Letter to the Editor

Discovery of low-redshift analogues to little red dots in DESI: A possible later evolutionary stage of compact LRDs

¹ Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
² National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China
³ School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China
⁴ Institute of Deep Space Sciences, Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, Hefei 230026, China
⁵ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, PR China

^★ Corresponding authors: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 29 October 2025
Accepted: 13 April 2026

Abstract

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has recently discovered a population of compact red sources at z ≥ 4 known as little red dots (LRDs). They are characterized by their V-shaped continuum spectra and prominent broad Balmer emission lines. As their underlying physical nature remains debated, and direct study at high redshift is challenging, we seek to identify and characterize LRD analogues in the low-redshift universe to constrain their properties and potential evolutionary pathways. We identified five candidates at z = 0.2 − 0.4 from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) that exhibit spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and broad Balmer emission lines closely resembling their high-redshift counterparts. However, we find significant differences: our low-redshift sample occupies a different region on the Baldwin, Phillips & Terlevich (BPT) diagram, and their stellar masses are significantly higher, suggesting a more substantial host galaxy contribution. These sources are not necessarily direct local analogues of high-redshift LRDs, but may represent later evolutionary stages of compact rapidly accreting systems or systems with related observational properties arising under different physical conditions. This sample provides a valuable laboratory for detailed follow-up studies to elucidate the nature of LRD-like phenomena.