JADES and BlackTHUNDER: rest-frame Balmer-line absorption and the local environment in a Little Red Dot at <i>z</i> = 5

ABSTRACT We present a ‘Little Red Dot’ (LRD) broad-line active galactic nucleus (AGN) at $z=5.077 $, observed with NIRSpec/MSA (micro-shutter assembly) and NIRSpec/IFU (integral-field unit) by the JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey) and BlackTHUNDER (Black holes in THe early Universe aNd their DensE surRoundings) surveys. Combining spatially resolved and high-resolution spectroscopy, we characterize its central engine, host, and environment. H$\alpha $ has multiple components, including two broad Gaussians, yielding a black-hole mass $\log (M_{\bullet }/{\rm M}_\odot) = 7.65 $, while [O iii]$\lambda$5007 gives a galaxy dynamical mass $\log (M_\mathrm{dyn}/{\rm M}_\odot) = 9.1 $, suggesting an overmassive black hole relative to the host galaxy. The target is immersed in a 7-kpc wide pool of ionized gas and has three neighbours: a satellite galaxy, a possible satellite/gas cloud, and a tentatively detected spatially detached outflow. H$\alpha $ shows strong, rest-frame absorption, deeper than the continuum, ruling out a stellar origin. The velocity and velocity dispersion are $v_\mathrm{abs} = -13~\mathrm{km\, s^{-1}} $ and $\sigma _\mathrm{abs} = 120~\mathrm{km\, s^{-1}} $. There is tentative evidence (2.6σ) of temporal variability in the equivalent width of the H$\alpha $ absorber over two rest-frame months, suggesting a highly dynamic nucleus. Notably, while the H$\alpha $ absorber is clearly visible and even dominant in the high-resolution G395H observations, it is not detected in the medium-resolution G395M data of the same epoch. This implies that the current incidence rate of absorbers in LRDs – and especially of rest-frame absorbers – may be severely underestimated, because most LRDs rely on lower resolution spectroscopy. The high incidence rate of rest-frame absorbers in LRDs may indicate a configuration that is either intrinsically stationary, such as a rotating disc, or that exhibits time-averaged stability, such as an oscillatory ‘breathing mode’ accretion with cyclic expansion and contraction of the gas around the supermassive black hole.

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Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2025-11-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf2117
Citations
8
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
9.24

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article

JADES and BlackTHUNDER: rest-frame Balmer-line absorption and the local environment in a Little Red Dot at z = 5

G. Cresci, Francesco D’Eugenio, Joris Witstok, Zhiyuan Ji et al.
8 citations
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
9.24
article

JADES and BlackTHUNDER: rest-frame Balmer-line absorption and the local environment in a Little Red Dot at z = 5

G. Cresci, Francesco D’Eugenio, Joris Witstok, Zhiyuan Ji, Santiago Arribas, Bruno Rodríguez Del Pino, Michele Perna, Fengwu Sun, R. Maiolino, Benjamin D. Johnson, Stefano Carniani, Kevin Hainline, Ignas Juodžbalis, Sandro Tacchella, Chris J. Willott, Rachana Bhatawdekar, Gareth C. Jones, Kohei Inayoshi, Xihan Ji, Christina C. Williams, Tobias J. Looser, Pierluigi Rinaldi, Irene Shivaei, Hannah Übler, Jan Scholtz, Erica J. Nelson, Emma Curtis-Lake, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Andrew J. Bunker, Brant E. Robertson, Dávid Puskás, Giovanni Mazzolari, Marta Volonteri, Yuki Isobe, Giacomo Venturi, Eleonora Parlanti
article en
8 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present a ‘Little Red Dot’ (LRD) broad-line active galactic nucleus (AGN) at $z=5.077 $, observed with NIRSpec/MSA (micro-shutter assembly) and NIRSpec/IFU (integral-field unit) by the JADES (JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey) and BlackTHUNDER (Black holes in THe early Universe aNd their DensE surRoundings) surveys. Combining spatially resolved and high-resolution spectroscopy, we characterize its central engine, host, and environment. H$\alpha $ has multiple components, including two broad Gaussians, yielding a black-hole mass $\log (M_{\bullet }/{\rm M}_\odot) = 7.65 $, while [O iii]$\lambda$5007 gives a galaxy dynamical mass $\log (M_\mathrm{dyn}/{\rm M}_\odot) = 9.1 $, suggesting an overmassive black hole relative to the host galaxy. The target is immersed in a 7-kpc wide pool of ionized gas and has three neighbours: a satellite galaxy, a possible satellite/gas cloud, and a tentatively detected spatially detached outflow. H$\alpha $ shows strong, rest-frame absorption, deeper than the continuum, ruling out a stellar origin. The velocity and velocity dispersion are $v_\mathrm{abs} = -13~\mathrm{km\, s^{-1}} $ and $\sigma _\mathrm{abs} = 120~\mathrm{km\, s^{-1}} $. There is tentative evidence (2.6σ) of temporal variability in the equivalent width of the H$\alpha $ absorber over two rest-frame months, suggesting a highly dynamic nucleus. Notably, while the H$\alpha $ absorber is clearly visible and even dominant in the high-resolution G395H observations, it is not detected in the medium-resolution G395M data of the same epoch. This implies that the current incidence rate of absorbers in LRDs – and especially of rest-frame absorbers – may be severely underestimated, because most LRDs rely on lower resolution spectroscopy. The high incidence rate of rest-frame absorbers in LRDs may indicate a configuration that is either intrinsically stationary, such as a rotating disc, or that exhibits time-averaged stability, such as an oscillatory ‘breathing mode’ accretion with cyclic expansion and contraction of the gas around the supermassive black hole.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 545(3)
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (CA), University of Copenhagen (DK), Planetary Science Institute (US), Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (US), University of Arizona (US), University of Hertfordshire (GB), Scuola Normale Superiore (IT), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Colorado Boulder (US), Peking University (CN), University of Cambridge (GB), Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (IT), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR), European Space Agency (FR), University of Oxford (GB), Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE), European Space Astronomy Centre (ES), Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences (CN), DAWN Center for Independent Living (US), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), NSF NOIRLab (US), Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, University College London (GB), University of Bologna (IT)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, University of California, Santa Cruz, UK Research and Innovation, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
9.24
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