. On December 1st,2014 (JD, 2456992,640470) we obtained NIR photometry for this object and found it with enhanced fluxes corresponding to: J = 14.496 +/- 0.06, H = 13.589 +/- 0.07 and Ks = 12.662 +/- 0.07. The object is brightest since the epoch in which it was included in our regular monitoring program of NIR photometry. The object might have been at detection limit at the the time of the 2Mass survey, with a flux corresponding to H ~ 17.8. Hence, since then, it has increased its flux by about a factor of ~50. The present flare shows an increment in flux of a factor of 4.7 since we first detected this object on JD 2456650 (Atel #5690) and it is brighter than the flare previously reported in Atel # 6402. Our observations were carried out with the 2.1m telescope of the Guillermo Haro Observatory operated by the National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (Mexico), equipped with the instrument CANICA a NIR camera. We strongly encourage further multiwavelength coverage.

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atel_6850

Title: MAXI/GSC detection of the brightest X-ray outburst from 4U 1700+24 Authors: K. Fukushima, K. Suzuki, T. Namba, H. Negoro (Nihon U.), N. Kawai (Tokyo Tech), M. Serino, J. Sugimoto (RIKEN), S. Ueno, H. Tomida, S. Nakahira, M. Kimura, M. Ishikawa, Y. E. Nakagawa (JAXA), T. Mihara, M. Sugizaki, M. Morii, T. Takagi, A. Yoshikawa, M. Matsuoka (RIKEN), Y. Tachibana, T. Yoshii (Tokyo Tech), A. Yoshida, T. Sakamoto, Y. Kawakubo, H. Ohtsuki (AGU), H. Tsunemi, D. Uchida (Osaka U.), M. Nakajima, T. Onodera, M. Fujita, F. Honda (Nihon U.), Y. Ueda, M. Shidatsu, T. Kawamuro, T. Hori (Kyoto U.), Y. Tsuboi, A. Kawagoe (Chuo U.), M. Yamauchi, Y. Morooka, D. Itoh (Miyazaki U.), K. Yamaoka (Nagoya U.) Date: 26 Dec 2014; 10:25 UT Provenance: Hitoshi Negoro (negoro@phys.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp) Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star Description: The MAXI/GSC nova alert system triggered an X-ray brightening of the symbiotic X-ray binary 4U 1700+24. The source 4-10 keV flux has gradually increased since around MJD 56950 (2014 October 20), and reached approximately 120 mCrab on MJD 57017 (2014 December 26). The source is one of the nearest X-ray binaries (~ 420 pc, Masetti et al. 2002). It has a long history of low X-ray activities with the maximum X-ray flux about 30 mCrab for 18 years (MJD 50,087 - 52,383, e.g. Corbet et al., 2008) Note that the source also shows 404 days periodicity (Masetti et al. 2002, Galloway et al. 2002, Corbet et al. 2008) and the previous flux peak (~30 mCrab) was observed around MJD 56200 with MAXI. The public light curves and products can be seen at http://maxi.riken.jp/top/index.php?cid=1&jname=J1706+239 . MAXI Home Page

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atel_6975

Title: Strong Optical Flare from Blazar PKS 0736+01 Detected by ASAS-SN Authors: K. Z. Stanek, T. W.-S. Holoien, C. S. Kochanek, A. B. Danilet, G. Simonian, U. Basu, N. Goss, J. F. Beacom (Ohio State), B. J. Shappee (Hubble Fellow, Carnegie Observatories), J. L. Prieto (Diego Portales; MAS), D. Bersier (LJMU), Subo Dong (KIAA-PKU), P. R. Wozniak (LANL), J. Brimacombe (Coral Towers Observatory), D. Szczygiel, G. Pojmanski (Warsaw University Observatory) Date: 21 Jan 2015; 19:08 UT Provenance: Krzysztof Stanek (stanek.32@osu.edu) Subjects: Optical Description: Flaring blazar PKS 0736+01 (e.g., ATel #6731, #6742) is in a "Galactic plane" (b=11.4 degrees) ASAS-SN field that our survey started observing in December 2014. Two images obtained using the 14-cm ASAS-SN quadruple "Brutus" telescope on UT 2015-01-20.40 reveal a strong (delta V~1.4 mag) V-band flare of that object, see this figure for recent ASAS-SN V-band photometry. In particular, the last four ASAS-SN epochs had the following V-band photometry: UT Date V 2015-01-15.52 16.25 2015-01-16.52 16.30 2015-01-18.40 16.45 2015-01-20.40 15.19 We thank LCOGT and its staff for their continued support of ASAS-SN. ASAS-SN is supported in part by Mt. Cuba Astronomical Foundation. For more information about the ASAS-SN project, see the ASAS-SN Homepage.

