Gamma-ray Burst 051117B

(All information courtesy of the instrument teams.)

Previous IAU Circulars

• none

• GCN/BACODINE POSITION NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:23:53 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-BAT GRB Position
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  GRB_RA:           85.225d {+05h 40m 54s} (J2000),
                    85.289d {+05h 41m 09s} (current),
                    84.682d {+05h 38m 44s} (1950)
  GRB_DEC:         -19.245d {-19d 14' 41"} (J2000),
                   -19.242d {-19d 14' 31"} (current),
                   -19.269d {-19d 16' 09"} (1950)
  GRB_ERROR:       3.00 [arcmin radius, statistical only]
  GRB_INTEN:       22083 [cnts]    Image_Peak=352 [image_cnts]
  TRIGGER_DUR:     5.504 [sec] 
  TRIGGER_INDEX:   476     E_range: 25-100 keV
  BKG_INTEN:       174430 [cnts]
  BKG_TIME:        48104.00 SOD {13:21:44.00} UT
  BKG_DUR:         48 [sec]
  GRB_DATE:        13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  GRB_TIME:        48174.42 SOD {13:22:54.42} UT
  GRB_PHI:         166.23 [deg]
  GRB_THETA:        29.68 [deg]
  SOLN_STATUS:     0x83
  RATE_SIGNIF:     12.84 [sigma]
  IMAGE_SIGNIF:    6.47 [sigma]
  MERIT_PARAMS:     +1  +0  +0  +2  +2  +2  +0  +0 +64  +1 
  SUN_POSTN:       232.95d {+15h 31m 49s}  -19.09d {-19d 05' 12"}
  SUN_DIST:        130.25 [deg]
  MOON_POSTN:       71.80d {+04h 47m 12s}  +26.94d {+26d 56' 36"}
  MOON_DIST:        48.00 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      97 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      223.20,-23.88 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
  ECL_COORDS:       83.87,-42.58 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-BAT GRB Coordinates.  
  COMMENTS:        This is a rate trigger.  
  COMMENTS:        A point_source was found.  
  COMMENTS:        This does not match any source in the on-board catalog.  
  COMMENTS:        This does not match any source in the ground catalog.  
  COMMENTS:        This is a GRB.  
  COMMENTS:        Since the IMAGE_SIGNIF is less than 7 sigma, this is a questionable detection.  
  

• red DSS finding chart ps-file
  
  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:25:14 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Nack-Position
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:         85.251d {+05h 41m 00s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       -19.272d {-19d 16' 20"} (J2000)
  IMG_START_DATE:  13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  IMG_START_TIME:  48309.20 SOD {13:25:09.20} UT,   134.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  COUNTS:          19    Min_needed= 20
  STD_DEV:         0.00   Max_StdDev_for_Good=28.44 [arcsec]
  PH2_ITER:        4    Max_iter_allowed= 4
  ERROR_CODE:      1
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Nack Position.  
  COMMENTS:        No source found in the image.  
  

• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:26:47 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-BAT GRB Lightcurve
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  GRB_RA:           85.225d {+05h 40m 54s} (J2000),
                    85.289d {+05h 41m 09s} (current),
                    84.682d {+05h 38m 44s} (1950)
  GRB_DEC:         -19.245d {-19d 14' 41"} (J2000),
                   -19.242d {-19d 14' 31"} (current),
                   -19.269d {-19d 16' 09"} (1950)
  GRB_DATE:        13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  GRB_TIME:        48174.42 SOD {13:22:54.42} UT
  TRIGGER_INDEX:   476
  GRB_PHI:         166.23 [deg]
  GRB_THETA:        29.68 [deg]
  DELTA_TIME:      12.00 [sec]
  TRIGGER_DUR:     5.504 [sec] 
  LC_URL:          sw00164279000msb.lc
  SUN_POSTN:       232.95d {+15h 31m 49s}  -19.09d {-19d 05' 12"}
  SUN_DIST:        130.25 [deg]
  MOON_POSTN:       71.80d {+04h 47m 12s}  +26.94d {+26d 56' 36"}
  MOON_DIST:        48.00 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      97 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      223.20,-23.88 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
  ECL_COORDS:       83.87,-42.58 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the burst (or transient)
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-BAT GRB Lightcurve.  
  COMMENTS:           
  COMMENTS:        The next comments were copied from the BAT_POS Notice:  
  COMMENTS:        This is a rate trigger.  
  COMMENTS:        A point_source was found.  
  COMMENTS:        This does not match any source in the on-board catalog.  
  COMMENTS:        This does not match any source in the ground catalog.  
  COMMENTS:        This is a GRB.  
  COMMENTS:        Since the IMAGE_SIGNIF is less than 7 sigma, this is a questionable detection.  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:28:55 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Source List
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:         85.251d {+05h 41m 00s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       -19.273d {-19d 16' 20"} (J2000)
  POINT_ROLL:      138.569d
  IMG_START_DATE:  13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  IMG_START_TIME:  48307.23 SOD {13:25:07.23} UT,   132.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          3, V
  BKG_MEAN:        0.621
  N_STARS:         64
  X_OFFSET:        476 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        555 [pixels]
  X_MAX:           1435 [pixels]
  Y_MAX:           1514 [pixels]
  DET_THRESH:      7
  PHOTO_THRESH:    3
  SL_URL:          sw00164279000msufc0132.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       232.96d {+15h 31m 49s}  -19.09d {-19d 05' 13"}
  SUN_DIST:        130.21 [deg]
  MOON_POSTN:       71.82d {+04h 47m 17s}  +26.95d {+26d 56' 48"}
  MOON_DIST:        48.03 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      97 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      223.23,-23.87 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:       83.90,-42.61 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Source List.  
  

• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:29:37 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Source List
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:         85.251d {+05h 41m 00s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       -19.273d {-19d 16' 20"} (J2000)
  POINT_ROLL:      138.569d
  IMG_START_DATE:  13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  IMG_START_TIME:  48307.23 SOD {13:25:07.23} UT,   132.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          3, V
  BKG_MEAN:        0.621
  N_STARS:         64
  X_OFFSET:        476 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        555 [pixels]
  X_MAX:           1435 [pixels]
  Y_MAX:           1514 [pixels]
  DET_THRESH:      7
  PHOTO_THRESH:    3
  SL_URL:          sw00164279000msufc0132.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       232.96d {+15h 31m 49s}  -19.09d {-19d 05' 13"}
  SUN_DIST:        130.21 [deg]
  MOON_POSTN:       71.82d {+04h 47m 17s}  +26.95d {+26d 56' 48"}
  MOON_DIST:        48.03 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      97 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      223.23,-23.87 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:       83.90,-42.61 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Processed Source List.  
  COMMENTS:        All 4 attachments are included.  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:30:03 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:         85.251d {+05h 41m 00s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       -19.273d {-19d 16' 20"} (J2000)
  ROLL:            138.569d
  IMG_START_DATE:  13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  IMG_START_TIME:  48307.23 SOD {13:25:07.23} UT,   132.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          3, V
  EXPOSURE_ID:     153926707
  X_OFFSET:        795 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        874 [pixels]
  WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
  HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
  X_GRB_POS:       955
  Y_GRB_POS:       1034
  BINNING_INDEX:   1
  IM_URL:          sw00164279000msuni0132.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       232.96d {+15h 31m 49s}  -19.09d {-19d 05' 13"}
  SUN_DIST:        130.21 [deg]
  MOON_POSTN:       71.82d {+04h 47m 17s}  +26.95d {+26d 56' 48"}
  MOON_DIST:        48.03 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      97 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      223.23,-23.87 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:       83.90,-42.61 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Image.  
  COMMENTS:        The GRB Position came from the Window Position in the Mode Command.  
  COMMENTS:        The image has 2x2 binning (compression).  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:30:27 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-XRT Lightcurve
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:         85.250d {+05h 41m 00s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       -19.273d {-19d 16' 21"} (J2000)
  LC_START_DATE:   13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  LC_START_TIME:   48311.95 SOD {13:25:11.95} UT,   137.5 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  LC_STOP_DATE:    13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  LC_STOP_TIME:    48554.05 SOD {13:29:14.05} UT
  LC_LIVE_TIME:    238.38 [sec], 98.5%
  DELTA_TIME:      86157.90 [sec]
  N_BINS:          100
  TERM_COND:       0
  LC_URL:          sw00164279000msx.lc
  SUN_POSTN:       232.96d {+15h 31m 49s}  -19.09d {-19d 05' 13"}
  SUN_DIST:        130.21 [deg]
  MOON_POSTN:       71.82d {+04h 47m 17s}  +26.95d {+26d 56' 48"}
  MOON_DIST:        48.03 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      97 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      223.23,-23.87 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:       83.90,-42.61 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-XRT Lightcurve.  
  

