Deep I-band imaging to I \approx 26.5 of the soft gamma–ray repeater SGR 1900+14 region has revealed a compact cluster of massive stars located only a few arcseconds from the fading radio source thought to be the location of the SGR ( 5 ) .
This cluster was previously hidden in the glare of the pair of M5 supergiant stars ( whose light was removed by PSF subtraction ) proposed by Vrba et al .
( 23 ) as likely associated with the SGR 1900+14 .
The cluster has at least 13 members within a cluster radius of \approx 0.6 pc based on an estimated distance of 12–15 kpc .
It is remarkably similar to a cluster found associated with SGR 1806–20 ( 6 ) .
That similar clusters have now been found at or near the positions of the two best–studied SGRs suggests that young neutron stars , thought to be responsible for the SGR phenomenon , have their origins in proximate compact clusters of massive stars .