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atel_7075

Title: Nordic Optical Telescope identification of PSN J13471211-2422171 Authors: M. Stritzinger, E. Hsiao (Aarhus University) and F. Taddia (Stockholm University, OKC), on behalf of the Carnegie Supernova Project Date: 15 Feb 2015; 14:43 UT Provenance: Francesco Taddia (ftadd@astro.su.se) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: We report spectroscopic classification of PSN J13471211-2422171 based on a visual-wavelength spectrum obtained with the Nordic Optical Telescope (+Alfosc). Name | RA | DEC | Spec. date | Type | Phase | PSN J13471211-2422171 | 13:47:12.11 | -24:22:17.10 | 2015 02 15.2 | Ia | near or at maximum |

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atel_7140

Title: PESSTO spectroscopic classification of optical transients Authors: A. Mitra (LPNHE), S. Baumont (LPNHE), L. Le Guillou (LPNHE), P-F. Leget (LPC-Clermont), N. Chotard (IPNL), K. Maguire (ESO), J. Polshaw (QUB), C. Inserra (QUB), S. J. Smartt (QUB), K. W. Smith (QUB), M. Sullivan (Southampton), S. Valenti (LCOGT), O. Yaron (Weizmann), I. Manulis (Weizmann), D. Young (QUB), C. Baltay, N. Ellman, E. Hadjiyska, R. McKinnon, D. Rabinowitz, S. Rostami (Yale University), U. Feindt, M. Kowalski (Universitat Bonn), P. Nugent (LBL Berkeley) Date: 25 Feb 2015; 16:07 UT Provenance: Nicolas Chotard (nchotard@ipnl.in2p3.fr) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: PESSTO, the Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey for Transient Objects (see Smartt et al., arXiv:1411.0299 http://www.pessto.org ), reports the following supernova classifications. Targets were supplied by the La Silla-Quest survey (see Baltay et al., PASP, 2013, 125, 683). All observations were performed on the ESO New Technology Telescope at La Silla on 2015-02-24, using EFOSC2 and Grism 13 (3985-9315A, 18A resolution). Classifications were done with SNID (Blondin & Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) and GELATO (Harutyunyan et al., 2008, A&A, 488, 383). Classification spectra can be obtained from http://www.pessto.org (via WISeREP). Name | RA (J2000) | Dec (J2000) | Disc. Date | Disc. Source | Disc Mag | z | Type | Phase | Notes LSQ15ok | 10:49:16.68 | -19:38:26.0 | 20150202 | LSQ | 17.39 | 0.01 | II | -3 | (1) (1) Good match with SN1999em at -3 days

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atel_7230

Title: Spectroscopic Observation of PNV J18365700-2855420 with the Liverpool Telescope Authors: S. C. Williams (LJMU), M. J. Darnley (LJMU), M. F. Bode (LJMU) Date: 16 Mar 2015; 09:33 UT Provenance: Matt Darnley (M.J.Darnley@ljmu.ac.uk) Subjects: Optical, Nova Description: Referred to by ATel #: 7265, 7309, 7986, 10557 An optical spectrum of PNV J18365700-2855420 (see CBAT TOCP) was obtained using the FRODOspec spectrograph on the Liverpool Telescope at 2015 March 16.27 UT. The spectrum shows strong Balmer series emission exhibiting P Cygni profiles with velocities of ~2800 km/s. Numerous Fe II emission lines (also with P Cygni profiles) are also seen, along with O I, Si II and Mg II features. This confirms that PNV J18365700-2855420 is a bright classical nova of the Fe II spectral type and follow-up observations are encouraged.

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atel_7325

Title: CSP spectroscopic classification of LSQ15aae Authors: F. Taddia (OKC/Stockholm), M. Stritzinger, E. Y. Hsiao (Aarhus), E. Hadjiyska, E. S. Walker, D. Rabinowitz, C. Baltay, N. Ellman, R. McKinnon (Yale), U. Feindt (U. Bonn), P. Nugent (LBNL/UCB) Date: 31 Mar 2015; 13:15 UT Provenance: Francesco Taddia (ftadd@astro.su.se) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: The Carnegie Supernova Project reports the spectroscopic classification of LSQ15aae using an optical spectrum obtained with the Nordic Optical Telescope (+Alfosc). The target was supplied by the La Silla-Quest survey (Hadjiyska et al., ATel #3812). Name | RA | DEC | Disc. date | Spec. date | Tele+Inst | Type |z | Phase | LSQ15aae | 16 30 15.70 | +05 55 58.73 | 2015 03 19 | 2015 03 30 | NOT+ALFOSC | Ia-91T |0.05 | Before max | Notes: Best SNID (Blondin & Tonry, 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) fits to the spectra of several 1991T-like SNe Ia (e.g., SN 2001eh) before maximum light.

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atel_7440

Title: Spectroscopic Classification of PS15aez Authors: A. S. Piascik, I. A. Steele (Liverpool JMU) Date: 24 Apr 2015; 09:08 UT Provenance: Iain Steele (iainsteele@mac.com) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: We conducted a spectroscopic observation of transient PS15aez (Atel #7437) at 2015-04-23T23:18:42 UT. One spectrum was obtained in the visible (400-800nm) with resolution R~350 using the SPRAT spectrograph on the Liverpool Telescope located at Roque de los Muchachos. Classification using SNID (Blondin & Tonry 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) indicates it is a type Ia SN near maximum with closest matching spectrum SN2007S. The redshift is estimated as z=0.056. SiII expansion velocity is estimated at 11300 km/s. Liverpool Telescope

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atel_7575

Title: DAO spectroscopic classification of CSS150527:132613+394712 in SDSS J132612.52+394710.5 as a core-collapse supernova Authors: D. D. Balam (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory) and M. L. Graham (LCOGT - UCSB) Date: 29 May 2015; 06:21 UT Provenance: David D. Balam (cosmos@uvic.ca) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: A noisy spectrum was obtained on UT May 28.27 of CSS:150527:132613+394712 using the 1.82-m Plaskett telescope (National Research Council of Canada) covering the range 365-720 nm (resolution 0.35 nm). Cross-correlation with a template library using SNID (Blondin & Tonry 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) shows CSS:150527:132613+394712 to be a core-collapse supernova near maximum light. We find a fit to the template of (SN IIp) 2006bp at 2 days pre-maximum. There is no published red shift for the candidate host galaxy (SDSS J132612.52+394710.5). There is an emission peak that we take to be H-alpha shifted to a redshift of 0.035.

