IISER MOHALI

Abstract: :The James Webb Space Telescope, since its launch, has revolutionized our understanding of the very first epoch of the Universe. Among its most exciting discoveries are near-pristine galaxies, a surprisingly large population of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and notably, near-pristine galaxies hosting an AGN. The existence of these AGNs in the early Universe have challenged the current paradigm of black hole seeding mechanisms and their co-evolution with the host galaxies.

In this talk, I will introduce the enigmatic population of early AGNs called the "Little Red Dots" (LRDs). I will discuss the distinctive observational signatures of LRDs which differentiates them from the rest of the AGN populations. I will also briefly review recent theories proposed to explain these massive black holes in the early Universe.

Finally, I will present a comprehensive study of type 1 AGNs including LRDs from publicly available JWST/NIRSpec surveys. With narrow [OIII] emission as a probe for the physical conditions in AGN host galaxies, we aim to disentangle the underlying mechanisms governing weak [OIII] emission, testing competing scenarios such as low metallicity host and high interstellar gas densities to study the coevolution of blackhole and their host galaxies.

About the Speaker: Anishya is a postdoctoral researcher at the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge. Prior to this, she held a postdoctoral position at the University of Ljubljana. She completed her PhD at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and earned her MS from IISER Mohali in 2017. Her research focuses on different aspects of galaxy evolution across cosmic time, spanning from the cosmic noon to the epoch of reionization.

Join on Zoom:
Topic: Astro Alumni Seminar
Time: Feb 12, 2026 04:00 PM India
Meeting ID: 923 2628 8130
Passcode: 912741