UNCOVER: A NIRSpec Identification of a Broad-line AGN at z = 8.50

Vasily Kokorev; Seiji Fujimoto; Ivo Labbe; Jenny E. Greene; Rachel Bezanson; Pratika Dayal; Erica J. Nelson; Hakim Atek; Gabriel Brammer; Karina I. Caputi; Iryna Chemerynska; Sam E. Cutler; Robert Feldmann; Yoshinobu Fudamoto; Lukas J. Furtak; Andy D. Goulding; Anna de Graaff; Joel Leja; Danilo Marchesini; Tim B. Miller; Themiya Nanayakkara; Pascal A. Oesch; Richard Pan; Sedona H. Price; David J. Setton; Renske Smit; Mauro Stefanon; Bingjie Wang; John R. Weaver; Katherine E. Whitaker; Christina C. Williams; Adi Zitrin

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a

UNCOVER: A NIRSpec Identification of a Broad-line AGN at z = 8.50

Vasily Kokorev, Seiji Fujimoto, Ivo Labbe, Jenny E. Greene, Rachel Bezanson, Pratika Dayal, Erica J. Nelson, Hakim Atek, Gabriel Brammer, Karina I. Caputi, Iryna Chemerynska, Sam E. Cutler, Robert Feldmann, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, Lukas J. Furtak, Andy D. Goulding, Anna de Graaff, Joel Leja, Danilo Marchesini, Tim B. MillerThemiya Nanayakkara, Pascal A. Oesch, Richard Pan, Sedona H. Price, David J. Setton, Renske Smit, Mauro Stefanon, Bingjie Wang, John R. Weaver, Katherine E. Whitaker, Christina C. Williams, Adi Zitrin

Astrophysical Sciences

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Abstract

Deep observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an emerging population of red pointlike sources that could provide a link between the postulated supermassive black hole seeds and observed quasars. In this work, we present a JWST/NIRSpec spectrum from the JWST Cycle 1 UNCOVER Treasury survey of a massive accreting black hole at z = 8.50 displaying a clear broad-line component as inferred from the Hβ line with FWHM = 3439 ± 413 km s⁻¹, typical of the broad-line region of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The AGN nature of this object is further supported by high ionization, as inferred from emission lines, and a point-source morphology. We compute a black hole mass of log 10 ( M BH / M ⊙ ) = 8.17 ± 0.42 and a bolometric luminosity of L _bol ∼ 6.6 × 10⁴⁵ erg s⁻¹. These values imply that our object is accreting at ∼40% of the Eddington limit. Detailed modeling of the spectral energy distribution in the optical and near-infrared, together with constraints from ALMA, indicate an upper limit on the stellar mass of log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ ) < 8.7 , which would lead to an unprecedented ratio of black hole to host mass of at least ∼30%. This is orders of magnitude higher compared to the local QSOs but consistent with recent AGN studies at high redshift with JWST. This finding suggests that a nonnegligible fraction of supermassive black holes either started out from massive seeds and/or grew at a super-Eddington rate at high redshift. Given the predicted number densities of high-z faint AGN, future NIRSpec observations of larger samples will allow us to further investigate galaxy-black hole coevolution in the early Universe.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	L7
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	957
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a
State	Published - Nov 1 2023

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a

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Kokorev, V., Fujimoto, S., Labbe, I., Greene, J. E., Bezanson, R., Dayal, P., Nelson, E. J., Atek, H., Brammer, G., Caputi, K. I., Chemerynska, I., Cutler, S. E., Feldmann, R., Fudamoto, Y., Furtak, L. J., Goulding, A. D., de Graaff, A., Leja, J., Marchesini, D., ... Zitrin, A. (2023). UNCOVER: A NIRSpec Identification of a Broad-line AGN at z = 8.50. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 957(1), Article L7. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a

@article{c22aafbde9aa43afa9ec1d82e71ed11a,

title = "UNCOVER: A NIRSpec Identification of a Broad-line AGN at z = 8.50",

abstract = "Deep observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an emerging population of red pointlike sources that could provide a link between the postulated supermassive black hole seeds and observed quasars. In this work, we present a JWST/NIRSpec spectrum from the JWST Cycle 1 UNCOVER Treasury survey of a massive accreting black hole at z = 8.50 displaying a clear broad-line component as inferred from the Hβ line with FWHM = 3439 ± 413 km s−1, typical of the broad-line region of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The AGN nature of this object is further supported by high ionization, as inferred from emission lines, and a point-source morphology. We compute a black hole mass of log 10 ( M BH / M ⊙ ) = 8.17 ± 0.42 and a bolometric luminosity of L bol ∼ 6.6 × 1045 erg s−1. These values imply that our object is accreting at ∼40% of the Eddington limit. Detailed modeling of the spectral energy distribution in the optical and near-infrared, together with constraints from ALMA, indicate an upper limit on the stellar mass of log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ ) < 8.7 , which would lead to an unprecedented ratio of black hole to host mass of at least ∼30%. This is orders of magnitude higher compared to the local QSOs but consistent with recent AGN studies at high redshift with JWST. This finding suggests that a nonnegligible fraction of supermassive black holes either started out from massive seeds and/or grew at a super-Eddington rate at high redshift. Given the predicted number densities of high-z faint AGN, future NIRSpec observations of larger samples will allow us to further investigate galaxy-black hole coevolution in the early Universe.",