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atel_7650

Title: Optical follow-up of V404 Cyg during the current enhanced activity. Authors: K. Gazeas (UOA: University of Athens), G. Vasilopoulos (MPE), M. Petropoulou (Purdue University), K. Sapountzis (UOA) Date: 17 Jun 2015; 15:12 UT Provenance: Georgios Vasilopoulos (gevas@mpe.mpg.de) Subjects: Optical, Request for Observations, Binary, Black Hole, Transient, Variables Description: Referred to by ATel #: 7655, 7659, 7661, 7662, 7663, 7667, 7669, 7671, 7674, 7677, 7681, 7686, 7702, 7708, 7714, 7718, 7720, 7721, 7722, 7734, 7740, 7959 V404 Cyg is a known black hole Low mass X-ray binary with a late G-type companion, having a ~6.5 d orbital period. On June 15 18:32 UT Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) was triggered due to the high X-ray activity of the system (Barthelmy et al. GCN #17929) The X-ray activity of the system was later confirmed by MAXI/CSC (ATel #7646). X-ray spectral analysis of Swift/XRT data taken within the last 2 days yields a strongly variable absorption (ATel #7647). We report on the optical follow-up of the system at its current bright state, presenting the R-band light-curve (LC) of the system for the first two nights. On June 15 18:58 UT, the 0.40 m f/8 robotic telescope at the University of Athens (Greece) performed follow-up photometric observations in optical R-band. Data collection has started on (UT) 2015-06-15.29 and finished on (UT) 2015-06-15.35 (mid-exposure time). A sum of 30 exposures of 180 sec each was collected. On the second night, data collection has started on (UT) 2015-06-16.44 and finished on (UT) 2015-06-16.59. A sum of 72 exposures of 180 sec each was collected. Aperture photometry was performed with a 3 pixel (approximately 4 arcsec) radius aperture. Differential photometry and magnitude calibration was performed utilizing the nearby stars, namely USNO 1200-15039207 (Rmag=12.9) and USNO 1200-15046396 (Rmag=12.7), located 140 arcsec west and 96 arcsec southeast of the source, respectively. No further absolute photometric calibration has been applied on these data. The LC in the first hour of the first day revealed a fading trend of ~2.7 mag/hour, which was then followed by a more shallow decay (~0.2 mag/hour). The LC during the second day revealed a periodic behaviour. We performed timing analysis to the second day data by using the Lomb-Scargle algorithm. The mean magnitude during the second night was ~14.1 with a decline trend of ~0.1 mag/hour. A ~1.68 hour periodic modulation was detected. The amplitude of the sinusoidal fit to the LC was 0.47 mag. We will continue monitoring the system during the next days. Additional observations are required to confirm this periodic behaviour. The extracted photometric light curve can be found: 1st and 2nd day LC 2nd day LC

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atel_7725

Title: Fast Optical Photometry of V404 Cyg at the MDM Observatory Authors: D. Terndrup (OSU), R. M. Wagner (LBTO/OSU), S. Starrfield (ASU) Date: 28 Jun 2015; 06:16 UT Provenance: R. Mark Wagner (rmw@as.arizona.edu) Subjects: Optical, Black Hole, Transient, Variables Description: Referred to by ATel #: 7740, 7959 We obtained continuous fast differential optical photometry of V404 Cyg with the 1.3 m McGraw-Hill Telescope of the MDM Observatory on Kitt Peak on the nights of 2015 June 19.220-19.474, 20.194-20.472, 21.199-21.460, and 22.188-22.421 UT. The observations were performed in the R-band with the Andor frame-transfer CCD camera at an image scale of 0.54 arcsec/pixel and with a field-of-view of 2.3 arcmin. The photometry on June 19 was obtained with a 6 to 10 sec cadence while the photometry on the remaining nights was obtained with a 1 sec cadence. The temporal coverage was 6.096 h (June 19), 6.672 h (June 20), 6.261 h (June 21), and 5.592 h (June 22). A total of 68,374 individual measurements were obtained. Differential photometry was obtained with respect to the anonymous field star 2MASS J20240718+3350516 (AUID 000-BCL-467 in the AAVSO field photometry database and 620-101865 in the UCA4 catalog). This star has R = 12.384 mag based on photometry obtained by A. Henden and reported in the AAVSO database. We estimate that our differential photometric uncertainty is better than 0.03 mag per bin. The individual nightly light curves are shown here: June 19, June 20, June 21, and June 22. A comparison of all four nights plotted on the same vertical scale can be found here in a montage. Our photometry overlaps and extends some optical photometry that has been already reported (ATEL #7677, #7681, #7686, #7688, #7696, and #7710). In particular, the photometry reported by Hynes, Robinson, and Morales (ATEL #7710) overlaps our coverage between June 19.35 and 19.44 UT. The agreement of the two light curves in the overlap region is remarkable right down to variations appearing on the shortest timescales visible in the plot. Although, our sampling on this night was about 6 sec compared to 1 sec in ATEL #7710, we can confirm that based on the combined data as well as our light curve from June 20, that the short episodes of rapid flaring described in ATEL #7710 are intrinsic to the source and may likely be present during some bright optical states. In addition, our photometry just overlaps and significantly extends the ULTRACAM light curves reported by Gandhi et al. (ATEL #7686) obtained on June 20.174-20.225 and 21.153-21.231 UT. After the conclusion of the ULTRACAM light curve on June 20.225, our extended light curve shows slower and smoother fluctuations comparable to that obtained on June 19 and the presence of rapid flaring down to our time resolution occurring between June 20.400-20.428 UT. The rapid flaring in this time interval is shown here. On June 21, we overlap the ULTRACAM light curve through June 21.2313 UT and the variations are of much lower amplitude and quite smooth for the remainder of the light curve extending through June 21.460 UT. Additional fast photometry and coordinated observations to improve the temporal coverage are encouraged.

