A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe

Lukas J. Furtak; Ivo Labbé; Adi Zitrin; Jenny E. Greene; Pratika Dayal; Iryna Chemerynska; Vasily Kokorev; Tim B. Miller; Andy D. Goulding; Anna de Graaff; Rachel Bezanson; Gabriel B. Brammer; Sam E. Cutler; Joel Leja; Richard Pan; Sedona H. Price; Bingjie Wang; John R. Weaver; Katherine E. Whitaker; Hakim Atek; Ákos Bogdán; Stéphane Charlot; Emma Curtis-Lake; Pieter van Dokkum; Ryan Endsley; Robert Feldmann; Yoshinobu Fudamoto; Seiji Fujimoto; Karl Glazebrook; Stéphanie Juneau; Danilo Marchesini; Micheal V. Maseda; Erica Nelson; Pascal A. Oesch; Adèle Plat; David J. Setton; Daniel P. Stark; Christina C. Williams

doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8

A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe

Lukas J. Furtak, Ivo Labbé, Adi Zitrin, Jenny E. Greene, Pratika Dayal, Iryna Chemerynska, Vasily Kokorev, Tim B. Miller, Andy D. Goulding, Anna de Graaff, Rachel Bezanson, Gabriel B. Brammer, Sam E. Cutler, Joel Leja, Richard Pan, Sedona H. Price, Bingjie Wang, John R. Weaver, Katherine E. Whitaker, Hakim AtekÁkos Bogdán, Stéphane Charlot, Emma Curtis-Lake, Pieter van Dokkum, Ryan Endsley, Robert Feldmann, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, Seiji Fujimoto, Karl Glazebrook, Stéphanie Juneau, Danilo Marchesini, Micheal V. Maseda, Erica Nelson, Pascal A. Oesch, Adèle Plat, David J. Setton, Daniel P. Stark, Christina C. Williams

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Abstract

Early JWST observations have uncovered a population of red sources that might represent a previously overlooked phase of supermassive black hole growth ^1–3. One of the most intriguing examples is an extremely red, point-like object that was found to be triply imaged by the strong lensing cluster Abell 2744 (ref. ⁴). Here we present deep JWST/NIRSpec observations of this object, Abell2744-QSO1. The spectroscopy confirms that the three images are of the same object, and that it is a highly reddened (A _V ≃ 3) broad emission line active galactic nucleus at a redshift of z _spec = 7.0451 ± 0.0005. From the width of Hβ (full width at half-maximum = 2,800 ± 250 km s ⁻¹), we derive a black hole mass of M _BH=4 ₋₁ ⁺²×10 ⁷M _⊙. We infer a very high ratio of black-hole-to-galaxy mass of at least 3%, an order of magnitude more than that seen in local galaxies ⁵ and possibly as high as 100%. The lack of strong metal lines in the spectrum together with the high bolometric luminosity (L _bol = (1.1 ± 0.3) × 10 ⁴⁵ erg s ⁻¹) indicate that we are seeing the black hole in a phase of rapid growth, accreting at 30% of the Eddington limit. The rapid growth and high black-hole-to-galaxy mass ratio of Abell2744-QSO1 suggest that it may represent the missing link between black hole seeds ⁶ and one of the first luminous quasars ⁷.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	57-61
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	628
Early online date	14 Feb 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8
Publication status	Published - 4 Apr 2024

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Furtak, L. J., Labbé, I., Zitrin, A., Greene, J. E., Dayal, P., Chemerynska, I., Kokorev, V., Miller, T. B., Goulding, A. D., de Graaff, A., Bezanson, R., Brammer, G. B., Cutler, S. E., Leja, J., Pan, R., Price, S. H., Wang, B., Weaver, J. R., Whitaker, K. E., ... Williams, C. C. (2024). A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe. Nature, 628, 57-61. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8

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title = "A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe",

abstract = "Early JWST observations have uncovered a population of red sources that might represent a previously overlooked phase of supermassive black hole growth 1–3. One of the most intriguing examples is an extremely red, point-like object that was found to be triply imaged by the strong lensing cluster Abell 2744 (ref. 4). Here we present deep JWST/NIRSpec observations of this object, Abell2744-QSO1. The spectroscopy confirms that the three images are of the same object, and that it is a highly reddened (A V ≃ 3) broad emission line active galactic nucleus at a redshift of z spec = 7.0451 ± 0.0005. From the width of Hβ (full width at half-maximum = 2,800 ± 250 km s −1), we derive a black hole mass of M BH=4 −1 +2×10 7M ⊙. We infer a very high ratio of black-hole-to-galaxy mass of at least 3%, an order of magnitude more than that seen in local galaxies 5 and possibly as high as 100%. The lack of strong metal lines in the spectrum together with the high bolometric luminosity (L bol = (1.1 ± 0.3) × 10 45 erg s −1) indicate that we are seeing the black hole in a phase of rapid growth, accreting at 30% of the Eddington limit. The rapid growth and high black-hole-to-galaxy mass ratio of Abell2744-QSO1 suggest that it may represent the missing link between black hole seeds 6 and one of the first luminous quasars 7.",

author = "Furtak, {Lukas J.} and Ivo Labb{\'e} and Adi Zitrin and Greene, {Jenny E.} and Pratika Dayal and Iryna Chemerynska and Vasily Kokorev and Miller, {Tim B.} and Goulding, {Andy D.} and {de Graaff}, Anna and Rachel Bezanson and Brammer, {Gabriel B.} and Cutler, {Sam E.} and Joel Leja and Richard Pan and Price, {Sedona H.} and Bingjie Wang and Weaver, {John R.} and Whitaker, {Katherine E.} and Hakim Atek and {\'A}kos Bogd{\'a}n and St{\'e}phane Charlot and Emma Curtis-Lake and {van Dokkum}, Pieter and Ryan Endsley and Robert Feldmann and Yoshinobu Fudamoto and Seiji Fujimoto and Karl Glazebrook and St{\'e}phanie Juneau and Danilo Marchesini and Maseda, {Micheal V.} and Erica Nelson and Oesch, {Pascal A.} and Ad{\`e}le Plat and Setton, {David J.} and Stark, {Daniel P.} and Williams, {Christina C.}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2024, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2024",

month = apr,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8",

language = "English",

volume = "628",

pages = "57--61",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "1476-4687",

