A NIR Observation of GRO J1655-40
ATel #417; M. A.P. Torres (CfA), D. Steeghs (CfA), P. Jonker (SRON), P. Martini (CfA)
on 21 Feb 2005; 03:05 UT
Credential Certification: Manuel Torres (mtorres@cfa.harvard.edu)
Subjects: Infra-Red, Request for Observations, Binary, Black Hole, Transient
Following ATEL #414, on February 20.39 UT we acquired a J-band image of the X-ray transient GRO J1655-40 using the PANIC camera on the 6.5-m Magellan-Baade telescope at Las Campanas Observatory.
Preliminary relative photometry with respect to ten 2MASS nearby stars yields J=13.2 +/- 0.1, indicating that GRO J1655-40 is brighter by at least ~0.5 mag in J relative to its magnitude in quiescence (J=13.7-14; Greene, Bailyn & Orosz 2001,ApJ,554,1290). This suggests that GRO J1655-40 is indeed the rising X-ray source reported in ATEL #414 and #415.
