Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.14551 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1866914559179096064 |
|---|---|
| author | Ding, Weiyu Kong, Xu Guo, Wei-Jian Zou, Hu Wang, Jialai Li, Fujia Zhang, Hongxin Song, Jie Zhang, Jingyi Li, Niu Li, Wen-Xiong |
| author_facet | Ding, Weiyu Kong, Xu Guo, Wei-Jian Zou, Hu Wang, Jialai Li, Fujia Zhang, Hongxin Song, Jie Zhang, Jingyi Li, Niu Li, Wen-Xiong |
| contents | The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recently discovered a population of compact, red sources at z > 4 known as "Little Red Dots" (LRDs). They are characterized by their V-shaped continuum spectra and prominent broad Balmer emission lines. As their underlying physical nature remains debated and direct study at high-redshift is challenging; therefore, we seek to identify and characterize LRD analogues in the low-redshift universe to constrain their properties and potential evolutionary pathways. We identified five candidates at z = 0.2-0.4 from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) that exhibit spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and broad Balmer emission lines closely resembling their high-redshift counterparts. However, we find significant differences: our low-redshift sample occupies a different region on the Baldwin, Phillips \& Terlevich (BPT) diagram, and their stellar masses are significantly higher, suggesting a more substantial host galaxy contribution. These sources are not necessarily direct local analogues of high-redshift LRDs, but may represent later evolutionary stages of compact, rapidly accreting systems, or systems with related observational properties arising under different physical conditions. This sample provides a valuable laboratory for detailed follow-up studies to elucidate the nature of LRD-like phenomena. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_14551 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Discovery of low-redshift analogues to "Little Red Dots" in DESI: A later evolutionary stage of compact LRDs? Ding, Weiyu Kong, Xu Guo, Wei-Jian Zou, Hu Wang, Jialai Li, Fujia Zhang, Hongxin Song, Jie Zhang, Jingyi Li, Niu Li, Wen-Xiong Astrophysics of Galaxies The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recently discovered a population of compact, red sources at z > 4 known as "Little Red Dots" (LRDs). They are characterized by their V-shaped continuum spectra and prominent broad Balmer emission lines. As their underlying physical nature remains debated and direct study at high-redshift is challenging; therefore, we seek to identify and characterize LRD analogues in the low-redshift universe to constrain their properties and potential evolutionary pathways. We identified five candidates at z = 0.2-0.4 from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) that exhibit spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and broad Balmer emission lines closely resembling their high-redshift counterparts. However, we find significant differences: our low-redshift sample occupies a different region on the Baldwin, Phillips \& Terlevich (BPT) diagram, and their stellar masses are significantly higher, suggesting a more substantial host galaxy contribution. These sources are not necessarily direct local analogues of high-redshift LRDs, but may represent later evolutionary stages of compact, rapidly accreting systems, or systems with related observational properties arising under different physical conditions. This sample provides a valuable laboratory for detailed follow-up studies to elucidate the nature of LRD-like phenomena. |
| title | Discovery of low-redshift analogues to "Little Red Dots" in DESI: A later evolutionary stage of compact LRDs? |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.14551 |