Neutrino emission from the direction of the blazar TXS 0506+056 prior to the IceCube-170922A alert

M. G. Aartsen , M. Ackermann , J. Adams , M. G. Aartsen , M. Ackermann , J. Adams , J. A. Aguilar , M. Ahlers , M. Ahrens , I. Al Samari , Deena R. Altman , K. Andeen , T. Anderson , I. Ansseau , G. Anton , C. Argeulls , J. Auffenberg , J. Auffenberg , H. Bagherpour , X. Bai , S. W. Barwick , V. Baum , R. Bay , J. J. Beatty , J. Becker Tjus , Klaus Becker , Karl H. Becker , D. Berley , M. Medici , D. J. Koskinen , Thomas Stuttard , M. J. Larson , S. Sarkar , M. Rameez , E. Bourbeau , E. Hansen
2018 Science 1,020 citations

Abstract

Neutrino emission from a flaring blazar Neutrinos interact only very weakly with matter, but giant detectors have succeeded in detecting small numbers of astrophysical neutrinos. Aside from a diffuse background, only two individual sources have been identified: the Sun and a nearby supernova in 1987. A multiteam collaboration detected a high-energy neutrino event whose arrival direction was consistent with a known blazar—a type of quasar with a relativistic jet oriented directly along our line of sight. The blazar, TXS 0506+056, was found to be undergoing a gamma-ray flare, prompting an extensive multiwavelength campaign. Motivated by this discovery, the IceCube collaboration examined lower-energy neutrinos detected over the previous several years, finding an excess emission at the location of the blazar. Thus, blazars are a source of astrophysical neutrinos. Science , this issue p. 147 , p. eaat1378

Keywords

BlazarNeutrinoPhysicsAstrophysicsAstronomyGamma rayParticle physics

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Publication Info

Year
2018
Type
article
Volume
361
Issue
6398
Pages
147-151
Citations
1020
Access
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M. G. Aartsen, M. Ackermann, J. Adams et al. (2018). Neutrino emission from the direction of the blazar TXS 0506+056 prior to the IceCube-170922A alert. Science , 361 (6398) , 147-151. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat2890

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DOI
10.1126/science.aat2890