TITLE:   GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT
NUMBER:  3208
SUBJECT: GRB 050408, SMARTS optical/IR afterglow observations
DATE:    05/04/09 16:21:14 GMT
FROM:    Bethany Cobb at Yale U  <cobb@astro.yale.edu>

B. E. Cobb and C. D. Bailyn (Yale), part of the larger SMARTS
consortium, report:

Using the ANDICAM instrument on the 1.3m telescope at CTIO, we
obtained optical/IR imaging of the error region of GRB 050408
(GCN 3189, Sakamoto et al.) beginning ~10.9 hours post-burst
(2005-04-09 03:14 UT). Total summed exposure times amounted to
36 minutes in I and 30 minutes in J.

The optical afterglow reported by de Ugarte Postigo et al. (GCN 3193)
is detected in both our I and J-band images, though the source appears
only slightly above the background in J.  Preliminary comparison
with Landolt standard stars yields an I magnitude of 21.3+/-0.1.  
Comparison with IR standard stars LCO-LHS2397a and PERSSON-P9144 yields a 
J magnitude of 21.0+/-0.8.