April 8
Little Red Dots as Globular Clusters in Formation
Speaker: Prof. John Chisholm, University of Texas
Abstract: When the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope were released, they revealed a surprising population of compact, extremely red source; quickly dubbed "Little Red Dots." These objects remain a mystery. In this talk, I will describe the growing observational picture and why several leading explanations struggle to match it. I will then explore a different possibility: that we are witnessing globular clusters in the act of forming. I show that their spectra are consistent with young stellar clusters hosting supermassive stars, and that their abundance matches what we would expect if they are progenitors of today’s globular clusters. If correct, this interpretation leads to testable predictions, offering a path toward finally uncovering the nature of these mysterious sources.
Host: Prof. Alberto Bolatto