TITLE: GCN CIRCULAR NUMBER: 15407 SUBJECT: GRB 131030A: NOT redshift DATE: 13/10/30 22:48:32 GMT FROM: Dong Xu at DARK/NBI D. Xu, J. P. U. Fynbo (DARK/NBI), P. Jakobsson, Z. Cano (U. Iceland), B. Milvang-Jensen, D. Malesani (DARK/NBI), A. de Ugarte Postigo (IAA-CSIC, DARK/NBI) & M. Hayes (Stockholm University) report on behalf of a larger collaboration: We observed the optical afterglow of GRB 131030A (Troja et al., GCN 15402) with the NOT equipped with the AlFOSC instrument. The transient is clearly detected in our acquisition image with a magnitude R ~ 17 at a mean time of 0.569 hr after the GRB. A single spectrum of 1200 s covering the range from 3800 to 8000 AA was obtained with a mean epoch of 0.894 hr after the burst. The spectrum displays a strong continuum with features of Fe II, Mg II and Al II at a common redshift of z = 1.293 (wavelength calibration based on archival data), which we identify as the redshift of the GRB. We also detect an intervening system at z = 1.16 displaying Fe II and Mg II.