[AAVSO-HEN] GRB 090417A: nearby galaxy redshift

[grb at aavso.org]

The following is a GCN Circular circulated via the AAVSO network.
For an archive and more information on circulars visit:
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TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  9136
SUBJECT: GRB 090417A: nearby galaxy redshift 
DATE:    09/04/17 16:27:39 GMT
FROM:    Nial Tanvir at IofA U.Cambridge  <nrt at ast.cam.ac.uk>

P. T. O'Brien and N. R. Tanvir (U. Leicester) report:

We note that the bright 2MASS galaxy at the edge of the BAT error
circle, pointed out by Fox (GCN 9134), has a spectrum measured as part
of the 6dF survey, which gives a redshift of z=0.088.  This
corresponds to a luminosity distance of about 400 Mpc in standard
cosmology, which would be very large for an SGR giant flare, but quite
plausible for a short-GRB comparable in luminosity to several others
which have been seen at moderate redshifts.

The spectrum can be seen at the following link:
http://www-wfau.roe.ac.uk/6dFGS/cgi-bin/show.cgi?release=dr3&name=g0219477-071201&tid=-1&specid=123101