The IceCube Neutrino Observatory located in Antarctica picked up a short-lived high-energy particle passing through our planet back in 2021. Its origin remained a mystery until recently. Researchers have now identified that this neutrino, designated IC 210922A, originated from a luminous dusty galaxy named Shadow Blaster, situated roughly 11 billion light-years distant. This discovery provides initial evidence suggesting that galaxies undergoing intense star formation in their remote history can generate neutrinos.

What the New Study Found

A study appearing in Nature Astronomy on June 17 details how lead author Yuji Urata along with his team located Shadow Blaster, also called JCMT0402−0424, utilizing the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope along with the Submillimeter Array and ALMA. Gravitational lensing by a foreground elliptical galaxy divided the light from Shadow Blaster into four separate images. This effect enabled detailed observation of a galaxy at redshift 2.988, revealing its internal structure. The team discovered a surprisingly small core measuring about 1,500 light-years across, rich in star-forming material yet showing no evidence of an active central supermassive black hole.

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Why It Matters for Cosmic Neutrinos

Neutrinos exist in abundance across the cosmos but originate from only a handful of identified places. This indicates that starburst galaxies without black hole activity can serve as natural accelerators for cosmic rays producing high-energy neutrinos. Urata notes that such galaxies might account for approximately 20 percent of the diffuse neutrino background observed by IceCube. Starburst galaxies were common around 10 billion years ago, helping explain the prevalence of neutrinos, even though most lack the gravitational magnification seen in Shadow Blaster.

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Further reading: IceCube Neutrino Observatory, Neutrinos, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Starburst Galaxies, Shadow Blaster, JCMT0402−0424, Nature Astronomy, ALMA, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, Submillimeter Array, Gravitational Lensing

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