Follow-up of Astrophysical Transients in Real Time with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

Abstract In multi-messenger astronomy, rapid investigation of interesting transients is imperative. As an observatory with a 4<jats:italic>π</jats:italic> steradian field of view, and ∼99% uptime, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a unique facility to follow up transients, as well as...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Conrad, Janet
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Astronomical Society 2022
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/141658
Description
Summary:Abstract In multi-messenger astronomy, rapid investigation of interesting transients is imperative. As an observatory with a 4<jats:italic>π</jats:italic> steradian field of view, and ∼99% uptime, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a unique facility to follow up transients, as well as to provide valuable insights for other observatories and inform their observational decisions. Since 2016, IceCube has been using low-latency data to rapidly respond to interesting astrophysical events reported by the multi-messenger observational community. Here, we describe the pipeline used to perform these followup analyses, and provide a summary of the 58 analyses performed as of July 2020. We find no significant signal in the first 58 analyses performed. The pipeline has helped inform various electromagnetic observation strategies, and has constrained neutrino emission from potential hadronic cosmic accelerators.