IGR J17463-2854, a Possible Symbiotic Binary System in the Galactic Center Region

TL;DR

This study investigates the nature of the hard X-ray source IGR J17463-2854 near the Galactic center, suggesting it is likely a rare symbiotic binary system based on multi-wavelength data analysis.

Contribution

The paper identifies IGR J17463-2854 as a probable symbiotic binary system using combined X-ray and infrared observations, improving absorption estimates and extinction law application.

Findings

Detected five X-ray sources with similar fluxes in the error circle.

Identified three sources in infrared with specific magnitudes.

Concluded the likely nature as a symbiotic binary system.

Abstract

This paper is devoted to determining the nature of the hard X-ray source IGR J17463-2854 located toward the Galactic bulge. Using data from the INTEGRAL and Chandra X-ray observatories, we show that five point X-ray sources with approximately identical fluxes in the 2-10 keV energy band are detected in the error circle of the object under study. In addition, significant absorption at low energies has been detected in the spectra of all these sources. Based on data from the VVV (VISTA/ESO) infrared Galactic Bulge Survey, we have unambiguously identified three of the five sources, determined the J, H and K magnitudes of the corresponding stars, and obtained upper limits on the fluxes for the remaining two sources. Analysis of the color-magnitude diagrams has shown that one of these objects most likely belongs to a class of rarely encountered objects, symbiotic binary systems (several tens are known with certainty), i.e., low-mass binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and a red giant. Note that all our results were obtained using improved absorption values and an extinction law differing in this direction from the standard one.