[vsnet-grb-info 14517] GRB140213A: VLT/X-shooter redshift

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  15831
SUBJECT: GRB140213A: VLT/X-shooter redshift
DATE:    14/02/14 04:01:39 GMT
FROM:    Steve Schulze at U of Iceland  <sts30 at hi.is>

S. Schulze (PUC and MCSS), K. Wiersema (U. Leicester), D. Xu, and J. P. U. Fynbo (DARK/NBI) report on behalf of a larger collaboration:
 
We observed the optical counterpart of GRB 140213A (Holland et al., GCN 15825; Siegel et al., GCN 15826) with the ESO VLT equipped with the X-shooter spectrograph starting 5.8 hr after the GRB. The spectrum covers the wavelength range from 3,200 to 18,000 AA. The afterglow is well detected throughout. We detect several absorption features, which we interpret as due to Fe II, Mg I, Mg II, Al II, Al III and others, at a common redshift of z = 1.2076 (wavelength solution based on archival calibration lamps).
 
We acknowledge excellent support from the observing staff in Paranal, in particular Yazan Momany.