Spectroscopy of the Host Galaxy of the Gamma--Ray Burst 980703
  We present spectroscopic observations of the host galaxy of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) 980703. Several emission and absorption features are detected, making the redshift, z = 0.966, completely unambiguous. This is only the third known redshift for a GRB host. The implied isotropic gamma-ray energy release from the burst is in excess of 10^{53} erg, for a reasonable choice of cosmological parameters. The spectroscopic properties of the host galaxy are typical for a star formation powered object. Using the observed value of the Balmer decrement, we derived the extinction in the galaxy's restframe, A_V = 0.3 +- 0.3 mag. Using three different star formation rate indicators, we estimate SFR ~ 10 Msun/yr, or higher, depending on the extinction, with a lower limit of SFR > 7 Msun/yr. This is the highest value of the star formation rate measured for a GRB galaxy so far, and it gives some support to the idea that GRBs are closely related to massive star formation. 
S. G. Djorgovski (1), S. R. Kulkarni (1), J. S. Bloom (1), R. Goodrich   (2), D. A. Frail (3), L. Piro (4), and E. Palazzi (...