[vsnet-grb-info 7596] GRB 090418 Lick Redshift

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  9151
SUBJECT: GRB 090418 Lick Redshift
DATE:    09/04/18 12:34:39 GMT
FROM:    Ryan Chornock at UC Berkeley  <chornock at astro.berkeley.edu>

R. Chornock, S. B. Cenko, C. V. Griffith, M. E. Kislak, I. K. W. Kleiser, and
A. V. Filippenko (UC Berkeley) report:

We obtained optical spectra of the afterglow of GRB 090418 (Chornock et al., GCN
9148; Mangano et al., GCN 9149; Yuan et al., GCN 9150) using the Kast
spectrograph on the Lick 3-meter telescope.  Our first 900s exposure, starting
at 11:21:16 UT (only 816s after the burst trigger) reveals a smooth continuum
extending to the blue limit of our spectra (3450 Angs).  Superposed on the
continuum are absorption lines of C IV, Mg II, Fe II, Al II, and Mg I at
z=1.608, which we suggest is the redshift of this burst.  Further analysis is
ongoing.