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The warm outer layer of a little red dot as the source of (Fe II) and collisional Balmer lines with scattering wings

The population of the little red dots (LRDs) may represent a key phase of supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth. A cocoon of dense excited gas is emerging as a key component to explain the most striking properties of LRDs, such as strong Balmer breaks and Balmer absorption, as well as the weak IR em...

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Autori principali: Torralba, Alberto (Autore) , Matthee, Jorryt (Autore) , Pezzulli, Gabriele (Autore) , Naidu, Rohan P. (Autore) , Ishikawa, Yuzo (Autore) , Brammer, Gabriel B. (Autore) , Chang, Seok-Jun (Autore) , Chisholm, John (Autore) , Graaff, Anna de (Autore) , D’Eugenio, Francesco (Autore) , Cesare, Claudia Di (Autore) , Eilers, Anna-Christina (Autore) , Greene, Jenny E. (Autore) , Grönke, Max (Autore) , Iani, Edoardo (Autore) , Kokorev, Vasily (Autore) , Kotiwale, Gauri (Autore) , Kramarenko, Ivan (Autore) , Ma, Yilun (Autore) , Mascia, Sara (Autore) , Navarrete, Benjamín (Autore) , Nelson, Erica (Autore) , Oesch, Pascal (Autore) , Simcoe, Robert A. (Autore) , Wuyts, Stijn (Autore)
Natura: Article (Journal)
Lingua:inglese
Pubblicazione: March 2026
In: Astronomy and astrophysics
Year: 2026, Volume: 707, Pages: 1-22
ISSN:1432-0746
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361/202557537
Accesso online:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557537
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2026/03/aa57537-25/aa57537-25.html
Testo
Note sull'autore:Alberto Torralba, Jorryt Matthee, Gabriele Pezzulli, Rohan P. Naidu, Yuzo Ishikawa, Gabriel B. Brammer, Seok-Jun Chang, John Chisholm, Anna de Graaff, Francesco D’Eugenio, Claudia Di Cesare, Anna-Christina Eilers, Jenny E. Greene, Max Gronke, Edoardo Iani, Vasily Kokorev, Gauri Kotiwale, Ivan Kramarenko, Yilun Ma, Sara Mascia, Benjamín Navarrete, Erica Nelson, Pascal Oesch, Robert A. Simcoe, Stijn Wuyts
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Riassunto:The population of the little red dots (LRDs) may represent a key phase of supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth. A cocoon of dense excited gas is emerging as a key component to explain the most striking properties of LRDs, such as strong Balmer breaks and Balmer absorption, as well as the weak IR emission. To dissect the structure of LRDs, we analyzed new deep JWST/NIRSpec PRISM and G395H spectra of FRESCO-GN-9771, one of the most luminous known LRDs at = 5.5. These spectra reveal a strong Balmer break, broad Balmer lines, and very narrow [O III] emission. We revealed a forest of optical [Fe II] lines, which we argue are emerging from a dense (nH = 10 9 − 10 cm−3) warm layer with electron temperature Te ≈ 7000 K. The broad wings of Hα and Hβ have an exponential profile due to electron scattering in this same layer. The high Hα : Hβ : Hγ flux ratio of ≈10.4 : 1 : 0.14 is an indicator of collisional excitation and resonant scattering dominating the Balmer line emission. A narrow Hγ component, unseen in the other two Balmer lines due to outshining by the broad components, could trace the ISM of a normal host galaxy with a star formation rate of ∼5 M⊙ yr−1. The warm layer is mostly opaque to Balmer transitions, producing a characteristic P Cygni profile in the line centers suggesting outflowing motions. This same layer is responsible for shaping the Balmer break. The broadband spectrum can be reasonably matched by a simple photoionized slab model that dominates the λ > 1500 Å continuum and a low-mass (∼108 M⊙) galaxy that could explain the narrow [O III], with only a subdominant contribution to the UV continuum. Our findings indicate that Balmer lines are not directly tracing the gas kinematics near the SMBH and that the BH mass scale is likely much lower than virial indicators suggest.
Descrizione del documento:Online veröffentlicht: 27 February 2026
Gesehen am 15.05.2026
Descrizione fisica:Online Resource
ISSN:1432-0746
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361/202557537

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