TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 2477 SUBJECT: XMM-Newton Observation of GRB031203 DATE: 03/12/06 14:32:30 GMT FROM: Norbert Schartel at XMM-Newton/ESA XMM-Newton Observation of GRB031203 P. Rodriguez-Pascual, M. Santos-Lleo, R. Gonzalez-Riestra, N. Schartel, B. Altieri report: Preliminary analysis of the XMM-Newton raw data of the GRB031203 field (D. Gotz et al. GCN 2459), based on the fully accumulated 56.3 ks exposure time in the EPIC pn camera, confirms the two sources reported by M. Santos-Lleo and P. Calderon (GCN 2464). The observation was performed under optimal environmental conditions and is basically free from solar background flares. XMMU J080230.3-395101, (S1 in GCN 2464) shows a decrease of the pn count rate from approximately 0.075 counts/sec (at start of observation) to approximately 0.05 counts/sec (at end of observation) within an extraction radius of 30 arcsec. There are very few counts in low-energy channels (below approximately 0.9 keV) which may be explained by the Galactic absorption. XMMU J080220.8-395213 (S2 in GCN 2464) might also show evidence for a decrease in flux, but the current processing status of the data does not allow proper quantification. In addition to the two sources reported in GCN 2464 several weaker sources are visible in the data taken during the 56.3 ks exposure time. The following sources are located in the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance in to centre GCN [1/sec] [arcsec] 2464 ----------------------------------------------------- XMMU J080230.3-395101 0.057+/-0.0012 13 S1 XMMU J080220.8-395213 0.018+/-0.001 135 S2 XMMU J080226.0-394955 0.003+/-0.001 69 XMMU J080230.7-395239 0.002+/-0.001 110 XMMU J080233.4-395150 0.003+/-0.001 73 XMMU J080238.2-395150 0.001+/-0.0007 112 XMMU J080239.4-395052 0.002+/-0.001 108 ----------------------------------------------------- The following sources fall on the border of the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance to centre [1/sec] [arcsec] ------------------------------------------------ XMMU J080234.3-394839 0.003+/-0.001 137 XMMU J080241.7-394944 0.002+/-0.001 149 ------------------------------------------------ The following source falls just outside the INTEGRAL error circle: XMM-Newton Source counts distance to centre [1/sec] [arcsec] ------------------------------------------------ XMMU J080226.6-395334 0.003+/-0.001 170 ------------------------------------------------ At this stage of the data processing the position error for the weaker sources is of the order of 10 arcsec. The XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre plans to make preliminary images available on a dedicated web page by the middle of next week.