{
  "abstract": "The Rapid Burster (MXB 1730$-$335) is the only known neutron star to produce both Type I and Type II X-ray bursts, making it a key system for understanding accretion physics onto neutron stars. It resides in Liller 1, a dense, metal-rich stellar system whose crowded core and $\\sim$11 magnitudes of visual extinction have concealed the Rapid Burster's optical/infrared (OIR) counterpart for nearly five decades. Here, we present infrared observations of Liller 1 obtained with JWST/NIRCam that, for the first time, reveal the unambiguous OIR counterpart to the Rapid Burster. Caught in an X-ray active state, the counterpart exhibits dramatic infrared variability, fading by $\\sim$ 2.5 magnitudes in JWST's F200W band (1.755$-$2.227 $μ$m) with strong fluctuations on minute timescales. These observations provide an infrared anchor for the Rapid Burster and open the way for future spectroscopy and simultaneous IR and X-ray monitoring to constrain the donor's spectral type and the system's accretion physics.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.35956",
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Malina M. Desai"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kevin B. Burdge"
    },
    {
      "name": "Cristina Pallanca"
    },
    {
      "name": "Saul Rappaport"
    },
    {
      "name": "Francesco R. Ferraro"
    },
    {
      "name": "Barbara Lanzoni"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mason Ng"
    },
    {
      "name": "Paul Draghis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Emma T. Chickles"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ilaria Caiazzo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Deepto Chakrabarty"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b5c08j3y17fcm.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.35956",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "b5c08j3y17fcm",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.35956",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214891321",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.35956",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-28",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b5c08j3y17fcm.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:25:31Z",
      "native_id": "2609.35956",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.35956"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Discovery of the Infrared Counterpart of the Rapid Burster with JWST",
  "title_text": "Discovery of the Infrared Counterpart of the Rapid Burster with JWST",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:25:31Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b5c08j3y17fcm",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}