author = "Vasily Kokorev and Seiji Fujimoto and Ivo Labbe and Greene, {Jenny E.} and Rachel Bezanson and Pratika Dayal and Nelson, {Erica J.} and Hakim Atek and Gabriel Brammer and Caputi, {Karina I.} and Iryna Chemerynska and Cutler, {Sam E.} and Robert Feldmann and Yoshinobu Fudamoto and Furtak, {Lukas J.} and Goulding, {Andy D.} and {de Graaff}, Anna and Joel Leja and Danilo Marchesini and Miller, {Tim B.} and Themiya Nanayakkara and Oesch, {Pascal A.} and Richard Pan and Price, {Sedona H.} and Setton, {David J.} and Renske Smit and Mauro Stefanon and Bingjie Wang and Weaver, {John R.} and Whitaker, {Katherine E.} and Williams, {Christina C.} and Adi Zitrin",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "957",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8205",

publisher = "IOP Publishing Ltd.",

number = "1",

}

Kokorev, V, Fujimoto, S, Labbe, I, Greene, JE, Bezanson, R, Dayal, P, Nelson, EJ, Atek, H, Brammer, G, Caputi, KI, Chemerynska, I, Cutler, SE, Feldmann, R, Fudamoto, Y, Furtak, LJ, Goulding, AD, de Graaff, A, Leja, J, Marchesini, D, Miller, TB, Nanayakkara, T, Oesch, PA, Pan, R, Price, SH, Setton, DJ, Smit, R, Stefanon, M, Wang, B, Weaver, JR, Whitaker, KE, Williams, CC & Zitrin, A 2023, 'UNCOVER: A NIRSpec Identification of a Broad-line AGN at z = 8.50', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 957, no. 1, L7. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a

TY - JOUR

T1 - UNCOVER

T2 - A NIRSpec Identification of a Broad-line AGN at z = 8.50

AU - Kokorev, Vasily

AU - Fujimoto, Seiji

AU - Labbe, Ivo

AU - Greene, Jenny E.

AU - Bezanson, Rachel

AU - Dayal, Pratika

AU - Nelson, Erica J.

AU - Atek, Hakim

AU - Brammer, Gabriel

AU - Caputi, Karina I.

AU - Chemerynska, Iryna

AU - Cutler, Sam E.

AU - Feldmann, Robert

AU - Fudamoto, Yoshinobu

AU - Furtak, Lukas J.

AU - Goulding, Andy D.

AU - de Graaff, Anna

AU - Leja, Joel

AU - Marchesini, Danilo

AU - Miller, Tim B.

AU - Nanayakkara, Themiya

AU - Oesch, Pascal A.

AU - Pan, Richard

AU - Price, Sedona H.

AU - Setton, David J.

AU - Smit, Renske

AU - Stefanon, Mauro

AU - Wang, Bingjie

AU - Weaver, John R.

AU - Whitaker, Katherine E.

AU - Williams, Christina C.

AU - Zitrin, Adi

PY - 2023/11/1

Y1 - 2023/11/1

N2 - Deep observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an emerging population of red pointlike sources that could provide a link between the postulated supermassive black hole seeds and observed quasars. In this work, we present a JWST/NIRSpec spectrum from the JWST Cycle 1 UNCOVER Treasury survey of a massive accreting black hole at z = 8.50 displaying a clear broad-line component as inferred from the Hβ line with FWHM = 3439 ± 413 km s−1, typical of the broad-line region of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The AGN nature of this object is further supported by high ionization, as inferred from emission lines, and a point-source morphology. We compute a black hole mass of log 10 ( M BH / M ⊙ ) = 8.17 ± 0.42 and a bolometric luminosity of L bol ∼ 6.6 × 1045 erg s−1. These values imply that our object is accreting at ∼40% of the Eddington limit. Detailed modeling of the spectral energy distribution in the optical and near-infrared, together with constraints from ALMA, indicate an upper limit on the stellar mass of log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ ) < 8.7 , which would lead to an unprecedented ratio of black hole to host mass of at least ∼30%. This is orders of magnitude higher compared to the local QSOs but consistent with recent AGN studies at high redshift with JWST. This finding suggests that a nonnegligible fraction of supermassive black holes either started out from massive seeds and/or grew at a super-Eddington rate at high redshift. Given the predicted number densities of high-z faint AGN, future NIRSpec observations of larger samples will allow us to further investigate galaxy-black hole coevolution in the early Universe.

AB - Deep observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an emerging population of red pointlike sources that could provide a link between the postulated supermassive black hole seeds and observed quasars. In this work, we present a JWST/NIRSpec spectrum from the JWST Cycle 1 UNCOVER Treasury survey of a massive accreting black hole at z = 8.50 displaying a clear broad-line component as inferred from the Hβ line with FWHM = 3439 ± 413 km s−1, typical of the broad-line region of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The AGN nature of this object is further supported by high ionization, as inferred from emission lines, and a point-source morphology. We compute a black hole mass of log 10 ( M BH / M ⊙ ) = 8.17 ± 0.42 and a bolometric luminosity of L bol ∼ 6.6 × 1045 erg s−1. These values imply that our object is accreting at ∼40% of the Eddington limit. Detailed modeling of the spectral energy distribution in the optical and near-infrared, together with constraints from ALMA, indicate an upper limit on the stellar mass of log 10 ( M * / M ⊙ ) < 8.7 , which would lead to an unprecedented ratio of black hole to host mass of at least ∼30%. This is orders of magnitude higher compared to the local QSOs but consistent with recent AGN studies at high redshift with JWST. This finding suggests that a nonnegligible fraction of supermassive black holes either started out from massive seeds and/or grew at a super-Eddington rate at high redshift. Given the predicted number densities of high-z faint AGN, future NIRSpec observations of larger samples will allow us to further investigate galaxy-black hole coevolution in the early Universe.

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85176391802&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a

DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/ad037a

M3 - Article

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SN - 2041-8205

VL - 957

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

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M1 - L7

ER -

UNCOVER: A NIRSpec Identification of a Broad-line AGN at z = 8.50

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