Classical nova V* GK Per mistaken for GRB by SVOM

AI Summary

The initial detection by SVOM/ECLAIRs on 2026-08-31 was misidentified as a potential GRB, but subsequent observations confirmed it as a classical nova V* GK Per. Follow-up studies using multiple telescopes like SVOM/GWAC-F60A/B and LCO did not find any new sources within the error box.

Measurements

Notices (1)

SVOM — GRB · Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:32:07 GMT

GCN Circulars (6)

GCN-45490 — GRB 260831B · Tue, 01 Sep 2026 15:29:59 GMT
The SVOM/GWAC-F60A/B telescopes observed the field of GRB 260831B and did not detect any new sources within the error box, confirming previous non-detections. They also measured optical variations in the classical nova V* GK Per, consistent with earlier reports.

GCN-45489 — GRB 260831B · Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:33:23 GMT
The SVOM/VT telescope observed the classical nova GK Per, detecting optical variability with an amplitude of about 0.2 mag in both VT_B and VT_R channels. No uncatalogued sources were detected within the SVOM/ECLAIRs error box, with a 5-sigma upper limit of about 22.5 mag in both channels.

GCN-45486 — sb26083106 · Tue, 01 Sep 2026 13:07:45 GMT
The SVOM satellite issued an alert for a potential gamma-ray burst (GRB) on 2026-08-31, but further analysis revealed that the event originated from the classical nova V* GK Per, not a GRB. The refined position was determined using data from the X-band ground station.

GCN-45484 — GRB 260831B · Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:56:27 GMT
The Einstein Probe (EP) conducted a follow-up observation of the gamma-ray burst GRB 260831B, detected by SVOM/ECLAIRs, approximately 3 hours after the initial trigger. No new sources were found within the error box, and the upper limit of the observation was determined to be about 2 x 10^(-13) erg/s/cm^2.

GCN-45482 — GRB 260831B · Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:56:51 GMT
An observation of the field of GRB 260831B using the LCO 1m telescope at Tenerife did not detect any new sources within the SVOM/ECLAIRs error box, with upper limits of r > 21.5 AB and z > 20.2 AB magnitudes. The observation was conducted approximately 7 hours after the gamma-ray burst trigger.

GCN-45477 — GRB 260831B · Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:20:03 GMT
The SVOM mission detected a possible gamma-ray burst, GRB 260831B, on August 31, 2026, at 18:36:12 UTC. The burst was localized with a 90% confidence level radius of 8.69 arcmin, and follow-up observations are being conducted to confirm and localize any potential counterparts.