Gemini Optical Observations of Swift J1112.2-8238
ATel #3469; Edo Berger and Ryan Chornock (Harvard)
on 3 Jul 2011; 04:18 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Transients
Credential Certification: Edo Berger (eberger@cfa.harvard.edu)
Subjects: Optical, Transient
We observed a field centered on the new Swift/BAT transient source Swift J1112.2-8238 (ATEL #3463) with GMOS on the Gemini-South 8-m telescope starting on 2011 July 3.04 UT for a total of 1620 sec in the i-band. The images were obtained in mediocre seeing of 1.45". Within the XRT 1.4" error circle we find a single, faint, and potentially extended source at the following coordinates (J2000):
RA = 11:11:47.797, DEC = -82:38:44.71
with an uncertainty of about 0.1" in each coordinate (astrometry relative to the 2MASS catalog). This position is about 1.0" away from the center of the XRT error circle. No information about variability is available at present. Further observations are planned to assess the nature of this optical counterpart.
