TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  1996
SUBJECT: RXTE detection of GRB 030329 afterglow
DATE:    03/03/29 19:37:01 GMT
FROM:    Frank Marshall at GSFC  <marshall@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov>

Marshall, F.E. and Swank, J.H. (NASA/GSFC) report:

RXTE detected the X-ray afterglow of GRB 030329
(HETE trigger 2652) during a 27 minute observation
that began about 4h51m after the burst at 16:28 UT 
on March 29 . The flux was about 1.4e-10 ergs/s/cm**2 
in the 2-10 keV band or about 0.007 times as bright as the Crab
Nebula. This is one of the brightest afterglows ever
detected with RXTE. The spectrum is well fit by a power law
model with a photon index of 2.0 and an upper limit
on absorption of 1e22 Nh/cm**2.
The X-ray flux was about 20% lower during
a second observation starting at 17:32 UT.

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