The Cliff: A Metal-Poor Little Red Dot Hosting an Overmassive Black Hole at z = 3.55
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ID: 318685
2026
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Abstract
Abstract JWST has revealed a large population of massive black holes (BHs) in the early Universe with unusual properties which mark them as distinct from low-redshift active galactic nuclei. Such findings have prompted the development of new models of BH formation and growth, and of their co-evolution with host galaxies. Linking the gas-phase metallicity of BH environments to seed masses is key to understanding which evolutionary pathways could explain the population of JWST-discovered BHs. We present new high-resolution JWST NIRSpec/IFU observations covering the rest-frame optical emission lines of a Little Red Dot (LRD) at z = 3.55, known as The Cliff, from the ‘Red Unknowns: Bright Infrared Extragalactic Survey’ (RUBIES). We find evidence for low metallicity (Z = 0.016 ± 0.003 Z⊙) based on the low narrow-line [O iii]λ5007/Hβ ratio, supported by the non-detection of low-ionisation emission lines such as [O ii]λλ3727,3729 and [N ii]λλ6548,6583. We find that the observed properties of The Cliff, including its overmassive BH, can be reproduced by some simulations of black hole growth and evolution down to z ∼ 3.5. However, such outcomes require high seed masses (104 − 105 M⊙) and appear rarely within a simulation volume comparable to the 3 < z < 4 RUBIES volume, highlighting the unusual nature of The Cliff. Future simulations and numerical models will help to uncover how such a metal-poor system managed to develop a massive black hole and persist to such low redshift.
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openalex_W7165925879
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| Authors | Lucy R. Ivey, F D’Eugenio, R Maiolino, Yuki Isobe, I Juodžbalis, Sophie Koudmani, M Perna, S Zhang, V Bromm, Andrew J. Bunker, S Carniani, A. C. Fabian, K Inayoshi, Xihan Ji, Gareth C. Jones, B Liu, R Pascalau, P Rinaldi, B Robertson, Jan Scholtz, Sandro Tacchella |
| Journal | monthly notices of the royal astronomical society |
| Year | 2026 |
| DOI |
10.1093/mnras/stag1220
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| URL | |
| Keywords | Keywords not found |
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