TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 1511 SUBJECT: GRB 020819: Optical observations DATE: 02/08/20 16:01:13 GMT FROM: Paul Price at RSAA, ANU <pap@mso.anu.edu.au> P.A. Price (RSAA, ANU), D.W. Fox (Caltech), A. Piccioni, C. Bartolini, I. Bruni, R. Gualandi., A. Guarnieri (Bologna University and Bologna Astronomical Observatory), G. Pizzichini (IASF-CNR, Sezione di Bologna) and R. McNaught (RSAA, ANU) report: We observed the SXC error-circle of GRB 020819 (GCN #1508) with the Palomar 60-inch telescope at Aug 20.34 UT with 4x600 sec exposures in R. Comparison of this combined image with those from the SSO 40-inch telescope (GCN #1506) and the Loiano 1.5-metre telescope (GCN #1509), both visually and through image subtraction do not reveal any afterglow candidates. We estimate the limiting magnitudes to be as follows: SSO 40-inch R ~ 20.5 mag (GCN #1506) Loiano 1.5-metre R ~ 21.7 mag (GCN #1509) Palomar 60-inch R ~ 21.5 mag Comparison of the best NIR afterglow candidate (GCN #1510) with other sources in the field suggests that this candidate is likely constant in flux. This message may be cited.