The Cliff (astronomical object)
NIRSpec/PRISM spectrum of The Cliff. The orange points show NIRCam and MIRI photometry.[1] | |
| Object type | Little red dot |
|---|---|
Observation data (Epoch J2000) | |
| Constellation | Cetus |
| 02h 17m 38.58s | |
| Declination | −05° 07′ 46.79″ |
| Redshift | 3.548 |
The Cliff (RUBIES-UDS-154183) is a compact extragalactic object observed as a little red dot with an exceptional (and cliff-like) Balmer jump. It was discovered as part of the James Webb Space Telescope's Red Unknowns: Bright Infrared Extragalactic Survey (RUBIES) in 2024 in the Ultra Deep Survey (UDS). Detailed spectrographic study suggests that it may be a black hole star.[2][3][1][4]
References
- ^ a b de Graaff, Anna; Rix, Hans-Walter; Naidu, Rohan P.; Labbé, Ivo; Wang, Bingjie; Leja, Joel; Matthee, Jorryt; Katz, Harley; Greene, Jenny E.; Hviding, Raphael E.; Baggen, Josephine; Bezanson, Rachel; Boogaard, Leindert A.; Brammer, Gabriel; Dayal, Pratika (2025-09-01). "A remarkable ruby: Absorption in dense gas, rather than evolved stars, drives the extreme Balmer break of a little red dot at z = 3.5". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 701: A168. arXiv:2503.16600. Bibcode:2025A&A...701A.168D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202554681. ISSN 0004-6361.
- ^ "Are Black Hole Stars real?". www.mpg.de. Retrieved 2025-09-12.
- ^ Berard, Adrienne (2025-09-12). "Mysterious 'red dots' in early universe may be 'black hole star' atmospheres". Phys.org.
- ^ "Early universe's 'little red dots' may be black hole stars". www.science.org. Retrieved 2025-09-12.