GoKawiilDust, which is found throughout the Universe, absorbs and scatters blue light more efficiently than it does red, so astronomical objects often look reddened when observed from Earth. The reddening of light by dust underpins most theories about little red dots (LRDs)1,2, which are bright, compact astronomical objects with unknown origins. But now, in a paper in Nature, Naidu et al.3 report the discovery of an LRD with spectral properties that might be explained by a large cloud of dense, ionized gas, rather than dust. The authors argue that if other LRDs are gas-reddened, their true masses might be substantially smaller than previously estimated.
Nature 656, 301-302 (2026)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-02290-1
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Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests.
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