UNCOVER: Candidate Red Active Galactic Nuclei at 3 < z < 7 with JWST and ALMA

Abstract The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is revolutionizing our knowledge of z > 5 galaxies and their actively accreting black holes. Using the JWST Cycle 1 Treasury program Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam Observations before the Epoch of Reionization (UNCOVER) in the lensing field A2744, we report the identification of a sample of little red dots at 3 < z phot < 7 that likely contain highly reddened accreting supermassive black holes. Using a NIRCam-only selection to F444W < 27.7 mag, we find 26 sources over the ∼45 arcmin 2 field that are blue in F115W − F200W ∼ 0 (or β UV ∼ –2.0 for f λ ∝ λ β ), red in F200W − F444W = 1−4 ( β opt ∼ +2.0), and are dominated by a point-source-like central component. Of the 20 sources with deep Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.2 mm coverage, none are detected individually or in a stack. For the majority of the sample, spectral energy distribution fits to the JWST+ALMA observations prefer models with hot dust rather than obscured star formation to reproduce the red NIRCam colors and ALMA 1.2 mm nondetections. While compact dusty star formation cannot be ruled out, the combination of extremely small sizes (〈 r e 〉 ≈ 50 pc after correction for magnification), red rest-frame optical slopes, and hot dust can be explained by reddened broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our targets have faint M 1450 ≈ −14 to −18 mag but inferred bolometric luminosities of L bol = 10 43 –10 46 erg s −1 , reflecting their obscured nature. If the candidates are confirmed as AGNs with upcoming UNCOVER spectroscopy, then we have found an abundant population of reddened luminous AGNs that are at least ten times more numerous than UV-luminous AGNs at the same intrinsic bolometric luminosity.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2024-12-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad3551
Citations
115
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
38.12

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article

UNCOVER: Candidate Red Active Galactic Nuclei at 3 < z < 7 with JWST and ALMA

Pratika Dayal, Seiji Fujimoto, Marijn Franx, Jorryt Matthee et al.
115 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
38.12
article

UNCOVER: Candidate Red Active Galactic Nuclei at 3 < z < 7 with JWST and ALMA

Pratika Dayal, Seiji Fujimoto, Marijn Franx, Jorryt Matthee, Lukas J. Furtak, Rachel Bezanson, Danilo Marchesini, Karl Glazebrook, Sam E. Cutler, Richard Pan, Rohan P. Naidu, Jenny E. Greene, Ivo Labbé, Casey Papovich, Themiya Nanayakkara, Dan Coe, John R. Weaver, Christina C. Williams, Andy D. Goulding, Robert Feldmann, Joel Leja, Iryna Chemerynska, Katherine A. Suess, Hakim Atek, Erica J. Nelson, Pascal A. Oesch, Gabriel Brammer, Michael V. Maseda, Katherine E. Whitaker, Adi Zitrin, Sedona H. Price, Bingjie Wang
article en
115 citations

Abstract

Abstract The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is revolutionizing our knowledge of z &gt; 5 galaxies and their actively accreting black holes. Using the JWST Cycle 1 Treasury program Ultradeep NIRSpec and NIRCam Observations before the Epoch of Reionization (UNCOVER) in the lensing field A2744, we report the identification of a sample of little red dots at 3 &lt; z phot &lt; 7 that likely contain highly reddened accreting supermassive black holes. Using a NIRCam-only selection to F444W &lt; 27.7 mag, we find 26 sources over the ∼45 arcmin 2 field that are blue in F115W − F200W ∼ 0 (or β UV ∼ –2.0 for f λ ∝ λ β ), red in F200W − F444W = 1−4 ( β opt ∼ +2.0), and are dominated by a point-source-like central component. Of the 20 sources with deep Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) 1.2 mm coverage, none are detected individually or in a stack. For the majority of the sample, spectral energy distribution fits to the JWST+ALMA observations prefer models with hot dust rather than obscured star formation to reproduce the red NIRCam colors and ALMA 1.2 mm nondetections. While compact dusty star formation cannot be ruled out, the combination of extremely small sizes (〈 r e 〉 ≈ 50 pc after correction for magnification), red rest-frame optical slopes, and hot dust can be explained by reddened broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our targets have faint M 1450 ≈ −14 to −18 mag but inferred bolometric luminosities of L bol = 10 43 –10 46 erg s −1 , reflecting their obscured nature. If the candidates are confirmed as AGNs with upcoming UNCOVER spectroscopy, then we have found an abundant population of reddened luminous AGNs that are at least ten times more numerous than UV-luminous AGNs at the same intrinsic bolometric luminosity.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 978(1)
University of Geneva (CH), Leiden University (NL), Tufts University (US), University of Copenhagen (DK), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (IL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Arizona (US), Johns Hopkins University (US), University of Groningen (NL), University of Pittsburgh (US), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), Princeton University (US), University of Zurich (CH), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), Mitchell Institute (US), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR), ETH Zurich (CH), Sorbonne Université (FR), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), NSF NOIRLab (US), Swinburne University of Technology (AU), The University of Texas at Austin (US), Texas A&M University (US), Stanford University (US)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation
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Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
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