Sloan digital sky survey multicolor observations of GRB 010222

The discovery of an optical counterpart to GRB 010222 (detected by BeppoSAX) was announced 4.4 hr after the burst by Henden. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey's 0.5 m photometric telescope (PT) and 2.5 m survey telescope were used to observe the afterglow of GRB 010222 starting 4.8 hr after the gamma-ray burst. The 0.5 m PT observed the afterglow in five 300 s g*-band exposures over the course of half an hour, measuring a temporal decay rate in this short period of Fv ∝ t-1±0.5. The 2.5 m camera imaged the counterpart nearly simultaneously in five filters (u*, g*, r*, i*, z*), with r* = 18.74 ± 0.02 at 12:10 UT. These multicolor observations, corrected for reddening and the afterglow's temporal decay, are well-fitted by the power law Fv ∝ v-0.90±0.03 with the exception of the u*-band UV flux which is 20% below this slope. We examine possible interpretations of this spectral shape, including source extinction in a star-forming region.