TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  40301
SUBJECT: GRB 250430A / EP250430a: VLT/X-shooter spectroscopic redshift z = 0.767
DATE:    25/05/01 10:00:04 GMT
FROM:    Andrea Saccardi at CEA/Irfu <andrea.saccardi@cea.fr>

M. Garnichey (LUX-Paris Obs.), A. Saccardi (CEA/Irfu), B. Schneider (LAM), G. Corcoran (UCD), N. Habeeb (Leicester), D. B. Malesani (DAWN/NBI and Radboud), A. Martin-Carrillo (UCD), N. R. Tanvir (Leicester), A. L. Thakur (INAF/IAPS), A. de Ugarte Postigo (LAM) report on behalf of the Stargate collaboration:

We observed the optical counterpart (Parsotan et al., GCN 40292; Odeh et al., GCN 40295) of GRB 250430A / EP250430a (Parsotan et al., GCN 40292; Wang et al., GCN 40299) with the ESO VLT UT3 (Melipal) equipped with the X-shooter spectrograph. Our spectra cover the wavelength range 3000 - 21000 AA, and consist of 4 exposures of 600 s each. The observation mid time was 2025 May 01 at 04:00:11 UT (10.87 hr after the Swift/BAT trigger).

In a 3x30-s image, taken in the r band at a mid time of 10.34 hr after the trigger, the optical counterpart is detected at RA, Dec 233.3872, -18.1184 which is equivalent to:

RA (J2000) = 15:33:32.93
Dec (J2000) = -18:07:06.3

These coordinates are in good agreement with those reported by Odeh et al. (GCN 40295). We measure a preliminary AB magnitude r = 21.97 +/- 0.06, calibrated against nearby stars from the Pan-STARRS catalog.

In a preliminary reduction of the spectra, we observe a continuum over the entire covered wavelength range, fainter in the UVB and VIS arms than in the NIR. A few absorption features are detected, which we interpret as the Mg II doublet (2796, 2804) and Fe II (2374, 2383, 2587, 2600), all at the common redshift z = 0.767. No emission lines are observed across the whole covered spectrum.

We note the presence of a catalogued object in the Legacy Survey DR10 at a position consistent with the optical afterglow. The magnitudes of the galaxy are g = 24.59 +/- 0.25, r = 23.22 +/- 0.10, i = 21.96 +/- 0.05, and z = 21.35 +/- 0.04, and its centroid is 0.5" away from the optical afterglow position. Our spectroscopic redshift measurement is consistent with the photometric redshift value provided of 0.89 +/- 0.11. This object is the likely host galaxy of GRB 250430A, though we notice that its red colors and lack of emission lines are not typical of a long (collapsar) GRB host.

We acknowledge excellent support from the ESO observing staff in Paranal, in particular Celia Desgrange, Rodrigo Palominos, and Camila de Sa Freitas. The analysis of this spectrum was carried out with the help of the zHunter tool (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15189495).