GCN 44062: EP-WXT trigger 01709258989: KAIT confirmation of a stellar flare

WeiKang Zheng (UCB), Xuhui Han (NAOC), Pinpin Zhang (NAOC) and

Alexei V. Filippenko (UCB) report on behalf of the KAIT GRB team:


The 0.76-m Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT), located at

Lick Observatory, automatically responded to the EP-WXT trigger

01709258989 (Zhou et al. GCN 44054) starting at 04:57 UT, about 2.4

hours after the trigger. A set of clear (roughly R) filter images

were obtained and lasted for ~2.5 hours. Photometry on the suggested

flare star 1RXS J073101.9+460030 (confirmed by Perez-Garcia

et al., GCN 44056) show that its brightness remain around 12.5 mag

for about 1 hour, then another flare started at 06:05 UT (3.53 hours

after trigger), brightened to ~12.0 mag at peak time of 06:11 UT, then

decreased to ~12.4 mag around 06:23 UT. This confirming the EP X-ray

trigger is related to the stellar flare.