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JWST Pixel Analysis Reveals Four Close Little Red Dot Pairs Pointing to Early Black‑Hole Clustering

Targeted spectroscopy, X‑ray and radio observations will test whether the pairs are merging accreting black holes.

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A false-color, infrared image of an LRD taken by the JWST created using images filtered at wavelengths 1.5 µm, 2.8 µm, and 4.4 µm. The white line in the lower right corner shows the length for about 5,000 light years. Credit: COSMOS-Web / Tanaka
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Overview

  • A University of Tokyo team published a PASJ paper on Aug. 31 reporting four dual “Little Red Dot” systems found with a new pixel‑by‑pixel color method that separates tightly spaced sources in JWST images.
  • The pairs lie at lookback times of about 12.5–12.8 billion years and the authors’ statistical tests argue the close alignments are unlikely to be chance projections on kiloparsec scales.
  • Researchers interpret the pairs as candidate rapidly accreting black holes that could be on paths to merge, a process that would help drive fast early growth of supermassive black holes.
  • Significant uncertainties remain because some LRD spectra match dusty or stellar systems, PSF blending and stacking can bias results, and current mass estimates rely on simplified models.
  • Teams plan to apply the pixel method to larger JWST fields and pursue high‑resolution NIRSpec spectra, X‑ray and radio searches, and variability monitoring to confirm the nature, masses, and merger rates of LRDs.