Possible IR counterpart of GRB 030115

K-band images of the possible IR counterpart of GRB 030115. The transient is seen at the centre of the image. The top left observation shows thefirst epoch image 5 hours after the burst, whilst the top right image is taken an additional 4 hours later. The bottom image is the result of a PSF matched image subtraction

We observed the field of GRB 030115 (GCN 1816) with the KPNO 2.1m telescope, beginning at Jan 15th 08:27 UT (5.1 hours after bursts). Two epochs of imaging, approximately 4 hours apart were obtained in each of J,H and K.

A PSF matched image subtraction reveals a fading point source at a position of

RA = 11:18:32.6, Dec= +15:02:59

The source is fixed on the sky and seen to fade in all bands. Unfortunately we do not currently have a reliable photometric calibration.

An object is present at a position roughly consistent with the radio source detected in GCN 1817. However this source does not vary throughout our observations.

Detailed analysis of the dataset is underway, and further observations are planned.