New Public Neutrino Alerts for Clusters of IceCube Events

Abstract: The IceCube Neutrino Observatory searches for the origins of astrophysical neutrinos using various techniques to overcome the significant backgrounds produced by cosmic-ray air showers. One such technique involves combining the neutrino data with other cosmic messengers to identify spatial and temporal correlations. IceCube contributes to multi-messenger astrophysics (MMA) by providing alerts for interesting events observed in the detector. The Gamma-ray Follow-Up (GFU) cluster alert system is one stream that identifies potential neutrino flares in realtime, producing around 20 alerts per year. GFU-cluster alerts have been privately shared with Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) through memoranda of understanding since IceCube's predecessor, AMANDA. To preserve blindness to the full behavior of our data, the current system mutes updates from sources following the initial GFU-cluster alert sent, preventing further updates until the activity drops below the alert threshold. With growing knowledge of the potential environments that produce astrophysical neutrinos and to foster open collaboration, the GFU-cluster alerts will shift to be publicly shared. Additionally, the new alert platform will provide all above-threshold information such that the source behavior after the initial alert is not obscured. The above threshold data will be distributed through an interactive website that will update the community on the status of active GFU-cluster alerts. This presentation will introduce the new GFU-cluster platform and the accompanying website, soon to be accessible to the MMA community.