TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  13289
SUBJECT: GRB 120514A: Swift detection of a burst
DATE:    12/05/14 01:32:44 GMT
FROM:    David Palmer at LANL  <palmer@lanl.gov>

V. Mangano (INAF-IASFPA), S. D. Barthelmy (GSFC), D. N. Burrows (PSU),
N. Gehrels (NASA/GSFC), E. A. Hoversten (PSU), J. A. Kennea (PSU),
H. A. Krimm (CRESST/GSFC/USRA), F. E. Marshall (NASA/GSFC),
A. Maselli (INAF-IASFPA), D. M. Palmer (LANL),
B. Sbarufatti (INAF-OAB/PSU), M. H. Siegel (PSU), C. A. Swenson (PSU)
and B.-B. Zhang (PSU) report on behalf of the Swift Team:

At 01:12:49 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 120514A (trigger=522197).  Swift slewed immediately to the burst. 
The BAT on-board calculated location is 
RA, Dec 282.991, -4.252 which is 
   RA(J2000) = 18h 51m 58s
   Dec(J2000) = -04d 15' 06"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including 
systematic uncertainty).  The BAT light curve showed a multi-peaked
structure consisting of two overlapping peaks with a duration of 
about 80 sec and an additional weaker peak at ~T+150 sec coincident 
with a peak observed by the XRT.   The peak count rate was ~2500 
counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~0 sec after the trigger. 

The XRT began observing the field at 01:14:31.2 UT, 101.3 seconds after
the BAT trigger. Using promptly downlinked data we find a bright,
fading, uncatalogued X-ray source located at RA, Dec 282.99969,
-4.26375 which is equivalent to:
   RA(J2000)  = 18h 51m 59.93s
   Dec(J2000) = -04d 15' 49.5"
with an uncertainty of 4.0 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This
location is 52 arcseconds from the BAT onboard position, within the BAT
error circle. This position may be improved as more data are received;
the latest position is available at http://www.swift.ac.uk/sper. 

A power-law fit to a spectrum formed from promptly downlinked event
data gives a column density in excess of the Galactic value (6.09 x
10^21 cm^-2, Kalberla et al. 2005), with an excess column of 1.4
(+1.29/-0.95) x 10^22 cm^-2 (90% confidence). 

The initial flux in the 2.5 s image was 3.94e-09 erg cm^-2 s^-1 (0.2-10
keV). 

UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter
starting 110 seconds after the BAT trigger. No credible afterglow candidate has
been found in the initial data products. The 2.7'x2.7' sub-image covers 100% of
the XRT error circle. Because of the density of catalogued stars, further
analysis is required to report an upper limit for any afterglow in the
sub-image. The 8'x8' region for the list of sources generated on-board covers
100% of the XRT error circle. Because of the density of catalogued stars,
further analysis is required to report an upper limit for any afterglow in the
region. No correction has been made for the large, but uncertain extinction
expected. 

We note that this source is 2 degrees from the Galactic plane. 
Although the BAT lightcurve and energy distribution is
typical for a GRB, the possibility of this being a Galactic
source will have to be assessed from further observations. 

Burst Advocate for this burst is V. Mangano (vanessa AT ifc.inaf.it). 
Please contact the BA by email if you require additional information
regarding Swift followup of this burst. In extremely urgent cases, after
trying the Burst Advocate, you can contact the Swift PI by phone (see
Swift TOO web site for information: http://www.swift.psu.edu/too.html.)