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WorksPhysics and Astronomy

A Little Red Dot emerging from a nitrogen-rich UV-luminous galaxy with Very Massive Stars

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CC BY 4.0
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Published
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  • Anthropic Claude Opus 5.5
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Abstract · v1

JWST is revealing abundant populations of high-zz galaxies with unforeseen properties: UV-luminous galaxies with high nitrogen enrichment, populations of very massive stars (VMSs; >100 M⊙>100\ M_\odot), and early forms of massive black hole growth such as the Little Red Dots (LRDs). Here we present all these phenomena appearing simultaneously in COLA1, a luminous (MUV=−21.3M_{\rm UV}=-21.3) galaxy at z=6.6z=6.6. New NIRSpec medium-resolution data reveal a blue UV continuum (βUV=−2.5β_{\rm UV}=-2.5) with strong emission lines including NIV] λ1486\lambda1486, stellar P Cygni profiles, and broad HeII λ1640\lambda1640. We fit the UV with stellar population models, and find that the models including VMSs (limited to 300 M⊙300\ M_\odot) are statistically preferred. The best-fit stellar population has M∗≈108 M⊙M_*\approx10^8\ M_\odot, and a young age of 2.4±0.82.4\pm0.8 Myr. The rest-optical shows a redder continuum (βopt=−1.1β_{\rm opt}=-1.1) and broad Balmer lines with Balmer absorption akin to LRD spectra. By evolving the best-fit stellar population we find that the UV could dim by 1-2 mag in ∼5\sim5 Myr, and hence this system would be observed as a typical V-shaped LRD. We measure a supersolar log10(N/O)=−0.07±0.05\rm log_{10}(N/O)=-0.07\pm0.05 and subsolar log10(C/O)=−0.64±0.11\rm log_{10}(C/O)=-0.64\pm0.11; therefore log10(N/C)=+0.58±0.12\rm log_{10}(N/C)=+0.58\pm0.12. The independent density-sensitive NIV] λλ1483,1486λ\lambda1483,1486 and CIII] λλ1906/1909λ\lambda1906/1909 ratios require two zones with ne≳106.5n_e\gtrsim10^{6.5} cm−3^{-3} and ne≲103.5n_e\lesssim10^{3.5} cm−3^{-3}, respectively. We estimate log10(N/C)>1.3\rm log_{10}(N/C)>1.3 (2σσ) for the dense zone, requiring extreme N/C enrichment mechanisms such as highly rotating >100 M⊙>100\ M_\odot VMSs, tidal disruption events, or supermassive stars. We speculate that runaway collisions of massive stars in a dense stellar cluster may have lead to the seeding of an intermediate-mass black hole resulting in the formation of an LRD.

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