IGR J12349-6434 = RT Cru ?
ATel #528; N. Masetti, L. Bassani (IASF/INAF, Bologna), A. J. Bird (Univ. Southampton) and A. Bazzano (IASF/INAF, Rome)
on 21 Jun 2005; 13:32 UT
Credential Certification: Nicola Masetti (masetti@bo.iasf.cnr.it)
Subjects: Optical, X-ray, A Comment, Binary, Cataclysmic Variable
Referred to by ATel #: 591, 715
We report that, further to the discovery of the new INTEGRAL source IGR J12349-6434 (Chernyakova et al., ATel #519), a SIMBAD catalog search pointed out that the source position is consistent with the emission-line symbiotic star RT Cru. This optical object shows large-amplitude (Dm ~ 3.8 mag) outbursts and short-term flickering (see Cieslinski et al., 1994, A&AS, 106, 243), both typical of accreting binary systems; moreover, this is the only SIMBAD source within the IGR J12349-6434 error box. We therefore tentatively suggest that this object is the optical counterpart of IGR J12349-6434. Observations at other (soft X-ray and/or radio) wavelengths would be of help in clarifying this association.
This research has made use of the SIMBAD database, operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France.