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atel_7825

Title: Spectroscopic Classification of PSN J11492548-0507138 as a Type Ia Supernova Authors: R. J. Rudy (Aerospace Corp.), D. R. Ardila (Aerospace Corp.), K. B. Crawford (Aerospace Corp.), M. S. L. Moody (Aerospace Corp. and UC, Berkeley), T. K. Safrit (Aerospace Corp. and MIT), R. C. Puetter (UC, San Diego) Date: 22 Jul 2015; 22:25 UT Provenance: Richard Rudy (richard.j.rudy@aero.org) Subjects: Infra-Red, Optical, Supernovae Description: Optical and IR spectra from 0.47-2.5 microns (resolution: 5-30 angstroms) of PSN J11492548-0507138 (ATEL #7732) were obtained on 2015 July 12.15 with the Shane 3.0 m Telescope of Lick Observatory using the Aerospace Corporation's Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (VNIRIS). The spectrum shows the large absorption feature of Si II at 6355 angstroms characteristic of a young type Ia SN. We used the redshift of the host galaxy IC 2693 (0.0056) and the generic classification tool (GELATO) spectrum matching software (Harutyunyan et al., 2008, A&A,488, 383) and found a best fit with a type Ia at or around maximum light.

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atel_7920

Title: MASTER OT J233743.22-473039.3 is the PSN in Double Nuclear Galaxy with X-ray Activity ESO240-010 Authors: V. Lipunov (Lomonosov MSU), D. Buckley (SAAO), E. Gorbovskoy, V. Kornilov, A. Kuznetsov, P. Balanutsa, N. Tiurina, E. Popova, V. Chazov, I. Gorbunov (M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Sterberg Astronomical Institute), S. Potter, M. Kotze (SAAO), R. Rebolo, M. Serra-Ricart, N. Lodieu, G. Israelian (The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), N. Budnev, O. Gress, K. Ivanov (Applied Physics Institute of Irkutsk State University), A. Tlatov, V. Senik, D. Dormidontov (Kislovodsk Solar Station of of the Pulkovo observatory RAS), V. Krushinsky, I. Zalozhnykh (Ural Federal University), Yu. Sergienko, V. Yurkov, A. Gabovich (Blagoveschensk State Educational University) Date: 17 Aug 2015; 18:51 UT Provenance: Nataly Tyurina (tiurina@sai.msu.ru) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient Description: MASTER OT J233743.22-473039.3 - PSN discovered during Short GRB Inspection Recently we received two images with PSN MASTER OT J233743.22-473039.3 discovered by (Popova et al., ATEL #7919 ). We see OT at the same postion on 10 images 14 hours after discovery at MASTER-SAAO robotic telescope in Sutherland Observatory. The OT becames slightly brighter. The ESO240-010 Galaxy is the very interesting object with double structure (Karachentsev and Makarov, Astrophysical Bull, SAO RAS, vol.63, p.320-368, 2008 ). The ESO240-010 galaxy was observed during X-Ray, UV, and another survey: XMM, GALEX ... MASTER Global Robotic Net

