LAM seminar: Franz Erik Bauer – Little Red Dots Near and Far

So-called ‘Little Red Dots’ appeared in the very first deep extragalactic JWST surveys and their unusual properties have confounded astronomers ever since. They appear to be dominated by luminous point-like emission comprised of broad hydrogen emission lines and a continuum which rises both to the rest-frame UV and NIR, with an inflection around 4000A. They have generally ascribed to obscured AGN, but exhibit few other traits typically of accreting SMBHs. I will review what we know about these objects thus far and discuss potential origins.