A puzzling millisecond pulsar companion in NGC 6266

We report on the optical identification of the companion to the eclipsing millisecond pulsar PSR J1701-3006B in the globular cluster NGC 6266. A relatively bright star with an anomalous red color and an optical variability (similar to 0.2 mag) that nicely correlates with the orbital period of the pulsar (similar to 0.144 days) has been found nearly coincident with the pulsar nominal position. This star is also found to lie within the error box position of an Xray source detected by Chandra observations, thus supporting the hypothesis that some interaction is occurring between the pulsar wind and the gas streaming off the companion. Although the shape of the optical light curve is suggestive of a tidally deformed star which has nearly completely filled its Roche lobe, the luminosity (similar to 1.9 L(circle dot)) and the surface temperature (similar to 6000 K) of the star, deduced from the observed magnitude and colors, would imply a stellar radius significantly larger than the Roche lobe radius. Possible explanations for this apparent inconsistency are discussed.