[vsnet-grb-info 19850] IceCube-170922A - IceCube observation of a high-energy neutrino candidate event

[GCN Circulars]

TITLE:   GCN CIRCULAR
NUMBER:  21916
SUBJECT: IceCube-170922A - IceCube observation of a high-energy neutrino candidate event
DATE:    17/09/23 01:09:26 GMT
FROM:    Erik Blaufuss at U. Maryland/IceCube  <blaufuss at icecube.umd.edu>

Claudio Kopper (University of Alberta) and Erik Blaufuss (University of  Maryland) report on behalf of the IceCube Collaboration (http://icecube.wisc.edu/).

On 22 Sep, 2017 IceCube detected a track-like, very-high-energy event with a high probability of being of astrophysical origin. The event was identified by the  Extremely High Energy (EHE) track event selection. The IceCube detector was in a normal operating state. EHE events typically have a neutrino interaction vertex that is outside the detector, produce a muon that traverses the detector volume, and have a high light level (a proxy for energy). 

After the initial automated alert (https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/notices_amon/50579430_130033.amon), more 
sophisticated reconstruction algorithms have been applied offline, with the direction refined to:

Date: 22 Sep, 2017
Time: 20:54:30.43 UTC
RA: 77.43 deg (-0.80 deg/+1.30 deg  90% PSF containment) J2000
Dec: 5.72 deg (-0.40 deg/+0.70 deg 90% PSF containment) J2000

We encourage follow-up by ground and space-based instruments to help identify a possible astrophysical source for the candidate neutrino.

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer neutrino detector operating at the geographic South Pole, Antarctica. The IceCube realtime alert point of contact can be reached at roc at icecube.wisc.edu