GCN Circular 10176
Subject
GRB 091117: Gemini-North spectroscopy of DSS galaxy
Date
2009-11-19T11:01:41Z (15 years ago)
From
Ryan Chornock at UC Berkeley <chornock@astro.berkeley.edu>
R. Chornock and E. Berger (Harvard) report:
We obtained spectra of the DSS galaxy coincident with the XRT source (GCN 10173)
seen in the Swift observations of the short GRB 091117 (GCN 10171) using GMOS on
Gemini-North. A pair of 1800s exposures using the R400 grating were taken
starting at 07:27 UT on Nov. 19. Numerous emission lines are present at
z=0.096. The slit was aligned through both the nucleus and the point source on
the spiral arm (GCN 10174). The off-nuclear point source exhibits the
high-equivalent-width nebular emission lines expected of an H II region and is
therefore unlikely to be related to the afterglow of GRB 091117. In addition,
the nuclear spectrum shows a broad component to the H-alpha line (FWHM ~ 1670
km/sec), indicative of an AGN. The AGN could also be responsible for the
observed X-ray emission.