Spectroscopic Redshifts for Seven Lens Galaxies

We report Very Large Telescope observations of 11 lensed quasars, designed to measure the redshifts of their lens galaxies. We successfully determined the redshifts for seven systems, five of which were previously unknown. The securely measured redshifts for the lensing galaxies are: HE0047−1756 z = 0.408; PMNJ0134−0931 z = 0.766; HE0230−2130 z = 0.522; HE0435−1223 z = 0.455; SDSS0924+021 z = 0.393; LBQS1009−025 z = 0.871; and WFIJ2033−472 z = 0.658. For four additional systems (BRI0952−0115, Q1017−207, Q1355−2257 and PMNJ1632−003) we estimate tentative redshifts based on some features in their spectra. Subject headings: cosmology: gravitational lensing — Quasars: general — Quasars: individual: HE0047−1756, PMNJ0134−0931, HE0230−2130, HE0435−1223, SDSS0924+021, BRI0952−0115, LBQS1009−025, Q1017−207, Q1355−2257, PMNJ1632−003, WFIJ2033−472