Mystery of the Deep Universe: Source of One of the Most Powerful Neutrinos Identified

An international team of astronomers has successfully identified the point of origin for one of the highest-energy neutrino signals ever recorded on Earth. The IC 210922A event, detected by the IceCube observatory in Antarctica in September 2021, had long remained a mystery to the scientific community. The energy of this particle was approximately 750 TeV, one of the highest values in the history of modern observations. This is reported by Ixbt.com news provides.

Initially, scientists searched for the source of this signal in the Eridanus constellation using the Fermi and Swift space telescopes, but traditional methods yielded no results. The real picture became clear only after analyzing data from the JCMT submillimeter telescope and the SMA radio telescope located in Hawaii. Researchers discovered the JCMT0402-0424 galaxy, previously unknown to science, hidden behind thick clouds of gas and dust.

The Astonishing Power of the Hidden Galaxy

This newly discovered galaxy is located approximately 13 billion light-years from Earth. It is nearly invisible in the optical range, but it was found to be extremely active in submillimeter waves. Despite its compact size, this object forms new stars tens or even hundreds of times faster than the Milky Way galaxy. It is assumed that this very process generated the powerful neutrino stream.

According to Yuji Urata, a researcher at National Central University in Taiwan, such compact and star-forming galaxies may be widespread in the universe. According to scientists' calculations, up to 20 percent of the diffuse particle flux detected by the IceCube observatory is produced by such distant and hidden galaxies. This opens a new chapter in understanding the neutrino background radiation of the universe.

Gravitational Lensing Effect and the Significance of the Discovery

The gravitational lensing effect played a decisive role in the study of the JCMT0402-0424 galaxy. Another galaxy located along the line of sight amplified the light coming from the distant object with its gravity. Analysis showed the presence of extremely dense gas and dust clouds at the center of the galaxy. High-energy processes occurring in this environment caused one of the most powerful neutrino bursts in history.

This discovery helps not only in understanding the origin of neutrinos but also in better comprehending the formation process of galaxies in the early universe. The results of this research prove that more active processes are occurring at the furthest reaches of the universe than we imagined. In the future, the study of such "hidden" objects is expected to become one of the main directions of modern astrophysics.