| Abstract: | The detection of near‐infrared (NIR) excess at the position of a star can indicate either a substellar companion or a disk around the respective star. In this work we probed whether a 2.5σ H ‐band flux enhancement at the position of the isolated neutron star RX J0806.4–4123 can be confirmed at another NIR wavelength. We observed RXJ0806.4–4123 in the J ‐band with Gemini South equipped with FLAMINGOS‐2. There was no significant detection of a J ‐band source at the neutron star position. However, similarly to the H ‐band we found a very faint (1.4σ) flux enhancement with a nominal magnitude of J = 24.8 ± 0.5. The overall NIR‐detection significance is 3.1σ. If real, this emission is too bright to come from the neutron star alone. Deeper near‐infrared observations are necessary to confirm or refute the potential NIR excess. The confirmation of such NIR excess could imply that there is a substellar companion or a disk around RXJ0806.4–4123. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |
