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Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1a (NIRCam Image with NIRSpec IFU Velocity Map)

Image at left. Pullout with map on right. Left: Space telescope image labeled QSO1A shows small, red, circular object outlined with white square. Scale bar in bottom left corner labeled 1 arcsecond shows that image is about 4 arcseconds across and object is about 0.4 arcseconds across. Right: Enlarged view of Little Red Dot overlaid with dumbbell-shaped array of pixels ranging in color from blue to orange. Dumbbell shape is vertical, and pixels are oriented at 45 degrees. Below pixels is blue to orange scale bar showing that color of each pixel is related to gas velocity in kilometers per second. Left side of scale bar grades from blue (labeled 20) to gray (labeled 0). Blue arrow pointing left from 0 to 20 beneath left (blue) side of scale bar is labeled toward. Orange arrow pointing right from 0 to 20 beneath the right (orange) side labeled away. Pixels on lower half of dumbbell shape are blue to gray. Most pixels on upper half are orange to gray, but some are blue.

An image detail from NIRCam on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows the Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1, gravitationally lensed by Abell 2744, an enormous mega-cluster of galaxies also known as Pandora’s Cluster.

Pulled out to the right is a map showing the speed that gas is moving toward or away from the telescope (rotational velocity) in different parts of QSO1. The map was made with data collected using NIRSpec’s integral field unit (IFU), a combination of camera and spectrograph. The IFU gathers an image along with 900 spectra from a square patch of sky 3 arcseconds by 3 arcseconds, creating maps showing differences in brightness of thousands of wavelengths between 0.6-micron and 5.3-micron light across the object. The gas velocity is calculated based on Doppler shift: The colors are shifted slightly toward shorter (bluer) wavelengths where material is moving toward us, and longer (redder) wavelengths where it is moving away.

The Webb data shows that the glowing gas has Keplerian rotation: It is orbiting a central point in the same way that planets orbit a star. This means that most of the mass of QSO1 must reside in a single point in the center, i.e., a black hole. Because the velocity of the orbiting gas follows very simple laws of gravity, the data can then be used to calculate the mass of the black hole: It appears to be 50 million solar masses, or 50 million times the mass of our Sun. This is at least two-thirds of the entire mass of QSO1.

See the full NIRCam image and explore Webb’s NIRSpec IFU observation of QSO1 on Space Telescope Live.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    00:14:19.16
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -30:24:05.66
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Sculptor
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    About 13.1 billlion light-years away (z = 7.04)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.

    This image was created with Webb data from proposal: 2561 (I. Labbe) and 5015 (H. Uebler).

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    Left: NIRCam Right: NIRSpec/IFU
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    2 Nov 2022, 15 Nov 2022, 10 Dec 2024
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    NIRCam>F115W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W, F444W, NIRSpec>G395H
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Abell2744-QSO1
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Gravitationally lensed Little Red Dot
  • Release Date
    May 27, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Reveals Black Hole That Formed Before Its Galaxy
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Ignas Juodžbalis (Cambridge), Cosimo Marconcini (University of Florence), Roberto Maiolino (Cambridge), Francesco D'Eugenio (Cambridge), Hannah Übler (MPE); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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Image at left. Pullout with map on right. Left: Space telescope image labeled QSO1A shows small, red, circular object outlined with white square. Scale bar in bottom left corner labeled 1 arcsecond shows that image is about 4 arcseconds across and object is about 0.4 arcseconds across. Right: Enlarged view of Little Red Dot overlaid with dumbbell-shaped array of pixels ranging in color from blue to orange. Dumbbell shape is vertical, and pixels are oriented at 45 degrees. Below pixels is blue to orange scale bar showing that color of each pixel is related to gas velocity in kilometers per second. Left side of scale bar grades from blue (labeled 20) to gray (labeled 0). Blue arrow pointing left from 0 to 20 beneath left (blue) side of scale bar is labeled toward. Orange arrow pointing right from 0 to 20 beneath the right (orange) side labeled away. Pixels on lower half of dumbbell shape are blue to gray. Most pixels on upper half are orange to gray, but some are blue.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

The left image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the James Webb Space Telescope using the NIRCam instrument. Several filters were used to sample specific wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:   Blue: F115W+F150W, Green: F200W+F277W, Red: F356W+F444W The right image is a radial velocity map derived from the NIRSpec/IFU on the James Webb Space Telescope. The color results from applying a gradient map to a monochromatic image where color corresponds with direction and brightness corresponds to speed.

Related Images & Videos

Space telescope image showing hundreds of bright objects of different size, color, and shape on the black background of space. Colors range from white to deep red. Shapes include elliptical, spiral, dot-like, dash-like, and arcuate. Many of the large objects near the center of the image are fuzzy white, with bright white cores. Many smaller objects scattered throughout the image are pink to red. Three objects in the central part of the image are called out with small white boxes: A box labeled u201cCu201d at about 12 ou2019clock; one labeled u201cBu201d at 3 ou2019clock; and a box labeled u201cAu201d at 4 ou2019clock. Images of the three objects are enlarged in boxes running vertically along the right. From top to bottom these are labeled QSO1A, QSO1B, and QSO1C. At the center of each box is a tiny, circular red dot. QSO1A (top) is notably larger, brighter, and clearer than the other two. QSO1B, in the middle, is smallest and fuzziest, and is somewhat washed out by the light of a larger white object next to it.

Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1 (NIRCam Image)

An image from NIRCam on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1, magnified and triply imaged by galaxy cluster Abell 2744 (Pandora’s Cluster).

Image titled James Webb Space Telescope, Pandorau2019s Cluster, Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1 with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key. A deep field image showing objects of different size, color, and shape. Three tiny, red circular objects are called out with small white boxes, and enlarged in pullouts labeled from top to bottom: QSO1A, QSO1B, and QSO1C. In the bottom left corner of the image are compass arrows indicating the orientation of the image on the sky. The east arrow points toward 10 ou2019clock. The north arrow points toward 1 o'clock. At the bottom right corner of the image is a scale bar labeled 15 arcseconds. The image width is about 5.5 times the length of the scale bar. Below the image is a color key showing which NIRCam filters were used to create the image and which visible light color is assigned to each filter. From left to right: F115W (blue), F150W (blue), F200W (green), F277W (green), F356W (red), F444W (red).

Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1 (NIRCam Compass Image)

Image of Abell 2744 and Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1, captured by Webb’s NIRCam, with compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.

Screenshot of vertical video showing a pixelated map above an oblique view of gas swirling around a black hole.

Little Red Dot Abell2744-QSO1: Sonification of Gas Velocity Around a Supermassive Black Hole (NIRCam and NIRSpec IFU)

A sonification is a translation of data into sound. In this sonification, the velocity of hydrogen gas moving around a black hole in the center of a Little Red Dot known as Abell2744-QSO1 (QSO1) is translated into sounds of varying pitch (or frequency). The faster the gas is movi...

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Details

Last Updated
May 27, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

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