  
• GCN NOTICE
  

  TITLE:           GCN/SWIFT NOTICE
  NOTICE_DATE:     Thu 17 Nov 05 13:30:43 UT
  NOTICE_TYPE:     Swift-UVOT Processed Image
  TRIGGER_NUM:     164279,   Seg_Num: 0
  POINT_RA:         85.251d {+05h 41m 00s} (J2000)
  POINT_DEC:       -19.273d {-19d 16' 20"} (J2000)
  ROLL:            138.569d
  IMG_START_DATE:  13691 TJD;   321 DOY;   05/11/17
  IMG_START_TIME:  48307.23 SOD {13:25:07.23} UT,   132.8 [sec] since BAT Trigger Time
  FILTER:          3, V
  EXPOSURE_ID:     153926707
  X_OFFSET:        795 [pixels]
  Y_OFFSET:        874 [pixels]
  WIDTH:           160 [pixels]
  HEIGHT:          160 [pixels]
  X_GRB_POS:       955
  Y_GRB_POS:       1034
  BINNING_INDEX:   1
  IM_URL:          sw00164279000msuni0132.fits
  SUN_POSTN:       232.96d {+15h 31m 49s}  -19.09d {-19d 05' 13"}
  SUN_DIST:        130.21 [deg]
  MOON_POSTN:       71.82d {+04h 47m 17s}  +26.95d {+26d 56' 48"}
  MOON_DIST:        48.03 [deg]
  MOON_ILLUM:      97 [%]
  GAL_COORDS:      223.23,-23.87 [deg] galactic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  ECL_COORDS:       83.90,-42.61 [deg] ecliptic lon,lat of the pointing direction
  COMMENTS:        SWIFT-UVOT Processed Image.  
  COMMENTS:        All 4 attachments are included.  
  

  
• GCN Circular #4281
  D. Band (PSU), S. Barthelmy (GSFC), A. Beardmore (U Leicester), D. Burrows (PSU), J. Cummings (GSFC/NRC), S.T. Holland (GSFC/USRA), M. Goad (U. Leicester), O. Godet (U. Leicester), N. Gehrels (GSFC), C. Gronwall (PSU), J. Kennea (PSU), H. Krimm (GSFC/USRA), J. Osborne (U Leicester), K. Page (U Leicester) on behalf of the Swift team:
  At 13:22:54 UT, Swift-BAT triggered and located GRB 051117B (trigger=164279). The BAT on-board calculated location is RA,Dec 85.225d,-19.245d {05h 40m 54s,-19d 14' 41"} (J2000), with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, stat+sys). The BAT light curve shows a multi-peak structure with a total duration of ~25 sec. The peak count rate was ~800 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~2 seconds after the trigger.
  The spacecraft slewed immediately and the XRT began observing the GRB at 13:25:09 UT, 135 sec after the BAT trigger. The on-board detection algorithm did not centroid on a source due to insufficient counts, so no prompt X-ray position is available. However, the XRT prompt light curve and raw spectrum look like a faint GRB. More information will be available around 16:30 UT, after the next Malindi ground-station pass.
  UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 200 sec with the V filter starting 133 sec after the BAT trigger. No afterglow candidate has been found in the initial data products. The sub-image covers 19% of the BAT error circle. No afterglow candidate is found in the list of sources generated on-board, which covers 89% of the BAT error circle. The list of sources is typically complete to about 17th mag. No correction has been made for the expected visual extinction of about 0.19 magnitudes.
• GCN Circular #4282
  A. Beardmore, K. Page, M. Goad (U. Leicester), J Kennea (PSU) report on behalf of the Swift XRT team:
  We have analysed the first orbit of XRT data from GRB051117B (Band et al, GCN4281). We find a fading, uncatalogued source located at

  RA(J2000)  =  05h 40m 43.0s
  DEC(J2000) = -19d 16' 26.2"
  

  with an estimated uncertainty of 3.9" (90% containment). This includes the latest XRT boresight correction and is 3.14' from the BAT on-board position.
• GCN Circular #4283
  W. Rujopakarn (U Mich), H. Swan (U Mich), B. Schaefer (Louisiana State), F. Yuan (U Mich), T. Guver (U Istanbul), report on behalf of the ROTSE collaboration:
  ROTSE-IIIa, located at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, responded to GRB 051117B (Swift trigger 164279), producing images beginning 18 s after the GCN notice time. An automated response took the first image at 13:24:11.0 UT, 75.6 s after the burst, under windy conditions. These observations were affected by proximity to the full moon yielding shallow limiting magnitudes. We took 10 5-sec, and 140 20-sec exposures. These unfiltered images are calibrated relative to USNO A2.0 (R).
  Comparison to the DSS (second epoch) reveals no new sources within the 3-sigma error circle, for both single images and coadding into sets of 10. Individual images have limiting magnitudes ranging from 13.9-16.3; we set the following specific limits.

  start UT       end UT      t_exp(s)   mlim   t_start-tGRB(s)  Coadd?
  --------------------------------------------------------------------
  13:24:12.0   13:24:17.0         5     14.2           76.6       N
  13:24:12.0   13:27:07.8       175     15.8           76.6       Y
  

