BeppoSAX discovery of the X-ray afterglow of GRB 971227

¹ Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, I-00040 Monte Porzio Catone (RM), Italy
² BeppoSAX Science Data Center, Via Corcolle 19, I-00131 Roma, Italy
³ Istituto Tecnologie e Studio Radiazioni Extraterrestri, CNR, Via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
⁴ Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, CNR, Via Fosso del Cavaliere, I-00133 Roma, Italy
⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara, Via Paradiso 11, I-44100 Ferrara, Italy
⁶ BeppoSAX Scientific Operation Center, Telespazio, Via Corcolle 19, I-00131 Roma, Italy

Received: 16 March 1999
Accepted: 22 April 1999

Abstract

The BeppoSAX Narrow Field Instruments observed the region of sky containing GRB 971227 14 hours after the initial burst. A faint source (1SAXJ1257.3+5924) is detected in a position consistent with the BeppoSAX Wide Field Camera position, and disappears during the second half of the observation. In contrast to some other GRBs observed by BeppoSAX no optical and radio afterglows were unambiguously observed.