On the nature of the hard X-ray source 4U 2206+54

The recent discovery of a similar to9.5d period in the X-ray lightcurve of the massive X-ray binary 4U 2206+54 has opened the possibility that it is a Be/X-ray binary with an unusually close orbit, which, together with its low intrinsic luminosity, suggests that the system is actually a Be + WD binary, in which a white dwarf accretes material from the dense circumstellar disc surrounding a classical Be star. In this paper we present new X-ray observations and for the first time high-resolution optical spectroscopy of the source. We show that both the X-ray behaviour and the characteristics of the optical counterpart, BD +53 degrees 2790, are more consistent with a neutron star accreting from the wind of an early-type star. The X-ray lightcurve shows irregular flaring and no indications of pulsations, while the very high hydrogen column density supports accretion from a dense wind. BD +53 degrees 2790 is shown not to be a classical Be star, as believed until now, but rather a very peculiar late O-type active star, exhibiting emission components in the He ii lines, complex spectral variability and strong wind resonance lines in the ultraviolet. Though many of the characteristics of the spectrum resemble those of the He-rich stars, the absence of He I variability makes a connection unlikely. The spectrum is compatible with a composite of two stars of similar spectral type, though circumstantial evidence points to a single very peculiar active early-type star. This adds weight to the growing evidence that the traditional subdivisions of supergiant and Be/X-ray binaries fail to cover the whole phenomenology of massive X-ray binaries.