• GCN Circular #4284
  [D. Fox (PSU)]
  "We have observed the Swift localization region for GRB 051117B (Band et al., GCN 4281) with the 40-inch telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, in a series of unfiltered exposures beginning at 14:12 UT (49 minutes after the burst). A coadded exposure at mean epoch 14:16 UT reveals no source coincident with the XRT position (Beardmore et al., GCN 4282), nor any new sources within the BAT localization region by comparison to the DSS. We estimate our limiting magnitude for this image to be R=18.8 mag by comparison to the USNO-B1.0 catalog R-band magnitudes of nearby stars."
• GCN Circular #4285
  GRB 051117B: Lulin R and I band observation
  Y.T. Chen, K.Y. Huang, W.H. Ip (NCU), Y. Urata(RIKEN), Y. Qiu (BAO), Y.Q. Lou (THCA) on behalf of EAFON report:
  " We started R and I band imaging observation for GRB 051117B (Band et al., GCN 4281) with Lulin 1-m telescope at 14:11 UT (48 minutes after the burst). The stacked I-band image made from 9 x 300 s exposure shows a very faint sources at RA=05:40:43.3 Dec=-19:16:26(edge of Swift/XRT error region; Beardmore et al. GCN4282). The brightness calibrated with USNO-B1.0 catalog is about I=20.6. We could not find this source in stacked R-band image made from 3 x 300 s exposure brighter than R < 20.8 (SN=3).
  Further observation and analysis are in progress."
  This message may be cited.
• GCN Circular #4286
  E.Sonoda,S.Maeno,M.Yamauchi (University of Miyazaki)
  "We have observed the field covering the error circle of GRB 051117B(GCN4281;Swift-BAT Trigger time is 13:22:54 UT) with the unfiltered CCD camera on the 30-cm telescope at University of Miyazaki. The observation was started 14:03:16 on Nov.17. After co-adding a set of 7 images (14:03:16 - 14:10:31 UT) of 30 sec exposures, we have compared with the USNO A2.0 catalog. Preliminary analysis shows there is no new source brighter than 17.6 mag. in the XRT error region is reported by A.Beardmore et al.(GCN4282)."
• GCN Circular #4288
  A. Parsons (GSFC), L. Barbier (GSFC), S. Barthelmy (GSFC), J. Cummings (GSFC/NRC), E. Fenimore (LANL), N. Gehrels (GSFC), D. Hullinger (GSFC/UMD), K. Hurley (Berkeley), H. Krimm (GSFC/USRA), C. Markwardt (GSFC/UMD), J. Norris (GSFC), D. Palmer (LANL), T. Sakamoto (GSFC/NRC), G. Sato (ISAS), J. Tueller (GSFC) on behalf of the Swift-BAT team:
  Using the full data set from the recent telemetry downlink, we report further analysis of Swift-BAT GRB 051117B (trigger #164279) (Band, et al., GCN 4281). The ground-analysis position is RA,Dec 85.187,-19.280 {05h 40m 44.9s,-19d 16' 48.5"} (J2000) with an uncertainty of 2.5 arcmin (radius, 90%, stat+sys). T90 is 8 +- 1 sec. The partial coding fraction is 73%. The lightcurve has a bump of ~10 sec in duration with a peak at T+1 sec. Fitting a simple power law over the full interval from T-0.3 to T+7.5 sec, the photon index is 1.7 +/- 0.3 with a fluence of 1.4 +/- 0.3 X 10^-7 erg/cm^2. The peak flux in a 1-sec wide window starting at T+1.4 sec is 0.46 +/- 0.15 ph/cm^2/sec. All values are in the 15-150 keV band at the 90% confidence level.
• GCN Circular #4290
  E. Berger (Carnegie Observatories) and A. Scholz (U. of Toronto) report:
  "We observed the position of GRB 051117b (GCN 4281) with WIRC on the du Pont 100-inch telescope at Las Campanas Observatory starting on 2005 Nov 18.10 UT. A total of 30 min were obtained in the Ks band. No sources are detected within the XRT error circle (GCN 4282) to a 3-sigma limit of Ks>19.3 mag in comparison to two nearby 2MASS stars. A single extended source, which is also visible in the DSS, is detected about 0.8" from the eastern edge of the error circle with Ks=17.9 mag."
• GCN Circular #4291
  C. Thoene & C. F=E9ron, P. Jakobsson, B.L. Jensen, J.P.U. Fynbo, J. Sollerman, H. Pedersen, D. Watson, J. Hjorth (DARK Cosmology Centre, NBI) report:
  We observed the field of GRB 051117B (Band et al. GCN 4281) with DFOSC at the Danish 1.54m telescope on La Silla from 18 Nov 2005 starting at 02:58 UT. Exposures of 8 x 600s in R and 18 x 600s in Gunn-i were obtained with a seeing of 1.5".
  We detect an extended source lying on the edge of the XRT error circle (Beardmore et al. GCN 4282) in both bands as found by Chen et al. in R (GCN 4285). The source is centered at: (RA,Dec)(J2000.0) = (05:40:43.26,-19:16:26.1). No other sources are detected in or near the XRT-circle, nor were there any appreciable brightness variations in the extended source during our observations.
  Using preliminary photometric zeropoints we estimate the following magnitudes for this source: 21.0 in R and 20.4 in Gunn-i and a color index of R-I=0.6.
  We estimate the probability to find a similar galaxy by chance in the error-circle to be 5% (based on Postman et al. ApJ 506, 33 (1998)). If the extended source is the host galaxy associated with GRB 051117B, this would be one of the brightest host galaxies of long-duration Swift GRBs.
  A finding chart of the field is available at: http://www.astro.ku.dk/~brian_j/grb/grb051117.558/
• GCN Circular #4292
  Dale A. Frail (NRAO) reports on behalf of a larger collaboration:
  "We observed both recent bursts, GRB 051117A (GCN 4280) and GRB 051117B (GCN 4281) with the Very Large Array at 8.5 GHz centered on November 18.51 UT and 18.48, respectively. Within the XRT error circles (GCN 4282; GCN 4287) we no radio emission above 3-sigma, for an rms noise of 56 uJy (GRB 051117A), and 40 uJy (GRB 051117B).
  No 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."
• GCN Circular #4293
  H. Swan (U Mich), W. Rujopakarn (U Mich), and I. Smith (Rice) report on behalf of the MARGE collaboration:
  The AEOS Burst Camera (ABC) on the AEOS telescope, located at the Maui Space Surveillance System on Haleakala, responded to GRB051117B (Swift trigger 164279). Images with a low resolution diffraction grating were taken between 13:40 and 13:54 UT, under scattered cloud conditions. The first image was taken 14 minutes after the GCN notice time, and the exposure time was 10 seconds for each image. A preliminary analysis gives a limiting magnitude of 19.4 at 13:48 UT.
• GCN Circular #4303
  T. S. Poole (UCL-MSSL), S. T. Holland (GSFC), D. Band (GSFC), P. Boyd (GSFC-UMBC) & J. Nousek (PSU) on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team report:
  The Swift-Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) began observing the field of GRB 051117b (BAT Trigger=164279; Band et. al. GCN 4281) at 2005-11-17 13:22:54 UT, 133 seconds after the burst.
  No new source is detected within the 4 arcsec radius XRT error circle at position RA=5h 40m 43s, Dec=-19d 16' 26.2" (Beardmore et. al. GCN 4282) in any of the UVOT filters down to the following co-added 5 sigma magnitude upper limits:

