GRB 260623A — All Circulars

C.C. Cheung, R. Woolf, M. Kerr, J.E. Grove (NRL), A. Goldstein (USRA), C.A. Wilson-Hodge, D. Kocevski (MSFC), and M.S. Briggs (UAH) report:

The Glowbug gamma-ray telescope [1,2,3], operating on the International Space Station, reports the detection of GRB 260623A, which was also detected by Fermi/GBM (GCN 45028).

Using an adaptive window with a resolution of 32-ms, the burst onset is determined to be 2026-06-23 12:56:46.520 with a duration of 4.1 s and a total significance of about 16.8 sigma.  The light curve comprises a single peak.

The analysis results presented here are preliminary and use a response function that lacks a detailed characterization of the surrounding passive structure of the ISS. Glowbug is a NASA-funded technology demonstrator for sensitive, low-cost gamma-ray transient telescopes developed, built, and operated by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) with support from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, USRA, and NASA MSFC.  It was launched on 2023 March 15 aboard the Department of Defense Space Test Program’s STP-H9 to the ISS and operated until 2024 April when it was put in safe storage on orbit. Glowbug was removed from storage and resumed operation on 2025 September 12. 

[1] Grove, J.E. et al. 2020, Proc. Yamada Conf. LXXI, arXiv:2009.11959 
[2] Woolf, R.S. et al. 2022, Proc. SPIE, 12181, id. 121811O 
[3] Woolf, R.S. et al. 2024, Proc. SPIE, 13151, id. 1315108 

Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release.  Distribution is unlimited.

The Fermi GBM team reports the detection of a likely LONG GRB

At 12:56:49 UT on 23 Jun 2026, the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) triggered and located GRB 260623A (trigger 803912214.021094 / 260623539).

The on-ground calculated location, using the Fermi GBM trigger data, is RA = 39.3, Dec = -10.4 (J2000 degrees, equivalent to J2000 02h 37m, -10d 24'), with a statistical uncertainty of 11.8 degrees.

The angle from the Fermi LAT boresight is 88.0 degrees.

The skymap can be found here:
https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/fermi/data/gbm/triggers/2026/bn260623539/quicklook/glg_skymap_all_bn260623539.png

The HEALPix FITS file, including the estimated localization systematic, can be found here:
https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/fermi/data/gbm/triggers/2026/bn260623539/quicklook/glg_healpix_all_bn260623539.fit

The GBM light curve can be found here:
https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/FTP/fermi/data/gbm/triggers/2026/bn260623539/quicklook/glg_lc_medres34_bn260623539.gif

H. L. Li, L. P. Xin, C. Wu, Y. L. Qiu, J. R. Xu,, Y. N. Ma, Z. H. Yao, X. H. Han, J. Wang, Y. Xu, P. P. Zhang, W. J. Xie, Y. J. Xiao, H. B. Cai, J. S. Deng, J. Y. Wei (NAOC), J. T. Palmerio (CEA/Irfu) report on behalf of the SVOM/VT team.

SVOM/VT performed ToO observations to the field of EP260623a triggered by Einstein Probe (Wang et al., GCN 45020). The observation started at 2026-06-10T04:10:37 UTC, about 1.28 hours post trigger in the VT_B (400-650 nm) and VT_R (650-1000 nm) channels simultaneously.

The optical counterpart (Li et al., GCN 45021; Angulo et al., GCN 45024; Brivio et al., GCN 45025; Jiang et al., GCN 45026) with the redshift of z=0.703 (Izzo et al., GCN 45022) was clearly detected by VT in both channels. The following measurements are in the AB magnitude without correction for Galactic extinction:

Mid time | Band | Exposure Time | Brightness
1.283 h     VT_B     50 s     17.00 +/- 0.04 mag
1.283 h     VT_R     50 s     16.34 +/- 0.04 mag
3.191 h     VT_B     50 s     18.59 +/- 0.07 mag
3.191 h     VT_R     50 s     17.85 +/- 0.05 mag

The Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a China-France joint mission led by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA, China), National Center for Space Studies (CNES, France) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, China), which is dedicated to observing gamma-ray bursts and other transient phenomena in the energetic universe. VT was jointly developed by Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (XIOPM), CAS and National astronomical observatories (NAOC), CAS.