Optical/Near-Infrared Observations of GRO J1744-28

Abstract

We present results from a series of optical (g and r-band) and near-infrared (K'-band) observations of the region of the sky including the entire XTE and ROSAT error circles for the ``Bursting Pulsar'' GRO J1744-28. These data were taken with the Astrophysical Research Consortium's 3.5-m telescope at Apache Point Observatory and with the 2.2-m telescope at the European Southern Observatory. We see no new object, nor any significant brightening of any known object, in these error circles, with the exception of an object detected in our 8 February 1996 image. This object has already been proposed as a near-infrared counterpart to GRO J1744-28. While it is seen in only two of our ten 8 February frames, there is no evidence that this is an instrumental artifact, suggesting the possibility of near-infrared flares from GRO J1744-28, similar to those that have been reported from the Rapid Burster. The distance to the ``Bursting Pulsar'' must be more than 2 kpc, and we suggest that it is more than 7 kpc.