TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  8164
SUBJECT: nIR observations of SGR 0501+4516
DATE:    08/09/02 12:27:14 GMT
FROM:    Evert Rol at U.Leicester  <er45@star.le.ac.uk>

E. Rol, N. Tanvir (U. of Leicester), N. Rea (U. of Amsterdam),
K. Wiersema (U. of Leicester), I. Skillen (ING) and P. A. Curran (U. of
Amsterdam) report for a larger collaboration:

We observed the candidate counterpart to SGR 0501+4516 with LIRIS at
WHT, Roque the Los Muchachos and NIRI at Gemini-North, Mauna Kea,
around August 31, 3 UT and September 1, 14 UT, respectively. On both
epochs, we measure a magnitude of K = 19.1 +/- 0.1, consistent with
the magnitude previously reported in GCN 8159 (magnitudes calibrated
to 2MASS).  This is in contrast to the upper limit given in GCN 8162,
though our observations do not preclude a sudden decrease and
subsequent rise to the previous flux level. Our observations, however,
indicate a relatively stable nIR counterpart candidate over this time
interval.