VENUS: When Red meets Blue -- A multiply imaged Little Red Dot with an apparent blue companion behind the galaxy cluster Abell 383

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a multiply-imaged Little Red Dot galaxy behind Abell 383, revealing a complex system with a red point source and a blue companion, providing new insights into early galaxy formation.

Contribution

First confirmed multiply-imaged Little Red Dot system with detailed lensing, SED, and emission line analysis, enhancing understanding of high-redshift galaxy properties.

Findings

Identification of a red point-source with a blue companion at z=6.027

Detection of [C II] emission with ALMA from the system

Estimation of lensing magnifications and time delay between images

Abstract

We report the discovery of a doubly-imaged Little Red Dot (LRD) candidate behind the galaxy cluster Abell 383, which we dub A383-LRD1. Initially classified as a dropout galaxy in HST imaging with several ground-based emission line detections placing it at $z_{\mathrm{spec}}=6.027$, new JWST/NIRCam observations taken as part of the cycle 4 VENUS survey now reveal that the source consists of two underlying components: A red point-source with a V-shaped SED consistent with LRD selection criteria, and a nearby ($\sim 380$ pc) compact blue companion which was the main contributor to the previous rest-frame UV detections. Based on lensing symmetry and its SED, the LRD appears to lie at a similar redshift as well. The magnification of the two images of A383-LRD1 is $\mu_{\mathrm{A}}=16.2\pm1.2$ and $\mu_\mathrm{B}=9.0\pm0.6$, respectively, and the predicted time delay between them is $\Delta t_{\mathrm{grav}}=5.20\pm0.14$ yr ($\sim0.7$ yr in the rest-frame). After correcting for the lensing magnification, we derive an absolute magnitude of $M_{\mathrm{UV,LRD}}=-16.8\pm 0.3$ for the LRD, and $M_{\mathrm{UV,BC}}=-18.2\pm 0.2$ for the blue companion. We perform SED fits to both components, revealing the LRD to be best fitted with a black hole star (BH*) model and a substantial host galaxy, and the blue companion with an extremely young, emission-line dominated star-forming nebula. A383-LRD1 represents the second known multiply-imaged LRD detected to date, following A2744-QSO1, and to our knowledge, the first LRD system with a confirmed detection of [C $_{II}$]$\lambda158 \ \mu$m emission from ALMA observations. Thanks to lensing magnification, this system opens a unique door to study the relation between a LRD, its host galaxy, and its environment, and represents a prime candidate for deep JWST spectroscopy and high-resolution ALMA follow-up observations.