TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  8061
SUBJECT: GRB 080805: Afterglow confirmation
DATE:    08/08/05 11:17:52 GMT
FROM:    Antonio Deugarte at IAA-CSIC  <deugarte@iaa.es>

A. de Ugarte Postigo (ESO), D. Malesani, P. M. Vreeswijk,
J.P.U. Fynbo (DARK/NBI), P. Jakobsson (Univ. Hertfordshire),
A.O. Jaunsen (Univ. Oslo), J. Sollerman (DARK/NBI and Univ.
Stockholm), report:

We observed the field of GRB 080805 (Pagani et al., GCN 8059)
with the ESO VLT equipped with FORS2. We clearly identify the
candidate afterglow first reported by Kruehler et al. (GCN 8060).
From the first image, obtained at 07:50:49 UT (9.3 min after the
burst) to 10:00:05 UT (138.5 min after the burst) the object faded
by 2.0 magnitudes in the R band. We thus consider the afterglow
candidate to be secure.

We acknowledge excellent support from the observing staff at
Paranal, especially to Patricia Guajardo and Yuri Belestky.