A Variable Infrared Counterpart to the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR 1806-20
Astrophysics
2009-11-10 v1
Abstract
We present K'-band (2.12 micron) imaging observations of the SGR 1806-20 field taken during its very active phase in mid 2004, which reveal brightening of sources within the Chandra X-ray error circle when compared with earlier images obtained in 2002. One source brightened by more than a factor of 2, and so we consider this to be the probable infrared counterpart for SGR 1806-20. The other two sources are located in close proximity to the probable counterpart and show marginal brightening, which may suggest that the high-energy photons emitted from the SGR during its active phase have induced dust sublimation or brightening of the unresolved background around the SGR.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0503280,
title = {A Variable Infrared Counterpart to the Soft Gamma-ray Repeater SGR 1806-20},
author = {George Kosugi and Ryusuke Ogasawara and Hiroshi Terada},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0503280},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. (12 pages, 3 figures)