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atel_8025

Title: MASTER-SAAO: bright optical flare of 2FGL 1725.1-7714 Blazar Authors: P. Balanutsa, V. Lipunov, E. Gorbovskoy (Lomonosov MSU), D. Buckley (SAAO), N. Tyurina, V. Kornilov, A. Kuznetsov, I. Gorbunov, D. Vlasenko, V. Chazov (M. V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, SAI), S. Potter, M. Kotze (South African Astronomical Observatory), R. Rebolo, M. Serra-Ricart, N. Lodieu, G. Israelian (The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias),O. Gress, N. M. Budnev, K. Ivanov (Applied Physics Institute, Irkutsk State University), A. Tlatov, D. Dormidontov, V. Senik (Kislovodsk Solar Station of the Pulkovo Observatory), V. Krushinski, I. Zalozhnykh (Ural Federal University), Yu. Sergienko, A. Gabovich, V. Yurkov (Blagoveschensk Educational State University) Date: 9 Sep 2015; 11:35 UT Provenance: Nataly Tyurina (tiurina@sai.msu.ru) Subjects: Optical, AGN, Blazar, Quasar, Transient Description: MASTER OT J172350.86-771350.3 detection - bright optical flare of 2FGL 1725.1-7714 Blazar with gamma-ray counterpart MASTER-SAAO auto-detection system ( Lipunov et al., Advances in Astronomy, MASTER Global Robotic Net, 2010 ) discovered OT source at (RA, Dec) = 17h 23m 50.86s -77d 13m 50.3s on 2015-09-08.81221 UT. The OT unfiltered magnitude is 16.5m (the limit is 19.3m). There are 3 images with OT. There is no minor planet at this place. We have previous outburst was on 2015-03-13.009UT with unfiltered m_OT=17.7. We have the following reference images without OT (MASTER-SAAO database) : Date, UT Unfiltered mag limit 2015-08-01 19:36:10 18.7 2015-06-28 22:48:11 18.6 2015-05-03 23:53:40 19.4 2015-04-30 21:42:43 19.0 2015-02-02 00:15:28 18.5 2014-12-19 23:30:02 18.4 2014-12-18 23:37:07 20.0 There is 2FGL J1725.1-7714 Blazar with gamma-ray counterpart, but without a good optical spectrum. Spectral observations are required. The discovery and reference images are available at: http://master.sai.msu.ru/static/OT/172350.86-771350.3.png MASTER Global Robotic Net

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atel_8100

Title: The eruptive variable V1118 Ori is now in outburst again Authors: D. Lorenzetti (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Monte Porzio, Italy), A. A.Arkharov (St. Petersburg Observatory, Russia), A. Di Paola, T. Giannini, S. Antoniucci (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Monte Porzio, Italy), V. M.Larionov (Astronomical Institute of St. Petersburg University, Russia; St. Petersburg Observatory, Russia) Date: 27 Sep 2015; 21:56 UT Provenance: Dario Lorenzetti (dloren@mporzio.astro.it) Subjects: Infra-Red, Variables, Pre-Main-Sequence Star Description: Referred to by ATel #: 8548 After a long lasting period of quiescence of about a decade (Lorenzetti et al. 2015 ApJ 802, 24), the source V1118Ori, one of the most representative member of the EXOr variables (Audard et al. 2014 PPVI p.387) is now outbursting. On 2015 Sept. 21 (JD 2457286) we detected V1118 Ori in the near-IR (JHK bands) at a flux level increased by more than 1 mag. Observations have been carried out at the AZT24 1m IR telescope (Campo Imperatore, Italy): the obtained photometric values are J = 11.36 mag, H = 10.67 mag, and K = 9.93 mag. Likely, as already occurred during the last outburst on 2004/2005 (Audard et al. 2005 ApJ 635, 81; Lorenzetti et al. 2005 AA 453, 579) the increasing trend is the beginning of a new outbursting phase that will continue during the next months, hence spectro-photometric observations in the optical and near-IR range are strongly encouraged.

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atel_8190

Title: Optical Anti-Transient detected by MASTER-SAAO Authors: E. Popova, V. Lipunov, E. Gorbovskoy (Lomonosov MSU), D. Buckley, S. Potter, M. Kotze, A. Knyazev (South African Astronomical Observatory), P. Balanutsa, Chazov, V. Shumkov (M. V. Lomonosov MSU, SAI),V. Kornilov, N. Tiurina, A. Kuznetsov, I. Gorbunov, D. Vlasenko, V. Chazov, E. Popova (M. V. Lomonosov MSU, SAI), R. Rebolo, M. Serra-Ricart, N. Lodieu, G. Israelian (The Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), O. Gress, N. Budnev, K. Ivanov (Irkutsk State University, Applied Physics Institute), A. Tlatov, V. Senik, D. Dormidontov (Kislovodsk Solar Station of the Pulkovo Observatory), V. Krushinskiy (Ural Federal University), Yu. Sergienko, A. Gabovich, V. Yurkov (Blagoveschensk Educational State University) Date: 19 Oct 2015; 20:54 UT Provenance: Nataly Tyurina (tiurina@sai.msu.ru) Subjects: Optical, Binary, Cataclysmic Variable, Transient Description: Referred to by ATel #: 8191 MASTER OT J072703.91-631952.8 - eclipsing binary with 9 year period? MASTER-SAAO auto-detection system discovered OT source at (RA, Dec) = 07h 27m 03.91s -63d 19m 52.8s on 2015-10-19.02311 UT. The OT unfiltered magnitude is 17.4m (limit 20.5m). The OT is seen in 22 images. We have reference image without OT on 2014-12-25.01565 UT with unfiltered magnitude limit 20.4m. Spectral observations are required. There is the USNO-B1.0 star wqith R=~14 and B=~14.7 atr thgis place. We found the same low state ~3554 days (~9.4 years) ago in Catalina data base.There is GALEX source at this position. It means that we have very interesting system. The discovery and reference images are available at: http://master.sai.msu.ru/static/OT/072703.91-631952.8.png This is the 4-th antitransient discovered by MASTER (see Atel #4784 , Atel #5953, Atel #7382). List of Optical Transients discovered by MASTER MASTER Global Robotic Net

