The nature of the infrared counterpart of IGR J19140+0951

TL;DR

This paper identifies the infrared counterpart of the X-ray source IGR J19140+0951 as a B0.5-type supergiant, providing insights into its nature as a wind-fed high-mass X-ray binary.

Contribution

The study presents the first infrared spectral identification of the companion star in IGR J19140+0951, clarifying its classification and distance.

Findings

Companion star is a B0.5-type supergiant.

System is a wind-fed high-mass X-ray binary.

Distance to the system is less than 5 kpc.

Abstract

The INTEGRAL observatory has been (re-)discovering new X-ray sources since the beginning of nominal operations in early 2003. These sources include X-ray binaries, Active Galactic Nuclei, cataclysmic variables, etc. Amongst the X-ray binaries, the true nature of many of these sources has remained largely elusive, though they seem to make up a population of highly absorbed high-mass X-ray binaries. One of these new sources, IGR J19140+0951, was serendipitously discovered on 2003 Mar 6 during an observation of the galactic microquasar GRS 1915+105. We observed IGR J19140+0951 with UKIRT in order to identify the infrared counterpart. Here we present the H- and K-band spectra. We determined that the companion is a B0.5-type bright supergiant in a wind-fed system, at a distance $\la$ 5 kpc.