Optical/IR counterpart to the resolved X-ray jet source CXO
  J172337.5-373442 and its distance
  We present results of observations in the optical to mid-infrared wavelengths
of the X-ray source CXO J172337.5-373442, which was serendipitously discovered
in the Chandra images and was found to have a fully resolved X-ray jet. The
observations include a combination of photometry and spectroscopy in the
optical using ground-based telescopes and mid-infrared photometry using
Spitzer. We detect the optical/IR counterpart of CXO J172337.5-373442 and
identify it to be a G9-V star located at a distance of 334+-60~pc. Comparable
values of the hydrogen column densities determined independently from the
optical/IR observations and X-ray observations indicate that the optical source
is associated with the X-ray source. Since the X-ray luminosity can not be
explained in terms of emission from a single G9-V star, it is likely that CXO
J172337.5-373442 is an accreting compact object in a binary system. Thus, CXO
J172337.5-373442 is the nearest known resolved X-ray jet from a binary system,
which is not a symbiotic star. Based on the existing X-ray data, the nature of
the compact object can not be confirmed. However the low luminosity of the
X-ray point source, 7.1x10^{30} Lsun combined with estimates of the age of the
jet and a lack of detection of bright outburst, suggests that the X-ray jet was
launched during extreme quiescence of the object. The measured low X-ray
luminosity of the jet suggests the likelihood of such jets being more
ubiquitous than our current understanding.
