January 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Paper day!! Little Red Dots (LRDs) are seen everywhere by JWST, but even after 3 years of relentless effort we are still debating what these things actually are. We decompose LRDs to show LRD - Host Galaxy = Black Hole Star (BH*)! 🧵
arxiv.org/abs/2601.20929
🔭 🧪
arxiv.org/abs/2601.20929
🔭 🧪
February 1, 2026 at 1:04 AM
Paper day!! Little Red Dots (LRDs) are seen everywhere by JWST, but even after 3 years of relentless effort we are still debating what these things actually are. We decompose LRDs to show LRD - Host Galaxy = Black Hole Star (BH*)! 🧵
arxiv.org/abs/2601.20929
🔭 🧪
arxiv.org/abs/2601.20929
🔭 🧪
six nearly featureless LRDs listed under the JWST program that found them, and z, a distance indicator called cosmological redshift. Additionally, searches are underway in our nearby universe to try to find whatever previous LRDs might have become today.
December 24, 2025 at 8:00 AM
six nearly featureless LRDs listed under the JWST program that found them, and z, a distance indicator called cosmological redshift. Additionally, searches are underway in our nearby universe to try to find whatever previous LRDs might have become today.
Whoa. Three Little Red Dots have now been found in SDSS! arxiv.org/abs/2507.10659
But due to their compact morphology and bizarre colors, they are originally selected as *quasar candidates*, not galaxies! In any event, LRDs are not unique to the high-z universe.
#astrosci
But due to their compact morphology and bizarre colors, they are originally selected as *quasar candidates*, not galaxies! In any event, LRDs are not unique to the high-z universe.
#astrosci
The Discovery of Little Red Dots in the Local Universe: Signatures of Cool Gas Envelopes
JWST observations have revealed a population of high-redshift "little red dots" (LRDs) that challenge conventional AGN models. We report the discovery of three local LRDs at $z = 0.1-0.2$, initially s...
arxiv.org
July 16, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Whoa. Three Little Red Dots have now been found in SDSS! arxiv.org/abs/2507.10659
But due to their compact morphology and bizarre colors, they are originally selected as *quasar candidates*, not galaxies! In any event, LRDs are not unique to the high-z universe.
#astrosci
But due to their compact morphology and bizarre colors, they are originally selected as *quasar candidates*, not galaxies! In any event, LRDs are not unique to the high-z universe.
#astrosci
Mystery: Little Red Dots in the Early Universe: What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows. Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the Webb in the early universe. Although faint, LRDs are now frequently identified in deep observations made for other purposes.
December 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Mystery: Little Red Dots in the Early Universe: What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows. Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the Webb in the early universe. Although faint, LRDs are now frequently identified in deep observations made for other purposes.
LRDs might have a host galaxy, they are just too dim for us to see, even with Webb. Astronomers will be looking for other lower-redshift Saguaro-like galaxies, as well as building a census of other LRDs, to help us build a more complete picture of these objects.
July 29, 2026 at 2:12 PM
LRDs might have a host galaxy, they are just too dim for us to see, even with Webb. Astronomers will be looking for other lower-redshift Saguaro-like galaxies, as well as building a census of other LRDs, to help us build a more complete picture of these objects.
What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows. Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the James Webb Space Telescope in the early universe. Although extremely faint, LRDs are now frequently identified in deep observations made for other purposes. A wide-ranging
December 24, 2025 at 8:00 AM
What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows. Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the James Webb Space Telescope in the early universe. Although extremely faint, LRDs are now frequently identified in deep observations made for other purposes. A wide-ranging
Editor's choice: little red dots (LRDs) are compact distant galaxies with unusual properties, of uncertain origin. Taylor et al. have found an LRD at redshift 9.2, and show it contains a supermassive black hole >5% of the stellar mass in the galaxy. ☄️ #extragalactic
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 8, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Editor's choice: little red dots (LRDs) are compact distant galaxies with unusual properties, of uncertain origin. Taylor et al. have found an LRD at redshift 9.2, and show it contains a supermassive black hole >5% of the stellar mass in the galaxy. ☄️ #extragalactic
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A new paper that I'm excited to be a part of: Little Red Dots (LRDs) at high redshift have very specific chemical signatures of high-temperature hydrogen burning generally only seen in nearby globular clusters (GCs). This may indicate GCs and LRDs are connected and both hosted supermassive stars! 🧪
September 11, 2026 at 3:20 PM
A new paper that I'm excited to be a part of: Little Red Dots (LRDs) at high redshift have very specific chemical signatures of high-temperature hydrogen burning generally only seen in nearby globular clusters (GCs). This may indicate GCs and LRDs are connected and both hosted supermassive stars! 🧪
That shrouded black hole would create a glow that would look, to our telescopes, a little star-like and a little black-hole-like. Specifically, the authors say, this could explain the "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) seen in JWST images of extremely distant parts of the cosmos. 3/🧵
January 30, 2026 at 10:56 PM
That shrouded black hole would create a glow that would look, to our telescopes, a little star-like and a little black-hole-like. Specifically, the authors say, this could explain the "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) seen in JWST images of extremely distant parts of the cosmos. 3/🧵
This gas accounts for why most LRDs are faint in X-rays; any X-rays given off are likely absorbed by the surrounding cocoons. More typical growing supermassive black holes are not embedded in dense gas, which allows UV light and X-rays from material orbiting them to escape.
June 10, 2026 at 2:29 PM
This gas accounts for why most LRDs are faint in X-rays; any X-rays given off are likely absorbed by the surrounding cocoons. More typical growing supermassive black holes are not embedded in dense gas, which allows UV light and X-rays from material orbiting them to escape.
It's a rough week for galaxy formation and cosmology: Prof. Avishai Dekel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) passed away today. He was a leading scientist — some would say a force of nature — who was doing cutting-edge science right up to the end: he had a new paper on the arXiv last week. 🧪
November 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
It's a rough week for galaxy formation and cosmology: Prof. Avishai Dekel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) passed away today. He was a leading scientist — some would say a force of nature — who was doing cutting-edge science right up to the end: he had a new paper on the arXiv last week. 🧪
The combination of a SMS and a very young stellar population produces a spectral energy distribution that looks very similar to LRDs! And amazingly, reasonable numbers about the lifetimes of these stars and observations of LRDs do a good job of reproducing the # of globular clusters today.
February 19, 2026 at 3:18 AM
The combination of a SMS and a very young stellar population produces a spectral energy distribution that looks very similar to LRDs! And amazingly, reasonable numbers about the lifetimes of these stars and observations of LRDs do a good job of reproducing the # of globular clusters today.
There's an interesting new paper out today (not yet peer reviewed) suggesting an explanation for a weird phenomenon seen with JWST that might point to a "hitherto unobserved physical phenomenon," proposed in a couple of previous papers, called "black hole stars." arxiv.org/abs/2601.20929 1/🧵
Little Red Dot $-$ Host Galaxy $=$ Black Hole Star: A Gas-Enshrouded Heart at the Center of Every Little Red Dot
The central engines of Little Red Dots (LRDs) may be ``black hole stars" (BH*s), early stages of black hole growth characterized by dense gas envelopes. So far, the most direct evidence for BH*s comes...
arxiv.org
January 30, 2026 at 10:56 PM
There's an interesting new paper out today (not yet peer reviewed) suggesting an explanation for a weird phenomenon seen with JWST that might point to a "hitherto unobserved physical phenomenon," proposed in a couple of previous papers, called "black hole stars." arxiv.org/abs/2601.20929 1/🧵
Just after NASA/ESA/CSA James #Webb Space Telescope began science operations, astronomers noticed something unexpected in the data: small red objects in the distant, young Universe. They became known as 'little red dots' (LRDs)... 🔭
More on these mysterious objects👇
🔗 esawebb.org/images/littl...
More on these mysterious objects👇
🔗 esawebb.org/images/littl...
January 23, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Just after NASA/ESA/CSA James #Webb Space Telescope began science operations, astronomers noticed something unexpected in the data: small red objects in the distant, young Universe. They became known as 'little red dots' (LRDs)... 🔭
More on these mysterious objects👇
🔗 esawebb.org/images/littl...
More on these mysterious objects👇
🔗 esawebb.org/images/littl...
#JWST observations of LRDs in the news once again! Nice story on the Saguaro LRD (it has arms!), based on work led by our @stsci.edu postdoc Pierluigi Rinaldi. We'll be reobserving Saguaro with JWST in the coming year to learn more about it. science.nasa.gov/missions/web... 🔭
NASA Webb Explores Family Tree of Newly Discovered Distant Objects - NASA Science
Since their discovery by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2022, little red dots (LRDs) have been the subject of great interest to astronomers.
science.nasa.gov
July 29, 2026 at 2:40 PM
#JWST observations of LRDs in the news once again! Nice story on the Saguaro LRD (it has arms!), based on work led by our @stsci.edu postdoc Pierluigi Rinaldi. We'll be reobserving Saguaro with JWST in the coming year to learn more about it. science.nasa.gov/missions/web... 🔭
So what's the story behind those flashing little red dots (LRDs) sprinkled across the universe? A Japanese supercomputer posits an answer: LRDs may be black holes growing dozens of times faster than possible today, fed by dense gas disks in the early universe www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Overmassive black holes and little red dots naturally form in simulations - Nature
Observations from the JWST reveal an unexpectedly abundant population of little red dots and overmassive black holes in the early Universe, which are confirmed by their formation in fully cosmological...
www.nature.com
September 18, 2026 at 4:28 PM
So what's the story behind those flashing little red dots (LRDs) sprinkled across the universe? A Japanese supercomputer posits an answer: LRDs may be black holes growing dozens of times faster than possible today, fed by dense gas disks in the early universe www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧵
Have you ever heard of LRDs (or "Little Red Dots")?
