Scientists Trace IC 210922A to 11-Billion-Light-Year Shadow Blaster, Implicating Starbursts in 20% of Neutrinos
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Jun 18
Scientists Trace IC 210922A to 11-Billion-Light-Year Shadow Blaster, Implicating Starbursts in 20% of Neutrinos
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Jun 18
Summary
IC 210922A was traced to Shadow Blaster, a dusty star-forming galaxy 11 billion light-years away, marking the first evidence that an individual starburst galaxy produced a high-energy neutrino.
The link emerged after IceCube detected the neutrino about five years ago and follow-up searches ruled out gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, tidal disruption events, and other credible counterparts.
ALMA, JCMT, SMA and Gemini data showed the galaxy through strong gravitational lensing and revealed a compact, gas- and dust-rich core undergoing intense star formation.
That environment can accelerate particles even without an actively feeding supermassive black hole or AGN jets, broadening the known mechanisms for generating cosmic neutrinos.
The finding, published June 17 in Nature Astronomy, suggests similar starburst galaxies common around 10 billion years ago could account for up to roughly 20% of IceCube's diffuse neutrino background.
If dusty galaxies can create neutrinos while hiding from view, what other cosmic secrets are we completely missing?
Do these 'ghost particle' factories challenge our understanding of how the universe's most massive galaxies were born?
Starburst Galaxy "Shadow Blaster" Identified as Source of High-Energy Neutrino IC 210922A: A Paradigm Shift in Cosmic Particle Acceleration
Overview
A powerful high-energy neutrino, IC 210922A, detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, was traced to a distant galaxy called 'Shadow Blaster.' Unlike previous expectations that such neutrinos come from active supermassive black holes, Shadow Blaster is a dusty, intensely star-forming galaxy. This surprising discovery shows that regions of vigorous star formation can also be major sources of cosmic neutrinos. The finding challenges long-held assumptions in astrophysics, opens new directions for understanding the universe’s most energetic processes, and fundamentally changes the search for the origins of cosmic rays and neutrinos.