TITLE: GCN GRB OBSERVATION REPORT NUMBER: 3212 SUBJECT: GRB 050408: Properties of the Host Galaxy DATE: 05/04/10 00:57:26 GMT FROM: Don Lamb at U.Chicago GRB 050408: Properties of the Host Galaxy D. Q. Lamb, D. G. York, and D. E. Reichart report: The field of GRB 050408 (Sakamoto, et al., GCN Circular 3189) has been observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the data is publicly available as part of Data Release 3. Examination of the SDSS image of the field of GRB 050408 reveals a galaxy at RA = (180.57109 deg), Dec = (+10.85051 degree), coincident with the optical afterglow of GRB 050408. The magnitudes of the galaxy are u = 23.49, g = 23.30, r = 22.37, i = 21.95, and z = 21.39, with errors of +/- 0.01 mag, with the exception of the z band where the uncertainty is somewhat larger. These results suggest that light from the host galaxy may contribute significantly to the optical magnitudes reported for the optical afterglow of GRB 050408 as early as ~10 hours after the burst. This implies that continued Swift XRT observations of the X-ray afterglow of GRB 050408 (e.g., Wells et al., GCN Circular 3191; Chincharini et al. 3209) may be the only way of determining the light curve, and therefore the jet break time, for the afterglow of this burst. This message may be cited.