A Luminous Companion to SGR 1806-20
Abstract
We have obtained infrared spectra of the star suggested to be the counterpart of the soft gamma-ray repeater (SGR) 1806-20. We found strong emission lines similar to those seen in the spectra of the rare Luminous Blue Variables and B[e] stars. A He I absorption line is also seen, from which we infer a spectral type O9--B2. This classification, in combination with the minimum distance of kpc inferred from its extinction, makes the star one of the most luminous in the Galaxy. We infer that it is a companion to SGR 1806-20, and suggest that the presence of a companion is somehow related to the SGR phenomenon.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/9502038,
title = {A Luminous Companion to SGR 1806-20},
author = {M. H. van Kerkwijk and S. R. Kulkarni and K. Matthews and G. Neugebauer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/9502038},
year = {2016}
}
Comments
5 pages, AASTEX text+table and 2 PostScript figures (needs LaTeX style files aaspptwo.sty, epsf.sty and rotate.sty). In case of problems, contact [email protected]. Postscript file of complete article available on request. (Replaced because first version had one wrong reference in it)