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Red, hot, and very metal poor: extreme properties of a massive accreting black hole in the first 500 Myr

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arxiv 2412.04983 v1 pith:BPT2RXO7 submitted 2024-12-06 astro-ph.GA

classification astro-ph.GA
keywords blackholecanucs-lrd-z8highjwstverycomparedemission
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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abstract

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recently discovered a new population of objects at high redshift referred to as `Little Red Dots' (LRDs). Their nature currently remains elusive, despite their surprisingly high inferred number densities. This emerging population of red point-like sources is reshaping our view of the early Universe and may shed light on the formation of high-redshift supermassive black holes. Here we present a spectroscopically confirmed LRD CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 at $z_{\rm spec}=8.6319\pm 0.0005$ hosting an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN), using JWST data. This source shows the typical spectral shape of an LRD (blue UV and red optical continuum, unresolved in JWST imaging), along with broad H$\beta$ line emission, detection of high-ionization emission lines (CIV, NIV]) and very high electron temperature indicative of the presence of AGN. This is also combined with a very low metallicity ($Z<0.1 Z_\odot$). The presence of all these diverse features in one source makes CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 unique. We show that the inferred black hole mass of CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 ($M_{\rm BH}=1.0^{+0.6}_{-0.4}\times 10^{8}\rm ~M_\odot$) strongly challenges current standard theoretical models and simulations of black hole formation, and forces us to adopt `ad hoc' prescriptions. Indeed if massive seeds, or light seeds with super-Eddington accretion, are considered, the observed BH mass of CANUCS-LRD-z8.6 at $z=8.6$ can be reproduced. Moreover, the black hole is over-massive compared to its host, relative to the local $M_{\rm BH}-M_*$ relations, pointing towards an earlier and faster evolution of the black hole compared to its host galaxy.

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Forward citations

Cited by 11 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Supermassive Black Hole Growth in Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn

    astro-ph.GA 2025-10 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    In a simulated ~1e11 Msun halo at z 15-9, stellar feedback starves the central black hole about 50% of the time, and AGN feedback never quenches star formation.

  2. Hidden in Pixels I: Discovery of dual "little red dots" indicates excess clustering on kilo-parsec scales

    astro-ph.GA 2024-12 unverdicted novelty 7.0 of 10

    Four dual LRD candidates at z~5.5 with kpc separations show 20-30x excess sub-arcsec clustering versus extrapolated AGN ACF, implying merger-driven SMBH growth.

  3. Reduced Incidence of Little Red Dots at z < 3 from Number Density and Halo Mass Evolution

    astro-ph.GA 2026-06 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Little red dots shift from underdense, low-halo-mass environments at z>4 to ordinary galaxy environments by z~3.5, explaining their declining abundance at z<3.

  4. Reduced Incidence of Little Red Dots at z < 3 from Number Density and Halo Mass Evolution

    astro-ph.GA 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    LRDs transition from underdense low-halo-mass environments at z>4 to typical galaxy conditions by z~3.5, with halo growth leading to larger sizes and SED changes that explain their disappearance at lower redshifts.

  5. JWST's Little Red Dots as collapsed Supermassive Dark Stars

    astro-ph.CO 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    Supermassive dark stars powered by dark matter annihilation can collapse into quasi-stars whose envelopes expand and cool to match the observed properties of many JWST Little Red Dots while bypassing the restrictive c...

  6. Quenching of X-ray emission in little red dots by both Compton-thick gas and high accretion rates

    astro-ph.GA 2026-05 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    X-ray non-detection of little red dots requires both Compton-thick gas columns (~1e25 cm^-2) and intrinsically weak X-ray emission with bolometric correction k_bol,X ≳ 30.

  7. VENUS: When Red meets Blue -- A multiply imaged Little Red Dot with an apparent blue companion behind the galaxy cluster Abell 383

    astro-ph.GA 2025-12 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    JWST resolves A383-LRD1 into a compact red Little Red Dot candidate and a blue companion at z≈6, magnified ~9–16× by cluster lensing.

  8. Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs). XXIV. 54 New Quasars and Candidate Obscured Quasars at $5.71 \le z \le 7.02$

    astro-ph.GA 2025-08 accept novelty 6.0 of 10

    Spectroscopic follow-up of the completed HSC-SSP survey yields 43 new quasars, 11 candidate obscured quasars, and 29 galaxies at z 5.71 to 7.02.

  9. The Lifetimes of High-redshift Quasars Suggest Magnetic Disk Support

    astro-ph.GA 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Magnetic pressure up to 100 times gas pressure is required in AGN disks to sustain the longest inferred quasar lifetimes exceeding 10,000 years at high redshift.

  10. Quenching of X-ray emission in little red dots by both Compton-thick gas and high accretion rates

    astro-ph.GA 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    LRDs require Compton-thick gas at moderate metallicity plus high accretion rates producing weak X-rays to explain their non-detection, implying they are not chemically pristine.

  11. Another view into JWST-discovered X-ray weak AGNs via radiative dusty feedback

    astro-ph.GA 2025-09 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Low-metallicity, dust-poor gas stalls under weak radiation pressure and blocks X-rays, explaining the X-ray weakness of early JWST-detected AGN.

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