2012ApJ...760L..27K

We report on the optical detection of the black hole X-ray transient MAXI J1659-152 during its quiescent state. By using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we observed MAXI J1659-152 about seven months after the end of an X-ray outburst. The optical counterpart of MAXI J1659-152 is clearly detected with an r'-band magnitude of 23.6-23.8. The detection confirms that the optical emission of MAXI J1659-152 during quiescence is relatively bright compared to other black hole X-ray transients. This implies that the distance to MAXI J1659-152 is 4.6-7.5 kpc for an M2 dwarf companion star or 2.3-3.8 kpc for an M5 dwarf companion star. By comparing with other measurements, an M2 dwarf companion is more likely.