TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  22491
SUBJECT: GRB 180314B: Swift detection of a burst
DATE:    18/03/14 22:37:00 GMT
FROM:    David Palmer at LANL  <palmer@lanl.gov>

P. D'Avanzo (INAF-OAB), A. Deich (PSU), J.D. Gropp (PSU),
J. A. Kennea (PSU), A. Y. Lien (GSFC/UMBC), D. M. Palmer (LANL),
B. Sbarufatti (PSU), M. H. Siegel (PSU) and A. Tohuvavohu (PSU) report
on behalf of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Team:

At 22:23:36 UT, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) triggered and
located GRB 180314B (trigger=814305).  Swift slewed immediately to the burst. 
The BAT on-board calculated location is 
RA, Dec 297.866, +23.623 which is 
   RA(J2000) = 19h 51m 28s
   Dec(J2000) = +23d 37' 24"
with an uncertainty of 3 arcmin (radius, 90% containment, including 
systematic uncertainty).  The BAT light curve showed a complex
structure with a duration of about 50 sec.  The peak count rate
was ~1500 counts/sec (15-350 keV), at ~0 sec after the trigger. 

The XRT began observing the field at 22:25:03.9 UT, 87.0 seconds after
the BAT trigger. Using promptly downlinked data we find a bright,
uncatalogued X-ray source located at RA, Dec 297.88663, 23.62434 which
is equivalent to:
   RA(J2000)  = 19h 51m 32.79s
   Dec(J2000) = +23d 37' 27.6"
with an uncertainty of 3.7 arcseconds (radius, 90% containment). This
location is 68 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 consistent with the Galactic value of 8.94
x 10^21 cm^-2 (Willingale et al. 2013). 

The initial flux in the 2.5 s image was 6.44e-10 erg cm^-2 s^-1 (0.2-10
keV). 

UVOT took a finding chart exposure of 150 seconds with the White filter
starting 94 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 none of
the XRT error circle. 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. 

Burst Advocate for this burst is P. D'Avanzo (paolo.davanzo AT brera.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.)