A refined position catalogue of the Swift XRT afterglows

  • A. Moretti
  • , M. Perri
  • , M. Capalbi
  • , L. Angelini
  • , J. E. Hill
  • , S. Campana
  • , D. N. Burrows
  • , J. P. Osborne
  • , G. Tagliaferri
  • , G. Cusumano
  • , P. Giommi
  • , P. Romano
  • , T. Mineo
  • , J. Kennea
  • , D. Morris
  • , J. Nousek
  • , C. Pagani
  • , J. Racusin
  • , A. F. Abbey
  • , A. P. Beardmore
  • O. Godet, M. R. Goad, K. L. Page, A. A. Wells, G. Chincarini

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a catalogue of refined positions of 68 gamma ray burst (GRB) afterglows observed by the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT) from the launch up to 2005 Oct. 16. This is a result of the refinement of the XRT boresight calibration. We tested this correction by means of a systematic study of a large sample of X-ray sources observed by XRT with well established optical counterparts. We found that we can reduce the systematic error radius of the measurements by a factor of two, from 6.5″ to 3.2″ (90% of confidence). We corrected all the positions of the afterglows observed by XRT in the first 11 months of the Swift mission. This is particularly important for the 37 X-ray afterglows without optical counterpart. Optical follow-up of dark GRBs, in fact, will be more efficient with the use of the more accurate XRT positions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)L9-L12
JournalAstronomy and Astrophysics
Volume448
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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