{
  "bibcode": "2005GCN..3860....1L",
  "body": "C. Ledoux, P. Vreeswijk (ESO), S. Ellison (U. Victoria), A. Jaunsen\n(ESO/U. Oslo), A. Smette (ESO), J. Fynbo (U. Copenhagen), P. Moller,\nA.  Kaufer (ESO), M. Andersen (AIP), R. Wijers (U. Amsterdam) &\nJ. Hjorth (U. Copenhagen) report:\n\nWe observed the afterglow (Fox & Cenko, GCN 3829) of GRB 050820 (Page\net al, GCN 3830) with UVES at VLT/UT2, starting at 7:08 UT (33 minutes\nafter the burst trigger). The spectra cover most of the optical\nwavelength range (split into two observations of a total of 60min\nusing one dichroic beam splitter and 40min using the other), with an\napproximate resolving power of 46,000 (6.5 km/s).\n\nWe obtain a redshift of z=2.6147 (and therefore confirm the redshift\nreported by Prochaska et al., GCN 3833) from the detection of numerous\nhost-galaxy metal absorption lines (e.g., CII, CIV, NI, OI, AlII,\nAlIII, SiII, SiIV, SII, ArI, CrII, FeII, NiII, ZnII) spread over a\nvelocity interval of ~400 km/s. Strong fine-structure lines of CII*\nand SiII* are also detected. We measure a total neutral hydrogen\ncolumn density of log N(HI)=21.0 and metallicities of [Si/H]=-0.6 and\n[Fe/H]=-1.1.\n\nIn addition, an intervening metal absorption line system with log\nN(HI)=20.0 is observed at zabs=2.3597.\n\nWe acknowlegde the excellent support from the ESO staff, and in\nparticular the alertness of night astronomer Stefano Bagnulo.",
  "circularId": 3860,
  "createdOn": 1124792942000,
  "email": "pvreeswi@eso.org",
  "subject": "VLT/UVES spectroscopy of GRB050820",
  "submitter": "Paul Vreeswijk at ESO  <pvreeswi@eso.org>",
  "eventId": "GRB 050820"
}