TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 5935 SUBJECT: GRB 061217, SMARTS optical observations DATE: 06/12/17 23:40:08 GMT FROM: Bethany Cobb at Yale U B. E. Cobb (Yale), part of the larger SMARTS consortium, reports: Using the ANDICAM instrument on the 1.3m telescope at CTIO, we obtained optical/IR imaging of the error region of GRB 061217 (GCN 5926, Barthelmy et al.) with a mid-exposure time of 2006-12-17 05:50:32 UT, which is ~2.2 hours post-burst. Total summed exposure times amounted to 15 minutes in I and V and 12 minutes in J and K. Unfortunately, our images were centered on the initial BAT GRB coordinates, so that the position of the X-ray afterglow (GCN 5932, Evans et al.) was not covered by our IR imaging. In the X-ray afterglow error region, no new source is detected in either our I or V-band images to limiting magnitudes of I<21.5 and V<22 (calibrated against USNO-B1.0 stars). No bright galaxy candidates are detected within about 20 arcsecond of the X-ray afterglow. The following four stellar-profile sources are detected in that area: RA = 10:41:37.96, Dec = -21:07:31.93 (USNO-B1.0 0688-0249429) RA = 10:41:37.64, Dec = -21:07:52.57 (USNO-B1.0 0688-0249427) RA = 10:41:39.65, Dec = -21:07:35.52 (USNO-B1.0 0688-0249436) RA = 10:41:39.75, Dec = -21:07:40.75 There are also 2 very dim sources in that 20 arcsecond radius area: RA = 10:41:39.17, Dec = -21:07:32.77 RA = 10:41:37.01, Dec = -21:07:35.13 These might be galaxies, but their nature is unclear since they are detected just at the limit of our imaging.