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atel_8275

Title: Initial results from the HST STIS spectrum of Nova V5668 Sgr (2015 #2) Authors: Paul Kuin (MSSL/UCL), Kim Page, Julian Osborne (U. Leicester), Steve Shore (Universita di Pisa), Greg Schwarz (AAS), Fred Walter (Stonybrook) Date: 11 Nov 2015; 22:14 UT Provenance: Paul Kuin (npkuin@gmail.com) Subjects: Ultra-Violet, Nova Description: On Friday, November 6th, 2015, from 1:34 to 2:36 UT we obtained a medium resolution spectrum with the STIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope of V5668 Sgr, also known as Nova Sgr 2015b and PNV J18365700-2855420. Earlier this year the nova formed dust (ATEL #7643, #7748, #7862, #7986) with an exceptionally strong photometric signature with the brightness decreasing from 6th magnitude by 7 magnitudes within a week. By the start of September the nova brightness had recovered 4 magnitudes to 9th magnitude and since then has only shown a very minor decrease in brightness. The nova has been monitored with the low resolution Swift UV grism and filter throughout this process (ATEL #7953, #8054) and therefore therefore the addition of a medium resolution HST UV spectrum that also extends into the far UV is invaluable. We observe emission lines of multiple ionisation stages of, for example, O I 1302, O II 2783, C II 2324, C III 1175, 2838, C III] 1909, C IV 1550, N II] 2143, N III] 1750, N IV] 1486, 1718, N V 1240, O V] 1371 as well as lines of He II 1640, Al III 1854, Mg II 2800. The Si III and Si IV lines appear faint, suggesting a low abundance for these ions. The emission lines show two or three peaks, and the line ratios are different in the peaks which provides evidence of differences in ionisation and/or abundances in the outflow. Contemporaneous optical spectra obtained using the Chiron spectrograph on the SMARTS/CTIO 1.5m at R=28,000 also show lines from C IV, N V, and O VI. The interstellar lines are clearly defined. The H Ly-alpha line is comprised of a saturated absorption line with two emission peaks offset at about the same velocities where the peaks are in other emission lines. Using the wings of the ISM H Ly-alpha profile a neutral hydrogen column density is derived of NHI = 1.4x1021 cm-2. The X-ray spectrum allows only a rough estimate of NH ~ 1021 cm-2, consistent with the measurement from H Ly-alpha. We estimate the reddening E(B-V) to be around 0.2-0.3. We acknowledge support from the AAVSO observers, specifically Costantino Sigismondi and Arne Henden by providing photometry in preparation of the HST observation. We thank all who contributed to the success of this observation, in particular the people at STScI, and the Swift team for continuous observations which allowed us to monitor the nova in the ultraviolet.

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atel_8350

Title: Asiago classification of ASASSN-15gt as a Type-Ia SN Authors: S. Benetti, L. Tomasella, E. Cappellaro, N. Elias-Rosa, P. Ochner, A. Pastorello, L. Tartaglia, G. Terreran, M. Turatto (INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova), Milan, M. (Padua University) Date: 1 Dec 2015; 20:06 UT Provenance: Enrico Cappellaro (enrico.cappellaro@oapd.inaf.it) Subjects: Supernovae Description: Referred to by ATel #: 8354 The Asiago Transient Classification Program (Tomasella et al. 2014, AN, 335, 841) reports the spectroscopic classification of ASASSN-15gt in GALEXASC J002041.66+251341.1 (ATEL #8347). The observation was performed with the Asiago 1.82 m Copernico Telescope (+AFOSC; range 340-820 nm; resolution 1.4 nm). Name | Discovery UT | Obs. Date UT | z | Type | Phase |Notes ASASS -15gt | 20151130.21 | 20151201.73 |0.03561 | Ia | pre-max | (1) (1) Best match with 1991T-like Type-Ia SNe, around 1 week before B-band maximum light. The expansion velocity, as deduced from the position of the minimum of the Si II 635 nm line, is about 11000 km/s. Classification were done with GELATO (Harutyunyan et al. 2008, A&A, 488, 383) and SNID (Blondin and Tonry 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024). The Asiago classification spectra are posted at the website http://sngroup.oapd.inaf.it.

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atel_8450

Title: Swift follow-up of the flaring NLSy1 PKS 1502+036 Authors: Filippo D'Ammando (DIFA - University of Bologna, INAF-IRA) on behalf of the Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration Date: 22 Dec 2015; 22:55 UT Provenance: Filippo D'Ammando (filippo.dammando@fisica.unipg.it) Subjects: Optical, Ultra-Violet, X-ray, AGN, Black Hole, Blazar Description: Following the gamma-ray flare of the radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 PKS 1502+036 detected by Fermi LAT on 2015 December 20 (ATel #8447), a Swift target of opportunity observation was performed on December 22. Swift/XRT data were taken in Photon Counting mode for a net exposure of about 3.0 ksec. The X-ray spectrum (0.3-10 keV) observed on 2015 December 22 can be fit by an absorbed power-law model with a HI column density consistent with the Galactic value in the direction of the source (n_H = 3.9x10^20 cm^-2, Kalberla et al. 2005, A&A, 440, 775) and a photon index of 1.5+/-0.4. The corresponding unabsorbed 0.3-10 keV flux is (1.9+/-0.6)x10^-12 erg cm^-2 s^-1. This flux is a factor of five higher than that observed by Swift/XRT during 2012 April-August, (3.5-4.0)x10^-13 erg cm^-2 s^-1, with a photon index varying between 1.7+/-0.4 and 2.2+/-0.3 (D'Ammando et al. 2013, MNRAS, 433, 952). Simultaneous Swift/UVOT observations on 2015 December 22 found PKS 1502+036 about 0.4 mag brighter in V-band (V = 18.32+/-0.24), 0.6 mag in U-band (U = 18.10+/-0.18), and 0.7 mag in M2-band (M2 = 17.89+/-0.11) compared to the UVOT observations performed on 2012 May 25 (V = 18.72+/-0.31, U = 18.74+/-0.06, M2 = 18.60+/-0.17; D'Ammando et al. 2013, MNRAS, 433, 952). In consideration of the ongoing activity of this source, confirmed also by the Swift observations, we encourage further multiwavelength observations. For this source the Fermi LAT contact person is F. D'Ammando (dammando@ira.inaf.it). We would like to thank the Swift Team for making this observation possible, in particular M. H. Siegel as the Swift Observatory Duty Scientist.

