SNEWS2.0: Communication Software for Supernovae Alerts

During a massive star’s death, ~99% of its energy is released in the form of neutrinos. Neutrinos of all flavors escape the core well before any light can. If detected, they can provide crucial information on stellar core collapse and its mechanisms. The SuperNova Early Warning System 2.0 (SNEWS 2.0) is a network of neutrino detectors around the globe that aim at detecting these neutrinos. Armed with a diverse array of neutrino detectors, SNEWS 2.0 can triangulate a supernova’s direction and provide an early warning to astronomers. A priority of SNEWS 2.0 is the development of a fast and reliable communication system for neutrino detectors to share and disseminate the signals from a supernova neutrino burst. The development of two Python APIs will be discussed, SNEWS Publishing Tools and SNEWS Coincidence System. SNEWS Publishing Tools provides the SNEWS detectors with a simple front-end to share their possible neutrino observations. Finally, SNEWS Coincidence System will be used to alert the network if any observations are coincident.