  Filter   T_range (sec)   Exp (sec)   5-sigma
  V        133-24975       5236        20.53
  B        499-1608        199         19.59
  U        445-7019        311         19.66
  UVW1     391-366901      1099        21.00
  UVM2     277-5993        1110        21.08
  UVW2     608-1713        2340        23.24
  WHITE    553-982         100         19.49
  

  Where T_range is time post-trigger, and T_exp is the exposure time of the observation. A 6 arcsec aperture was used for all filters.
  These values are not corrected for Galactic extinction.
  This message may be cited.
• GCN Circular #4304
  A.P. Beardmore, K.L. Page (U. Leicester), K. Hurley (Berkeley), M. Chester (PSU) report on behalf of the Swift XRT team.
  We report on further analysis of the XRT observation of GRB051117B. By fitting the XRT point spread function to 8ks of PC mode data obtained from the first observation segment, we find the following revised position:

  RA(J2000) =   05:40:43.0
  Dec(J2000) = -19:16:26.5
  

  with an uncertainty of 3.4 arcsec (90% containment). This includes the latest XRT boresight correction.
  The XRT 0.2-10keV light curve shows a simple power-law decay with a slope of 1.75 +/- 0.25 out to T+12.8ks. After this time the source was no longer detected, with a 3 sigma upper limit to the count rate of 2.7e-4 count/s in an exposure of 85ks.
  An absorbed power-law fit to the photon counting mode spectrum from T+149s to T+12.8ks gave a photon index 1.9 +1.1/-0.6 and a column density of (0.4 +0.7/-0.2)e22 cm**2. The Galactic column in this direction is 4.5E+20 cm**2. The unabsorbed 0.2-10keV flux was 1.4e-12 ergs cm**-2 s**-1.
• GCN Circular #4308
  D. Sharapov, M. Ibrahimov (MAO), A.Pozanenko (IKI),V.Rumyantsev (CrAO) on behalf of larger GRB follow up collaboration report:
  We observed the error box of GRB051117b (Band et al., GCN 4281) with 1.5m telescope of Maidanak Astronomical Observatory. Set of R images were taken between Oct.17 (UT) 21:31 - 21:54. No source is detected in refined XRT error box (Beardmore et al., GCN 4304). We do not detect the extended source mentioned by Chen et al. in GCN 4285.
  Preliminary estimation of upper limit against of USNO A2.0 is following:

  Mid time,      Exposure, Filter, Mag.
  (UT)            (s)
  
  Nov.17 21:46   1080       R      21.0 (3 sigma UL)
  

  The message may be cited.
• GCN Circular #4396
  D. Nogami, T. Kawamura, J. Kuriyama, K. Sugiyasu, K. Kubota (Kyoto Univ.), K. Yanagisawa (Okayama Astrophys. Obs.), S. Kouzuma, H. Yamaoka (Kyushu Univ.), and N. Kawai (Tokyo Inst. of Tech.) report:
  We observed the field of GRB051117B (Band et al., GCN 4281) with a 50-cm telescope (MITSuME) at the Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, using a three-color (g', Rc, and Ic) CCD imager. The observations started at 14:16:22 (UT), about 54 min after the trigger time, and ended at 16:36:46 (UT). The exposure time was 60 sec, and we obtained 110 images in each band.
  We could not find any afterglow candidate around the error box of GRB051117B (GCN 4281). The 3-sigma upper limits in the stacked images of each band are 19.2 mag, 19.2 mag, and 19.5 mag in the g', Rc, and Ic band, respectively. These magnitudes were calibrated with the catalogs of Tycho (VT), USNO A2.0 (R), and USNO B1.0 for g', Rc, and Ic, respectively.
• New/revised redshift from the TOUGH project, in particular: 1205.3162 1205.3490 1205.3779 1205.4036