[vsnet-grb-info 3817] GRB 060927: Spectroscopic redshift z=5.6

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  5651
SUBJECT: GRB 060927: Spectroscopic redshift z=5.6
DATE:    06/09/29 10:30:08 GMT
FROM:    Brian Lindgren Jensen at U.of Copenhagen  <brian_j at astro.ku.dk>

Johan P. U. Fynbo (DARK Cosmology Centre), Pall Jakobsson (U. of
Hertfordshire), Brian L. Jensen, Jens Hjorth, Jesper Sollerman,
Darach Watson, José María Castro Cerón (DARK Cosmology Centre),
Paul Vreeswijk (ESO), Michael I. Andersen (Potsdam) report on
behalf of a larger collaboration:

"Using FORS1 on the ESO Very Large Telescope we obtained a 3x30 min
spectrum of the afterglow of GRB 060927 (GCNs #5627, 5629) on Sep 28.1.
We detect a sharp continuum break at 8070 A which we interpret as the
onset of the Lyman-alpha forest. Hence the redshift of GRB 060927 is
z=5.6.

We have placed a finding chart and an image of the 2d-spectrum here:
http://www.astro.ku.dk/~brian_j/grb/grb060927.589/

We thank the Paranal staff for excellent support."