Overview
- A peer-reviewed Nature study analyzing JWST infrared spectra finds the compact red sources are young supermassive black holes enshrouded by dense, partly ionized gas.
- The cocoon scatters and absorbs UV, X-ray and radio emission, accounting for the lack of typical AGN signatures and the objects’ reddish infrared appearance.
- Recalculated black hole masses drop by roughly 10–100 times to a few million to about 10 million solar masses, easing tensions with early-universe models.
- The objects appear to accrete near the Eddington limit, offering a credible route to building billion-solar-mass black holes within the universe’s first 700 million years.
- Authors report results for roughly 30 little red dots and urge larger samples plus sensitive multiwavelength follow-up to assess how common this cocoon phase is.