TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 16244 SUBJECT: GRB 140508A: ​HCT spectroscopy DATE: 14/05/10 16:45:53 GMT FROM: Varun Bhalerao at IUCAA V. Bhalerao, D. K. Sahu report: We obtained optical spectroscopy of the iPTF afterglow candidate of GRB140508A (Yu & Goldstein GCN 16224; Hurley et al., GCN 16225; Singer et al., GCN 16226) with the HFOSC instrument on the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT). We obtained two spectra of 1800 sec each, spanning the wavelength range from 3800-8400A, at a mean time of 15.5 hours after the trigger. The spectrum shows weak absorption features, consistent with the Fe II and Mg II at redshift ~1.03, as identified by Malesani et al. (GCN 16229) and Wiersema et al. (GCN 16231).