Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. CAPERS-LRD-z9: A Gas-enshrouded Little Red Dot Hosting a Broad-line Active Galactic Nucleus at z = 9.288
 
research article

CAPERS-LRD-z9: A Gas-enshrouded Little Red Dot Hosting a Broad-line Active Galactic Nucleus at z = 9.288

Taylor, Anthony J.
•
Kokorev, Vasily
•
Kocevski, Dale D.
Show more
August 10, 2025
Astrophysical Journal Letters

We present CAPERS-LRD-z9, a little red dot (LRD) that we confirm to be a z = 9.288 broad-line active galactic nucleus (BLAGN). First identified as a high-redshift LRD candidate from PRIMER NIRCam photometry, follow-up NIRSpec/PRISM spectroscopy of CAPERS-LRD-z9 from the CANDELS-Area Prism Epoch of Reionization Survey (CAPERS) has revealed a broad 3500 km s−1 full width at half-maximum Hβ emission line and narrow [O iii] λλ4959, 5007 lines, indicative of a BLAGN. Based on the broad Hβ line, we compute a canonical black hole mass of log ( M BH / M ⊙ ) = 7.58 ± 0.15 , although full consideration of systematic uncertainties yields a conservative range of 6.65 < log ( M BH / M ⊙ ) < 8.50 . These observations suggest that either a massive black hole seed or a lighter stellar remnant seed undergoing periods of super-Eddington accretion is necessary to grow such a massive black hole in ≲500 Myr of cosmic time. CAPERS-LRD-z9 exhibits a strong Balmer break, consistent with a central AGN surrounded by dense (∼1010 cm−3) neutral gas. We model CAPERS-LRD-z9 using Cloudy to fit the emission redward of the Balmer break with a dense-gas-enshrouded AGN and bagpipes to fit the rest-ultraviolet emission as a host-galaxy stellar population. This upper limit on the stellar mass of the host galaxy (<109 M⊙) implies that the black hole to stellar mass ratio may be extremely large, possibly >5% (although systematic uncertainties on the black hole mass prevent strong conclusions). However, the shape of the UV continuum differs from typical high-redshift star-forming galaxies, indicating that this UV emission may also be of AGN origin; hence, the true stellar mass of the host may be still lower.

  • Files
  • Details
  • Metrics
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

Taylor_2025_ApJL_989_L7.pdf

Type

Main Document

Version

Published version

Access type

openaccess

License Condition

CC BY

Size

4.24 MB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum (MD5)

8d408575e45b36b208259468f950c15c

Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés