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One of the most remarkable discoveries of JWST is a population of compact, red sources at z > 4, commonly referred to as Little Red Dots (LRDs). Spectroscopic identifications reported that most LRDs are active galactic nuclei (AGNs), which…

Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed a new class of high redshift (high-$z$, $z>4$) compact galaxies which are red in the rest-frame optical and blue in the rest-frame UV as V-shaped spectral energy distributions…

We propose an alternative physical interpretation and formation pathway for the recently discovered "little red dots" (LRDs). We model LRDs as super-massive stars (SMSs) surrounded by massive self-gravitating accretion discs (SMDs) that…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-03-04 Lorenz Zwick , Christopher Tiede , Lucio Mayer

JWST has revealed a substantial population of "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) at $z>4$, challenging conventional AGN frameworks. However, the low-redshift regime remains largely unexplored. In the second paper of the (LRDs)$^2$ series, we present…

Little red dots (LRDs) are an abundant population of compact high-redshift sources with red rest-frame optical continua, discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Their red colors and power sources have been attributed either to…

JWST's "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) are increasingly interpreted as active galactic nuclei (AGN) obscured by dense thermalized gas rather than dust as evidenced by their X-ray weakness, blackbody-like continua, and Balmer line profiles. A key…

Little red dots (LRDs) are a puzzling population of extragalactic sources whose origin is highly debated. In this {work}, we performed a comprehensive stacking analysis of NIRCam, MIRI, and ALMA images of a large and homogeneously selected…

JWST has revealed a population of red, compact, high-redshift (${z\sim3-10}$) objects referred to as ``Little Red Dots'' (LRDs). These objects exhibit unusual spectral features reminiscent of stellar spectra with blackbody-like SEDs, large…

Little Red Dots (LRDs) are compact, red sources discovered by JWST at high redshift ($z \gtrsim 4$), marked by distinctive "V-shaped" spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and often interpreted as rapidly accreting AGNs. Their evolution…

The physical nature of Little Red Dots (LRDs) - a population of compact, red galaxies revealed by JWST - remains unclear. Photometric samples are constructed from varying selection criteria with limited spectroscopic follow-up available to…

We analyze 99 photometrically selected Little Red Dots (LRDs) at $z \approx 4-8$ in the GOODS fields, leveraging ultra-deep JADES NIRCam short-wavelength (SW) data. We examine the morphology of 30 LRDs, while the remaining 69 appear…

One of JWST's most remarkable discoveries is a population of compact red galaxies known as Little Red Dots (LRDs). Their existence raises many questions about their nature, origin, and evolution. These galaxies show a steep decline in…

We present a statistical study on the origins of the UV continuum and narrow/broad emission lines in little red dots (LRDs), presumably involving active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Leveraging all archived JWST/NIRSpec data, we build a sample of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-05-12 Yoshihisa Asada , Kohei Inayoshi , Qinyue Fei , Seiji Fujimoto , Chris Willott

JWST is revolutionizing our view of the early Universe by pushing the boundaries of detectable galaxies and black holes in redshift (upward) and mass (downward). The Little Red Dots (LRDs), detected by several surveys at $z > 4$, present a…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-05-23 Emmanuel Durodola , Fabio Pacucci , Ryan C. Hickox

Little red dots (LRDs) newly discovered with JWST are active galactic nuclei (AGN) that may represent black hole (BH) growth at the earliest cosmic epochs. These sources show puzzling features unlike typical AGNs, including red optical…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-03-04 Hiroya Umeda , Kohei Inayoshi , Yuichi Harikane , Kohta Murase

We present the properties of two candidate massive ($M_\star\sim10^{11}M_\odot$) and dusty ($A_{\rm v}>2.5$ mag) galaxies at $z=5-7$ in the first 0.28 deg$^2$ of the COSMOS-Web survey. One object is spectroscopically confirmed at $z_{\rm…

We test whether "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) are dust-reddened, high-inclination counterparts of compact, blue broad-line AGNs ("Little Blue Dots", LBDs) powered by super-Eddington accretion. We model the central engine as a geometrically…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2026-02-27 Piero Madau , Roberto Maiolino

Recently, a large number of compact sources at $z > 4$ with blue UV slopes and extremely red rest-frame optical slopes have been found in James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) extragalactic surveys. As a subsample of these sources, commonly…

The JWST discovery of ``little red dots'' (LRDs) is reshaping our picture of the early Universe, yet the physical mechanisms driving their compact size and UV-optical colors remain elusive. Here we report an unusually bright LRD ($z=3.1$)…