GRB 130606A VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy

Furthermore, spectroscopy of a GRB afterglow provides insight in its host galaxy, which is often too dim and distant to study otherwise. For the Swift GRB 130606A at z=5.913 we have obtained a high S/N spectrum covering the full optical and near-IR wavelength region at intermediate spectral resolution with VLT/X-Shooter.

We aim to measure the degree of ionisation of the intergalactic medium (IGM) between z=5.02-5.84 and to study the chemical abundance pattern and dust content of its host galaxy. We estimated the UV continuum of the GRB afterglow using a power-law extrapolation, then measured the flux decrement due to absorption at Ly{alpha},{beta}, and {gamma} wavelength regions. Furthermore, we fitted the shape of the red damping wing of Ly{alpha}.