Astronomy and Astrophysics; Space and Planetary Science; astro-ph.GA
Abstract :
[en] We use the narrow [Ne v] λ3427 emission line detected in the recently published JWST spectra of two galaxies, at z ≃ 6.9 and 5.6, to study the key properties of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in their centers. Using a new empirical scaling linking the Ne V line emission with AGN accretion-driven (continuum) emission, derived from a highly complete low-redshift AGN sample, we show that the Ne V emission in the two z > 5 galaxies implies total (bolometric) AGN luminosities of order Lbol ≈ (4-8) × 1045 erg s−1. Assuming that the radiation emitted from these systems is Eddington limited, the (minimal) black hole (BH) masses are of order MBH ≳ 107 M⊙. Combined with the published stellar masses of the galaxies, estimated from dedicated fitting of their spectral energy distributions, the implied BH-to-stellar mass ratios are of order MBH/Mhost ≈ 0.1-1. This is considerably higher than what is found in the local Universe, but is consistent with the general trend seen in some other z ≳ 5 AGN. Given the intrinsic weakness of the Ne V line and the nature of the Ne V -to-Lbol scaling, any (rare) detection of the [Ne v] λ3427 line at z > 5 would translate to similarly high AGN luminosities and SMBH masses, thus providing a unique observational path for studying luminous AGN well into the epoch of reionization, including obscured sources.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Trakhtenbrot, Benny ; School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel ; Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching, Germany ; Excellence Cluster ORIGINS, Garching, Germany
Ricci, Claudio ; Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, Versoix, Switzerland ; Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile
Treister, Ezequiel ; Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
Koss, Michael J. ; Oakland, United States ; Space Science Institute, Boulder, United States
Mushotzky, Richard ; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, United States
Oh, Kyuseok ; Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute, Daejeon, South Korea
Peca, Alessandro ; Oakland, United States ; Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, United States
Bauer, Franz E. ; Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
Gupta, Kriti Kamal ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Unités de recherche interfacultaires > Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research (STAR) ; Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent, Gent, Belgium
Reiss, Tomer; School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Language :
English
Title :
Insights for Early Massive Black Hole Growth from JWST Detection of the [Ne v] λ3427 Emission Line
H2020 - 950533 - ExSMBHs - The Missing Pieces of the SMBH Accretion Puzzle: Revealing Extreme Accretion Modes
Funders :
ERC - European Research Council KASI - Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute NRF - National Research Foundation of Korea FONDECYT - Chile Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico ANID - Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo European Union
Funding text :
B.T. and T.R. acknowledge support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 950533) and from the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1849/19). C.R. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation Consolidator grant TMCG-2_223191. K.O. acknowledges support from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute under the R&D program (Project No. 2025-1-831-01), supervised by the Korea AeroSpace Administration, and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (RS-2025-00553982). We acknowledge support from the ANID CATA-BASAL program FB210003 (E.T., F.E.B.), FONDECYT Regular grants 1241005 and 1250821 (E.T., F.E.B.), and Millennium Science Initiative, AIM23-0001 (F.E.B.). This research was supported by the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation) under Germany\u2019s Excellence Strategy\u2014EXC 2094\u2014390783311.We thank the anonymous reviewer whose comments allowed us to improve various aspects of this Letter. We thank R. Maiolino and J. Scholtz for providing useful information regarding NG-GS-10013609, and for their invaluable comments on the manuscript. We also thank J. McKaig for his input on Ne V emission modeling, as well as N. Cleri, U. Izotov, G. Mazzolari, M. Reefe, M. Volonteri, and H. \u00DCbler for useful discussions. B.T. and T.R. acknowledge support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 950533) and from the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1849/19). C.R. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation Consolidator grant TMCG-2_223191. K.O. acknowledges support from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute under the R&D program (Project No. 2025-1-831-01), supervised by the Korea AeroSpace Administration, and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (RS-2025-00553982). We acknowledge support from the ANID CATA-BASAL program FB210003 (E.T., F.E.B.), FONDECYT Regular grants 1241005 and 1250821 (E.T., F.E.B.), and Millennium Science Initiative, AIM23-0001 (F.E.B.). This research was supported by the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation) under Germany\u2019s Excellence Strategy\u2014EXC 2094\u2014390783311. B.T. acknowledges the hospitality of the Instituto de Estudios Astrof\u00EDsicos at Universidad Diego Portales, the Instituto de Astrof\u00EDsica at Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00F3lica de Chile, and the Institut d\u2019Astrophysique de Paris, where parts of this study have been carried out.
Commentary :
ApJL, accepted. Minor corrections identified in paper proofs
