Evidence for Neutrino Emission from X-Ray-bright Active Galactic Nuclei with IceCube

Journal article

Recently, IceCube reported neutrino emission from the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068. Using 13.1 yr of IceCube data, we present a follow-up search for neutrino sources in the northern sky. NGC 1068 remains the most significant neutrino source among 110 preselected gamma-ray emitters while also being spatially compatible with the most significant location in the northern sky. Its energy spectrum is characterized by an unbroken power-law with spectral index γ = 3.4 ± 0.2. Consistent with previous results, the observed neutrino flux exceeds its gamma-ray counterpart by at least 2 orders of magnitude. Motivated by this disparity and the high X-ray luminosity of the source, we selected 47 X-ray-bright Seyfert galaxies from the Swift/BAT spectroscopic survey that were not included in the list of gamma-ray emitters. When testing this collection for neutrino emission, we observe a 3.3σ excess from an ensemble of 11 sources, with NGC 1068 excluded from the sample. Our results strengthen the evidence that X-ray-bright cores of active galactic nuclei are neutrino emitters.

Authors: Abbasi, R; Ackermann, M; Adams, J; Agarwalla, SK; Aguilar, JA

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Astronomical Society
• Journal: The Astrophysical Journal Letters
• Volume: 1000
• Issue: 1
• Pages: L26
• Article number: L26
• Publication date: 2026-03-18
• Acceptance date: 2026-02-24
• DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ae4aad
• EISSN: 2041-8213
• ISSN: 2041-8205
• Language: English
• Keywords: Neutrino astronomy; High energy astrophysics; X-ray active galactic nuclei; Seyfert galaxies