Near-infrared observations of HETE J1900.1-2455
ATel #533; D. Steeghs (CfA), M. A.P. Torres (CfA), C. Blake (CfA), J. S.Bloom (UCB)
on 22 Jun 2005; 01:10 UT
Credential Certification: Danny Steeghs (dsteeghs@cfa.harvard.edu)
Subjects: Radio, Infra-Red, Optical, X-ray, Binary, Neutron Star, Transient, Pulsar
Referred to by ATel #: 543
We report on near-infrared (NIR) observations of the field containing the
burst source and millisecond pulsar candidate HETE J1900.1-2455 (ATEL
#516, #523) obtained with the 1.3m robotic PAIRITEL telescope on Mt. Hopkins, AZ.
A NIR counterpart to the optical candidate suggested in ATEL #526 was
detected on 2005 June 16 08:00 UT at J=17.6 +/- 0.2 using nearby 2MASS
comparison stars. Follow-up observations on 2005 June 18 07:30 UT
indicated that no significant brightness changes had occurred in the NIR,
with the source again detected at J=17.6 +/- 0.2.
We also detected a marginally extended NIR source at the position of the
sole radio source that lies within the HETE error circle (ATEL #530). The
NIR counterpart was detected at J=18.1 +/- 0.2 on both June 16 and 18. Its
extended nature and the lack of variability in both the radio and NIR
suggests it is likely an unrelated background source.
None of the NIR sources detected within the HETE/XTE error circle showed
evidence for significant variability between our two epochs. We plan to
acquire additional observations of the field as weather permits.
Pairitel J-band image of HETE error circle
