The afterglow of the gammaray burst GRB080319B was observed 23 – 01 (finnish time) 19./20.03.2008 at Taurus Hill Observatory by the research team members Veli-Pekka Hentunen and Markku Nissinen. The observation was made 15 hours after the discovery of the GRB080319B. The measurements were made with the clear filter and with the photometric R -filter.

The place of the GRB080319B was, according to the measurements, was RA 14 31 40.93 and Dec +36 18 08.1 and the brightness 19.08 +/- 0.02 CR.

The comparison star that was used for the measurements was USNO A-2.0 catalogs star 1200-07324239, that has a brightness of 18.4 Rmag (market with the C in the upper picture).

The GRB080319B is also barely visible in the lower picture that has been taken with the photometric R -filter. The field of view in the upper picture is 6.5 x 4.8 arc minutes and in the lower picture 6.0 x 5.0 arc minutes. The border magnitude in the upper picture is 20.6 C.

Update (20.3. 19:14 Finnish time): The observation is published in NASA’s GCN circular with other Finnish observations.

Update, part 2 (21.3. 11:07 Finnish time): The detailed picture of the GRB added (the third picture).

Observers: Veli-Pekka Hentunen and Markku Nissinen.