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atel_8520

Title: e-MERLIN detection of compact radio emission from V404 Cyg Authors: A. Rushton, R. Fender, K. Mooley, S. Motta, (Uni. of Oxford), R. Beswick (Uni. of Manchester) Date: 9 Jan 2016; 11:46 UT Provenance: Anthony Rushton (anthony.rushton@physics.ox.ac.uk) Subjects: Radio, Binary, Black Hole, Transient Description: Renewed activity in the Black hole binary V404 Cyg has been reported in December 2015 (e.g. ATels #8453, #8454, #8455, #8457, #8458, #8459, #8462), following on from a giant outburst seen early in the year. Radio monitoring of the source suggested renewed jet activity (Atel #8454) with a short radio flare appearing to reach over 70 mJy with RATAN-600 around MJD 57387.4 (2015-Dec-31; Atel #8482). Sub-mm emission also showed new activity and was detected at a level of ~41 mJy (at 350 GHz) on 2015-Jan-01 (Atel #8499). Furthermore, around these observations, it was reported that a possible hard to soft transition might be occurring (Atel #8500). To investigate the presence of resolved ejecta, we triggered high-resolution radio observations using the e-MERLIN telescope. Radio observations of V404 Cyg were taken with e-MERLIN on 2016-Jan-05 between 06:30-22:00 UTC at a central frequency of 5.07 GHz and bandwidth of 444 MHz. A compact point-like source was detected with a peak flux density of 0.95 +/- 0.05 mJy/bm (map can be found here); this is a factor of ~2 above the long-term quiescent radio level of V404, which is ~0.4 mJy (Gallo, Fender & Hynes 2005). The synthesised beam had a minimum FWHM of 48 by 35 mas, suggesting most (or all) of the radio flux was constrained to within ~50 mas or ~100 AU (at a distance of 2.4 kpc). We thank the eMERLIN staff for their rapid response to the event and to observatory's director for approval of the project. eMERLIN is an STFC facility that has been built and operated by the University of Manchester. We also thank the ERC for supporting this project through the 4 PI SKY grant.

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atel_8580

Title: Spectroscopic Classification of SN 2016W as a Type Ia Supernova Authors: Jujia Zhang (YNAO), Xiaofeng Wang (Tsinghua University) Date: 22 Jan 2016; 17:05 UT Provenance: Xiaofeng Wang (wang_xf@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient Description: We report an optical spectrum (range 345-900 nm) of SN 2016W obtained on UT 2016 Jan. 22.6 with the 2.4 m telescope ( LJT + YFOSC) at Lijiang observatory of Yunnan Observatories. The spectrum is consistent with a Type Ia supernova around the maximum light. Cross-correlation with a library of supernova spectra using the "Supernova Identification" code (SNID; Blondin and Tonry 2007, ApJ. 666, 1024) shows that it matches with SN 2002aw at t = -1 days. Adopting a redshift of 0.0192 for its host galaxy NGC 946, an expansion velocity of about 11,700 km/s can be derived from the absorption minimum of Si II 635.5 nm.

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atel_8675

Title: UBV observations of the flickering of T CrB Authors: R. Zamanov, E. Semkov, K. Stoyanov (Institute of Astronomy and NAO, Bulgaria) & T. Tomov (Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland ) Date: 11 Feb 2016; 07:47 UT Provenance: R. K. Zamanov (rkz@astro.bas.bg) Subjects: Optical, Cataclysmic Variable, Nova, Variables Description: Referred to by ATel #: 9153, 15916, 16023 In 2015 the recurrent nova T Coronae Borealis has entered a super-active state (Munari, Dallaporta & Cherini, 2016, NewA, in press). On February 7, 2016, we observed the flickering of T CrB in three filters (UBV) using the 50/70 cm Schmidt telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen (Bulgaria). The total amplitude detected was about 0.16 mag in U, 0.08 in B, and 0.04 in V band. In the table are given as follows: the band, UT-start and UT-end of the run, exposure time, number of CCD images obtained, minimum, maximum and average magnitudes in each band, standard deviation of the mean, typical observational error. The data can be downloaded from http://www.astro.bas.bg/~rz/TCrB/ A comparison with our previous observations shows that the brightness increased with 1.5 mag in U. Surprisingly, the flickering amplitude decreased by a factor of 2 in U and B bands. In 2009 the flickering amplitude in U was not less than 0.30 mag, while now is less than 0.10 mag. Our observations confirm the increase of the brightness in U and B bands and that T CrB is in active state. We encourage further multiwavelength observations. Table 1. Flickering of T CrB on February 7, 2016. band UTst-end exp Npts min max average stdev err. h:mm-h:mm [sec] [mag] [mag] [mag] [mag] [mag] U 0:49-3:57 120 50 10.163 10.318 10.262 0.038 0.006 B 0:49-3:54 30 50 10.699 10.777 10.738 0.021 0.003 V 0:48-3:53 10 51 9.877 9.917 9.898 0.011 0.004 Flickering of T CrB.