A recent study (14 Jul 2025) reports the discovery of three of these cosmological objects in the local universe (redshift z = 0.1–0.2), about 1-2 billion ly away.
Let's see what they are!
🔭 🧪 #cosmology #science
Have you ever heard of LRDs (or "Little Red Dots")?
A recent study (14 Jul 2025) reports the discovery of three of these cosmological objects in the local universe (redshift z = 0.1–0.2), about 1-2 billion ly away.
Let's see what they are!
🔭 🧪 #cosmology #science
August 7, 2025 at 6:56 PM
🧵
Have you ever heard of LRDs (or "Little Red Dots")?
A recent study (14 Jul 2025) reports the discovery of three of these cosmological objects in the local universe (redshift z = 0.1–0.2), about 1-2 billion ly away.
Let's see what they are!
🔭 🧪 #cosmology #science
Have you ever heard of LRDs (or "Little Red Dots")?
A recent study (14 Jul 2025) reports the discovery of three of these cosmological objects in the local universe (redshift z = 0.1–0.2), about 1-2 billion ly away.
Let's see what they are!
🔭 🧪 #cosmology #science
Webb captured the most detailed data to date of one of these LRDs (named GLIMPSE-17775, dating back to 1.8 billion years after the big bang) that supports the interpretation that this object is a rapidly growing black hole enveloped in a dense gas cocoon.
June 10, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Webb captured the most detailed data to date of one of these LRDs (named GLIMPSE-17775, dating back to 1.8 billion years after the big bang) that supports the interpretation that this object is a rapidly growing black hole enveloped in a dense gas cocoon.
JWST captured a missing link in galaxy evolution: the time when their central black holes began to form. These young, fast-eating black holes look a lot different than expected, creating the enigmatic Little Red Dots.
Look new places, discover new things! 🧪🔭
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Look new places, discover new things! 🧪🔭
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
January 16, 2026 at 3:13 PM
JWST captured a missing link in galaxy evolution: the time when their central black holes began to form. These young, fast-eating black holes look a lot different than expected, creating the enigmatic Little Red Dots.
Look new places, discover new things! 🧪🔭
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Look new places, discover new things! 🧪🔭
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
debate is raging about what LRDs may be and what importance they may have. Possible origin hypotheses include accreting supermassive black holes inside clouds of gas and dust, bursts of star formation in young dust-reddened galaxies, and dark matter powered gas clouds. The highlighted images show
December 24, 2025 at 8:00 AM
debate is raging about what LRDs may be and what importance they may have. Possible origin hypotheses include accreting supermassive black holes inside clouds of gas and dust, bursts of star formation in young dust-reddened galaxies, and dark matter powered gas clouds. The highlighted images show
November 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Like tiny photobombers, cosmic anomalies resembling small, bright red points show up in almost every snapshot taken by the most powerful space telescope ever made. Astronomers call them little red dots, or LRDs – but there is no agreement yet on what exactly they are: https://cnn.it/4rMbeYI
Webb telescope photos show mysterious little red dots. Astronomers don’t know what they are | CNN
Hundreds of mysterious objects have appeared in images captured by the Webb space telescope. The curious dots could reshape scientists’ understanding of the cosmos.
cnn.it
March 22, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Like tiny photobombers, cosmic anomalies resembling small, bright red points show up in almost every snapshot taken by the most powerful space telescope ever made. Astronomers call them little red dots, or LRDs – but there is no agreement yet on what exactly they are: https://cnn.it/4rMbeYI
As promised yesterday: a new alternative model for Little Red Dots. Maybe they're not stars powered by black hole accretion ... maybe they're globular clusters in formation! That's the suggestion in a new paper led by John Chisholm, anyway. It sounds impossible, but hear me out: 🧪🔭☄️
February 19, 2026 at 3:18 AM
As promised yesterday: a new alternative model for Little Red Dots. Maybe they're not stars powered by black hole accretion ... maybe they're globular clusters in formation! That's the suggestion in a new paper led by John Chisholm, anyway. It sounds impossible, but hear me out: 🧪🔭☄️