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Furtak, LJ, Labbé, I, Zitrin, A, Greene, JE, Dayal, P, Chemerynska, I, Kokorev, V, Miller, TB, Goulding, AD, de Graaff, A, Bezanson, R, Brammer, GB, Cutler, SE, Leja, J, Pan, R, Price, SH, Wang, B, Weaver, JR, Whitaker, KE, Atek, H, Bogdán, Á, Charlot, S, Curtis-Lake, E, van Dokkum, P, Endsley, R, Feldmann, R, Fudamoto, Y, Fujimoto, S, Glazebrook, K, Juneau, S, Marchesini, D, Maseda, MV, Nelson, E, Oesch, PA, Plat, A, Setton, DJ, Stark, DP & Williams, CC 2024, 'A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe', Nature, vol. 628, pp. 57-61. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8

TY - JOUR

T1 - A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe

AU - Furtak, Lukas J.

AU - Labbé, Ivo

AU - Zitrin, Adi

AU - Greene, Jenny E.

AU - Dayal, Pratika

AU - Chemerynska, Iryna

AU - Kokorev, Vasily

AU - Miller, Tim B.

AU - Goulding, Andy D.

AU - de Graaff, Anna

AU - Bezanson, Rachel

AU - Brammer, Gabriel B.

AU - Cutler, Sam E.

AU - Leja, Joel

AU - Pan, Richard

AU - Price, Sedona H.

AU - Wang, Bingjie

AU - Weaver, John R.

AU - Whitaker, Katherine E.

AU - Atek, Hakim

AU - Bogdán, Ákos

AU - Charlot, Stéphane

AU - Curtis-Lake, Emma

AU - van Dokkum, Pieter

AU - Endsley, Ryan

AU - Feldmann, Robert

AU - Fudamoto, Yoshinobu

AU - Fujimoto, Seiji

AU - Glazebrook, Karl

AU - Juneau, Stéphanie

AU - Marchesini, Danilo

AU - Maseda, Micheal V.

AU - Nelson, Erica

AU - Oesch, Pascal A.

AU - Plat, Adèle

AU - Setton, David J.

AU - Stark, Daniel P.

AU - Williams, Christina C.

PY - 2024/4/4

Y1 - 2024/4/4

N2 - Early JWST observations have uncovered a population of red sources that might represent a previously overlooked phase of supermassive black hole growth 1–3. One of the most intriguing examples is an extremely red, point-like object that was found to be triply imaged by the strong lensing cluster Abell 2744 (ref. 4). Here we present deep JWST/NIRSpec observations of this object, Abell2744-QSO1. The spectroscopy confirms that the three images are of the same object, and that it is a highly reddened (A V ≃ 3) broad emission line active galactic nucleus at a redshift of z spec = 7.0451 ± 0.0005. From the width of Hβ (full width at half-maximum = 2,800 ± 250 km s −1), we derive a black hole mass of M BH=4 −1 +2×10 7M ⊙. We infer a very high ratio of black-hole-to-galaxy mass of at least 3%, an order of magnitude more than that seen in local galaxies 5 and possibly as high as 100%. The lack of strong metal lines in the spectrum together with the high bolometric luminosity (L bol = (1.1 ± 0.3) × 10 45 erg s −1) indicate that we are seeing the black hole in a phase of rapid growth, accreting at 30% of the Eddington limit. The rapid growth and high black-hole-to-galaxy mass ratio of Abell2744-QSO1 suggest that it may represent the missing link between black hole seeds 6 and one of the first luminous quasars 7.

AB - Early JWST observations have uncovered a population of red sources that might represent a previously overlooked phase of supermassive black hole growth 1–3. One of the most intriguing examples is an extremely red, point-like object that was found to be triply imaged by the strong lensing cluster Abell 2744 (ref. 4). Here we present deep JWST/NIRSpec observations of this object, Abell2744-QSO1. The spectroscopy confirms that the three images are of the same object, and that it is a highly reddened (A V ≃ 3) broad emission line active galactic nucleus at a redshift of z spec = 7.0451 ± 0.0005. From the width of Hβ (full width at half-maximum = 2,800 ± 250 km s −1), we derive a black hole mass of M BH=4 −1 +2×10 7M ⊙. We infer a very high ratio of black-hole-to-galaxy mass of at least 3%, an order of magnitude more than that seen in local galaxies 5 and possibly as high as 100%. The lack of strong metal lines in the spectrum together with the high bolometric luminosity (L bol = (1.1 ± 0.3) × 10 45 erg s −1) indicate that we are seeing the black hole in a phase of rapid growth, accreting at 30% of the Eddington limit. The rapid growth and high black-hole-to-galaxy mass ratio of Abell2744-QSO1 suggest that it may represent the missing link between black hole seeds 6 and one of the first luminous quasars 7.

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U2 - 10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8

DO - 10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8

M3 - Article

SN - 1476-4687

VL - 628

SP - 57

EP - 61

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

ER -

A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe

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