GCN Circular 9219

N. Tanvir (U. Leicester), A. Levan (U. Warwick), K. Wiersema (U.
Leicester), J. Fynbo, J. Hjorth (DARK/NBI), P. Jakobsson (Reykjavik)
report on behalf of a larger collaboration:

We observed the afterglow of GRB 090423 with ISAAC on the VLT,
beginning about 01:30 (UT), approximately 17.5 hours post-burst.

Our provisional analysis shows a clear continuum at red wavelengths,
but no flux below about 11200A, consistent with a break due to
Lyman-alpha at a redshift z~8.2.  However, we caution that we have not
yet carefully calibrated the instrumental response, and further work
is required to confirm this result.

We thank the VLT observers for their excellent support in obtaining
these data, particularly Valentin Ivanov and Giovanni Carraro.