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atel_8760

Title: CORRECTION: Proposed Progenitor of SN 2016adj (Cen A) is an Unrelated Star Authors: Ben Sugerman (Goucher College), Stephen Lawrence (Hofstra University) Date: 1 Mar 2016; 13:40 UT Provenance: Ben Sugerman (ben.sugerman@gmail.com) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae Description: ATel #8759 mistakenly listed the discovery date of SN 2016adj as Feb 02.36 2016 UT. The correct date is Feb 08.563 2016 UT (ATel #8651).

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atel_8880

Title: Spectroscopic Classification of ASASSN-16cu as a Type Ia SN Authors: Jay Strader, Laura Chomiuk, Laura Shishkovsky (Michigan State University) Date: 29 Mar 2016; 22:25 UT Provenance: Jay Strader (strader@pa.msu.edu) Subjects: Optical, Supernovae, Transient Description: We obtained an optical spectrum of ASASSN-16cu (ATel #8796) on UT March 29.37 with the Goodman Spectrograph on the SOAR telescope. Classification with SNID (Blondin and Tonry 2007, ApJ, 666, 1024) indicates ASASSN-16cu is a normal Type Ia SN observed at about 70 days after peak. The redshift is consistent with proposed host galaxy IC 4723 (z=0.011128, via NED).

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atel_8970

Title: Enhanced gamma-ray emission from the microquasar Cygnus X-3 detected by AGILE Authors: G. Piano (INAF/IAPS), C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia (ASDC and INAF/OAR), M. Tavani (INAF/IAPS, and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), A. Bulgarelli, V. Fioretti, A. Zoli (INAF/IASF-Bo), P. Munar-Adrover (INAF/IAPS), F. Lucarelli (ASDC and INAF/OAR), I. Donnarumma (INAF/IAPS), S. Vercellone (INAF/IASF-Pa), E. Striani (INFN Torino), M. Cardillo (INAF/OA-Arcetri and INAF/IAPS), F. Gianotti, M. Trifoglio (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Giuliani, S. Mereghetti, P. Caraveo, F. Perotti (INAF/IASF-Mi), A. Chen (Wits University), A. Argan, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, M. Feroci, F. Lazzarotto, I. Lapshov, L. Pacciani, P. Soffitta, S. Sabatini, V. Vittorini (INAF/IAPS), G. Pucella, M. Rapisarda (ENEA-Frascati), G. Di Cocco, F. Fuschino, M. Galli, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi (INAF/IASF-Bo), A. Pellizzoni, M. Pilia, A. Trois (INAF/OA-Cagliari), G. Barbiellini, E. Vallazza (INFN Trieste), F. Longo (Univ. Trieste and INFN Trieste), A. Morselli, P. Picozza (INFN and Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), M. Prest (Univ. dell'Insubria), P. Lipari, D. Zanello (INFN and Univ. Roma Sapienza), P. W. Cattaneo, A. Rappoldi (INFN Pavia), S. Colafrancesco (INAF/OAR and Wits University), N. Parmiggiani (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), A. Ferrari (Univ. Torino and CIFS), A. Antonelli (ASDC and INAF/OAR), P. Giommi (ASDC), L. Salotti, G. Valentini, and F. D'Amico (ASI) Date: 19 Apr 2016; 12:39 UT Provenance: Giovanni Piano (giovanni.piano@iaps.inaf.it) Subjects: Radio, X-ray, Gamma Ray, >GeV, Request for Observations, Binary, Black Hole, Transient Description: Integrating from 2016-04-16 00:00 UT to 2016-04-19 00:00 UT, the AGILE-GRID detector is revealing gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from a source positionally consistent with Cygnus X-3 at Galactic coordinates (l, b) = (79.4, 0.2) +/- 0.6 (stat.) +/- 0.1 (syst.) deg, with flux F(>100 MeV) = (2.0 +/- 0.8) x 10^-6 photons/cm^2/s, as determined by a multi-source likelihood analysis. The hard X-ray emission from Cygnus X-3, as monitored by the Swift-BAT instrument, is currently decreasing (public data available at http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/results/transients/CygX-3/ ). Gamma-rays above 100 MeV are usually detected from Cygnus X-3 in coincidence with decreasing or transitional states of its hard X-ray emission (Tavani et al., Nature, 462, 620, (2009); Abdo et al., Science, 326, 1512 (2009); Piano et al., A&A, 545, A110 (2012)). We strongly encourage multi-frequency observations of Cygnus X-3.

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