  One of the most recent discoveries of the INTEGRAL observatory is the
existence of a previously unknown population of X-ray sources in the inner arms
of the Galaxy. IGR J17544-2619, IGR J16465-4507 and XTE J1739-302 are among
these sources. Although the nature of these systems is still unexplained, the
investigations of the optical/NIR counterparts of the two last sources,
combined with high energy data, have provided evidence of them being highly
absorbed high mass X-ray binaries with blue supergiant secondaries and
displaying fast X-ray transient behaviour. In this work we present our
optical/NIR observations of IGR J17544-2619, aimed at identifying and
characterizing its counterpart. We show that the source is a high mass X-ray
binary at a distance of 2-4 kpc with a strongly absorbed O9Ib secondary, and
discuss the nature of the system.

Astrophysics