UNVEILING THE NATURE OF IGR J17177–3656 WITH X-RAY, NEAR-INFRARED, AND RADIO OBSERVATIONS

Abstract

We report on the first broadband (1-200 keV) simultaneous Chandra-INTEGRAL observations of the recently discovered hard X-ray transient IGR J17177–3656 that took place on 2011 March 22, about two weeks after the source discovery. The source had an average absorbed 1-200 keV flux of about 8 × 10[superscript –10] erg cm[superscript –2] s[superscript –1]. We extracted a precise X-ray position of IGR J17177–3656, α[subscript J2000] = 17[superscript h]17[superscript m]42[s over .]62, δ[subscript J2000] = –36°56'04[" over .]5 (90% uncertainty of 0[" over .]6). We also report Swift, near-infrared, and quasi-simultaneous radio follow-up observations. With the multi-wavelength information at hand, we propose IGR J17177–3656 is a low-mass X-ray binary, seen at high inclination, probably hosting a black hole.