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

doi:10.1126/science.aat2890

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

Journal Article · 12 July 2018 · Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat2890· OSTI ID:1544004

A high-energy neutrino event detected by IceCube on 22 September 2017 was coincident in direction and time with a gamma-ray flare from the blazar TXS 0506+056. Prompted by this association, we investigated 9.5 years of IceCube neutrino observations to search for excess emission at the position of the blazar. We found an excess of high-energy neutrino events, with respect to atmospheric backgrounds, at that position between September 2014 and March 2015. Allowing for time-variable flux, this constitutes 3.5σ evidence for neutrino emission from the direction of TXS 0506+056, independent of and prior to the 2017 flaring episode. This suggests that blazars are identifiable sources of the high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux.

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Contributing Organization:: IceCube Collaboration

OSTI ID:: 1544004

Journal Information:: Science, Vol. 361, Issue 6398; ISSN 0036-8075

Publisher:: AAAS

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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