First time detection of a GRB at sub-TeV energies: MAGIC detected the GRB 190114C

After 15 years of dreaming about the GRB detection, tonight it became reality: MAGIC detected a GRB at a red-shift of 0.42 with > 20 sigma in 20 minutes observation time! We have already issued an ATel #12390 on this very hot topic:

The MAGIC telescopes performed a rapid follow-up observation of GRB 190114C (Gropp et al., GCN 23688; Tyurina et al., GCN 23690, de Ugarte Postigo et al., GCN 23692, Lipunov et al. GCN 23693, Selsing et al. GCN 23695). This observation was triggered by the Swift-BAT alert; we started observing at about 50s after Swift T0: 20:57:03.19. The MAGIC real-time analysis shows a significance >20 sigma in the first 20 min of observations (starting at T0+50s) for energies >300GeV. The relatively high detection threshold is due to the large zenith angle of observations (>60 degrees) and the presence of partial Moon. Given the brightness of the event, MAGIC will continue the observation of GRB 190114C until it is observable tonight and also in the next days.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2019 at 14:19 and is filed under Astronomy, Discovery, MAGIC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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