THE DOUBLE INFRARED SOURCE TOWARD THE SOFT GAMMA-RAY REPEATER SGR, 1900 + 14

摘要

We report the results of an extensive set of optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the double infrared source reported by Hartmann et al. (1995) as a potential counterpart for the Galactic soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1900 +14. These objects are found to be variable but otherwise normal M5 supergiant stars at a distance of ≈ 12-15 kpc and extinguished by A_v ≈ 19.2 mag, primarily by the general interstellar medium. We argue that the supergiants are likely gravitationally bound. These stars are positionally coincident with both quiescent X-ray and IRAS sources, suggestive of a yet-undetected third component to the system which may be responsible for the SGR.