Optical/IR Candidates for XTE J1829-098
ATel #344; J. P. Halpern, E. V. Gotthelf (Columbia U.)
on 12 Oct 2004; 23:34 UT
Credential Certification: Jules Halpern (jules@astro.columbia.edu)
Subjects: Infra-Red, Optical, X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient, Pulsar
A very bright star in the 2MASS survey should be considered
a possible supergiant companion of the transient 7.8 s pulsar XTE J1829-098
(Markwardt et al., ATEL #317; Halpern & Gotthelf, ATEL #319).
At coordinates (J2000) R.A. = 18h29m44.55s, Decl. = -09d51m20.3s, this
candidate has R>21, I=14.4, J=8.04,
H=6.11, K=4.98, where
the R and I magnitudes are estimated from digitized
UK Schmidt sky-survey plates. Although its coordinates are
8" from the XMM-Newton position of the source
(J2000) R.A. = 18h29m44.06s, Decl. = -09d51m23.3s
as reported in ATEL #319,
i.e., twice the nominal X-ray error, allowance could be made for
the off-axis location in the X-ray image and absence of other
identified sources for astrometric alignment.
Alternatively, there is a USNO-B1.0 and 2MASS
star at coordinates (J2000) R.A. = 18h29m44.28s,
Decl. = -09d51m26.8s, which is 5" from the X-ray position. This
candidate has B=21.44, R=17.40, I=15.20, J=12.46,
H=10.54, K=9.67.
IR/optical spectroscopy to classify both of these
candidate counterparts should be obtained.
Images and Light Curve
