Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Glimmers in the Cosmic Dawn: A Census of the Youngest Supermassive Black Holes by Photometric Variability
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Department of Astronomy. Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmo Particle Physics (OKC).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8587-218x
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmo Particle Physics (OKC).
Show others and affiliations
Number of Authors: 132024 (English)In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, ISSN 2041-8205, E-ISSN 2041-8213, Vol. 971, no 1, article id L16Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

We report the first results from a deep near-infrared campaign with the Hubble Space Telescope to obtain late-epoch images of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, 10-15 yr after the first epoch data were obtained. The main objectives are to search for faint active galactic nuclei (AGN) at high redshifts by virtue of their photometric variability and measure (or constrain) the comoving number density of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), n SMBH, at early times. In this Letter, we present an overview of the program and preliminary results concerning eight objects. Three variables are supernovae, two of which are apparently hostless with indeterminable redshifts, although one has previously been recorded as a z ≈ 6 object precisely because of its transient nature. Two further objects are clear AGN at z = 2.0 and 3.2, based on morphology and/or infrared spectroscopy from JWST. Three variable targets are identified at z = 6-7 that are also likely AGN candidates. These sources provide a first measure of n SMBH in the reionization epoch by photometric variability, which places a firm lower limit of 3 × 10−4 cMpc−3. After accounting for variability and luminosity incompleteness, we estimate n SMBH ≳ 8 × 10−3 cMpc−3, which is the largest value so far reported at these redshifts. This SMBH abundance is also strikingly similar to estimates of n SMBH in the local Universe. We discuss how these results test various theories for SMBH formation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. Vol. 971, no 1, article id L16
National Category
Subatomic Physics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-238115DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad63a7ISI: 001285999400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85200828740OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-238115DiVA, id: diva2:1929277
Available from: 2025-01-20 Created: 2025-01-20 Last updated: 2025-01-20Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Hayes, Matthew J.Runnholm, AxelLunnan, RagnhildMelinder, Jens

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Hayes, Matthew J.Runnholm, AxelLunnan, RagnhildMelinder, Jens
By organisation
Department of AstronomyThe Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmo Particle Physics (OKC)
In the same journal
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Subatomic Physics

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 22 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf