Copertina

BEES: quasar lifetime measurements from extended rest-optical emission line nebulae at z ∼ 6

Measurements of quasar lifetimes at high redshift indicate that the earliest billion-solar-mass supermassive black holes (SMBHs) have only been active as luminous quasars for less than a million years. Recently, extended Lyα nebulae around z ∼ 6 quasars have revealed that these short observed lifeti...

Descrizione completa

Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Ďurovčíková, Dominika (Autore) , Eilers, Anna-Christina (Autore) , Ishikawa, Yuzo (Autore) , Yue, Minghao (Autore) , Vestergaard, Marianne (Autore) , Davies, Frederick B. (Autore) , Schindler, Jan-Torge (Autore) , Fan, Xiaohui (Autore) , Arrigoni Battaia, Fabrizio (Autore) , Volonteri, Marta (Autore) , Simcoe, Robert A. (Autore) , Hennawi, Joseph F. (Autore) , Blecha, Laura (Autore) , Andika, Irham T. (Autore) , Bosman, Sarah (Autore) , Bieri, Rebekka (Autore)
Natura: Article (Journal)
Lingua:inglese
Pubblicazione: 2026 May 20
In: The astrophysical journal
Year: 2026, Volume: 1003, Fascicolo: 1, Pages: 1-18
ISSN:1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ae626b
Accesso online:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae626b
Testo
Note sull'autore:Dominika Ďurovčíková, Anna-Christina Eilers, Yuzo Ishikawa, Minghao Yue, Marianne Vestergaard, Frederick B. Davies, Jan-Torge Schindler, Xiaohui Fan, Fabrizio Arrigoni Battaia, Marta Volonteri, Robert A. Simcoe, Joseph F. Hennawi, Laura Blecha, Irham T. Andika, Sarah E.I. Bosman, and Rebekka Bieri
Descrizione
Riassunto:Measurements of quasar lifetimes at high redshift indicate that the earliest billion-solar-mass supermassive black holes (SMBHs) have only been active as luminous quasars for less than a million years. Recently, extended Lyα nebulae around z ∼ 6 quasars have revealed that these short observed lifetimes are unlikely to be a sight-line-dependent effect. However, the interpretation of Lyα emission is not straightforward due to its resonant nature. In this work, we use rest-frame optical emission lines, which more directly trace photoionization by the quasar, to unambiguously validate the short line-of-sight quasar lifetimes observed at early cosmic epochs. We use deep James Webb Space Telescope/NIRSpec integral field unit observations of five z ∼ 6 quasars with small proximity zones to search for their extended emission line nebulae in Hα and [O III]5007, and detect extended emission in both emission lines around four quasars in our sample. We then use the light-crossing time of these nebulae to measure quasar lifetimes along transverse sight lines. Using their Hα nebulae, we also confirm that recombination is likely the dominant emission mechanism behind their previously detected Lyα nebulae. Our results confirm the existence of high-redshift quasars with extremely short lifetimes, tQ ≲ 105 yr, hosting billion-solar-mass black holes, indicating that rapid or obscured accretion is likely responsible for the assembly of SMBHs in the early Universe.
Descrizione del documento:Veröffentlicht: 11. Mai 2026
Gesehen am 17.08.2026
Descrizione fisica:Online Resource
ISSN:1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ae626b

Documenti analoghi