Location of the gamma-ray transient event of 1979 March 5

The 1979 March 5 gamma event (Cline et al.; Mazets et al.; Barat et al.) was observed by gamma burst instruments on nine widely separated spacecraft. Analysis of the event arrival times has yielded a redundantly determined 1' x 2' error box centered at R.A.=5/sup h/25/sup m/95, decl.=-66 /sup 0/07'. 1 (equinox 1950.0). Located within the box is N49, a supernova remnant in the LMC. If N49 was the source of the transient, then the peak ..gamma..-ray and hard X-ray luminosity was 10/sup 44-45/ ergs s/sup -1/, and the total radiated energy was 10/sup 43-44/ ergs. Although the statistical arguments in favor of identification with N49 are strong, some of the event characteristics: e.g., the combination of high intensity and fast rise time: seem to be more easily explainable in terms of a foreground object.