TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 43749 SUBJECT: EP260214b: VLT/X-shooter spectroscopic redshift z = 1.208 DATE: 26/02/15 10:06:03 GMT FROM: Aishwarya L Thakur at INAF-IAPS, Rome <aishth@outlook.com> E. Le Floch (CEA/Irfu), J. An (NAOC), A. Saccardi (CEA/Irfu), A. L. Thakur (INAF-IAPS), D. Xu (NAOC), L. Cotter (UCD), D. Malesani (DAWN/NBI and Radboud), N. R. Tanvir (U. Leicester) report on behalf of the Stargate collaboration We observed the optical counterpart (He et al. GCN 43745; Watson et al. GCN 43747) of EP260214b (Yang et al. GCN 43744) using the ESO/VLT UT3 (Melipal) equipped with the X-shooter spectrograph. Our spectra cover the wavelength range 3000-21000 Å and consist of 4 exposures of 600 s each. Observations started on 2026 February 15 at 06:24:46 UT (at 8.35 hr post-trigger). In a preliminary reduction of the spectra, we detect continuum over the entire wavelength range. From the detection of multiple absorption lines, which we interpret as the Al II, Fe II, Mg II, we infer a redshift of z = 1.208. Additionally, at a consistent redshift (z = 1.207) we note the presence of several emission lines due to the [O II] doublet, Ne III, the [O III] doublet, and the Balmer lines from the GRB host galaxy. We acknowledge the excellent support of the ESO observing staff in Paranal, in particular Celia Desgrange, Mar Carretero Castrillo, Diego Parraguez and Fuyan Bian. The analysis of this spectrum was carried out with the help of the zHunter tool (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15189495). View this GCN Circular online at https://gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/43749. --- To unsubscribe, open this link in a web browser: https://gcn.nasa.gov/unsubscribe/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJlbWFpbCI6InZzbmV0LW...