Talk The universe has a face full of red dots

5 March 2026

Conference by Federica Loiacono (INAF-OAS)

How to partecipate

Requirements: Free admission, registration required
Free admission

Why partecipate

To discover Webb’s mysterious little red dots through an engaging journey of new discoveries and big questions about the universe.

Program

They are small, red, and distant. They are one of the surprises from the first years of observations by the James Webb Space Telescope. A puzzle for astronomers around the world. Some say they are galaxies packed to the brim with stars. Some say they are massive black holes wrapped in dense walls of gas. And some say there were quite a lot of them when the universe was at the height of its activity — and that supermassive black holes may have continued to form even in more recent epochs than expected. Let’s try to get to know the little red dots discovered by Webb, and explore together what we have understood so far — and what still remains unknown.

Speakers

  • Federica Loiacono

    INAF - Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio