Characterizing Candidate Blazar Counterparts of the Ultra-High-Energy Event KM3-230213A

arXiv:2502.08484 · astro-ph.HE · Submitted 2025-11-02 · Read on arXiv

KM3NeT Collaboration, MessMapp Group, LAT Collaboration, m Telescope Group, SVOM Collaboration, P. Baldini, J. Buchner, A. K. Erkenov, N. Globus, A. Merloni, A. Paggi, A. V. Popkov, D. Porquet, M. Salvato, Y. V. Sotnikova, P. A. Voitsik

astro-ph.HE

Submitted: 2025-11-02

Comments: 45 pages, 25 figures

Journal ref: AJ 172 (2026) 139

DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/ae7a4e

Project page: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

The gist: High-energy astrophysical neutrinos serve as crucial messengers for understanding hadronic acceleration processes and identifying the origins of cosmic rays, with blazars among the most promising

Terminology

Abstract

High-energy astrophysical neutrinos serve as crucial messengers for understanding hadronic acceleration processes and identifying the origins of cosmic rays, with blazars among the most promising neutrino sources. The KM3NeT experiment reported the detection of an ultra-high-energy neutrino with an energy estimate of 220 PeV, the most energetic yet observed. The neutrino arrival direction has a 99% confidence region of 3 radius centered at RA 94.3, Dec-7.8 (J2000). In this work, seventeen candidate blazars located within this region are identified. Comprehensive new observations and archival data analysis for these sources are presented. The study provides a complete multiwavelength coverage across radio, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray bands, including proprietary data and dedicated follow-up observations. This study highlights flaring behavior in several candidate counterparts. One object exhibits a radio flare coinciding with the neutrino arrival time, with a pre-trial chance probability of 0.26%. Another candidate displays a rising trend in X-ray flux in a one-year window around the neutrino arrival time, while a third undergoes a gamma-ray flare during the same period. Based on the observational findings here presented, while none of these candidates can conclusively be linked to the neutrino, the implications of a possible blazar origin for the KM3NeT event are discussed.

Sources

Related papers