LIGO/Virgo G298048: Archival 2MASS and Spitzer non-detections of the potential LIGO EM counterpart SSS17a

We have investigated archival 2MASS (28 Apr 1998) and Spitzer (12 Oct 2014) infrared observations of the field of SSS17a (Coulter et al. LVC GCN 21529). We find no evidence of a point-like source at this location. While the presence of the host galaxy somewhat complicates sensitivity estimates, in the case of 2MASS we have a preliminary estimate for a 3-sigma upper limit of J(Vega) ~ 17.6 +- 0.2 mag, which corresponds to J(AB) ~ 18.5 +- 0.2 mag. This is a factor of ~2.5 fainter than the J(AB)=17.5 mag detection of Tanvir et al. (LVC GCN 21544), indicating a variable or transient nature for this source. More detailed analyses of the upper limits for both 2MASS and Spitzer are forthcoming. [GCN OPS NOTE(18aug17): Per submitter's and author's request, the submitter was changed from Singer to Eikenberry. Singer submitted as Eikeberry's proxy, because Eikenberry's GCN account was not yet activated.]