article published yes Rohan P. Naidu author Jorryt J Matthee author 7439a258-f3c0-11ec-9501-9df22fe067200000-0003-2871-127X Harley Katz author Anna De Graaff author Pascal A. Oesch author Aaron Smith author Jenny E. Greene author Gabriel Brammer author Andrea Weibel author Raphael Hviding author John Chisholm author Ivo Labbé author Robert A. Simcoe author Callum Witten author Wendy Q. Sun author Hakim Atek author Josephine F.W. Baggen author Sirio Belli author Rachel Bezanson author Leindert A. Boogaard author Sownak Bose author Rychard J. Bouwens author Alba Covelo-Paz author Pratika Dayal author Yoshinobu Fudamoto author Lukas J. Furtak author Emma Giovinazzo author Andy Goulding author Max Gronke author Kasper E. Heintz author Michaela Hirschmann author Garth Illingworth author Akio K. Inoue author Benjamin D. Johnson author Joel Leja author Ecaterina Leonova author Ian Mcconachie author Michael V. Maseda author Priyamvada Natarajan author Erica Nelson author David J. Setton author Irene Shivaei author David Sobral author Mauro Stefanon author Sandro Tacchella author Sune Toft author Alberto Torralba Torregrosa author 018f0249-0e87-11f0-b167-cbce08fbd5410000-0001-5586-6950 Pieter Van Dokkum author Arjen Van Der Wel author Marta Volonteri author Fabian Walter author Bingjie Wang author Darach Watson author Katherine Whitaker author JoMa department The physical processes that led to the formation of billion-solar-mass black holes within the first 700 million years of cosmic time, a period known as cosmic dawn, remain a puzzle1. Several theoretical scenarios have been proposed to seed and rapidly grow black holes2,3,4, but direct observations of these mechanisms remain elusive. Here we present a source 660 million years after the Big Bang that exhibits singular properties: among the largest hydrogen Balmer breaks reported at any redshift, broad multi-peaked Hβ emission, and Balmer line absorption in several transitions. We model this source as an enshrouded black hole in which the Balmer break and absorption features are a result of extremely dense, turbulent gas forming a dust-free envelope around a supermassive black hole5,6. This source may provide evidence of an early black hole embedded in dense gas—a theoretical configuration proposed to rapidly grow black holes by super-Eddington accretion7,8. Radiation from the black hole seems to dominate almost all observed light, leaving limited room for contribution from its host galaxy. If the source merged with its brighter neighbour, it would resemble the recently discovered ‘little red dots’ with perplexing spectral energy distributions9,10,11. The redness of the black hole is due to gas, not dust12,13, and scattering, not kinematics, gives rise to the complex line shapes and luminosities—black hole masses of these sources may therefore be overestimated by orders of magnitude. https://research-explorer.ista.ac.at/download/22751/22841/2026_Nature_Naidu.pdf application/pdfno https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Springer Nature2026 eng 0028-0836 1476-4687 4258711710.1038/s41586-026-10846-4 6568127329-333 Naidu, Rohan P., et al. “A Gas-Enshrouded and Gas-Reddened Black Hole at Cosmic Dawn.” <i>Nature</i>, vol. 656, no. 8127, Springer Nature, 2026, pp. 329–33, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4">10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4</a>. R.P. Naidu, J.J. Matthee, H. Katz, A. De Graaff, P.A. Oesch, A. Smith, J.E. Greene, G. Brammer, A. Weibel, R. Hviding, J. Chisholm, I. Labbé, R.A. Simcoe, C. Witten, W.Q. Sun, H. Atek, J.F.W. Baggen, S. Belli, R. Bezanson, L.A. Boogaard, S. Bose, R.J. Bouwens, A. Covelo-Paz, P. Dayal, Y. Fudamoto, L.J. Furtak, E. Giovinazzo, A. Goulding, M. Gronke, K.E. Heintz, M. Hirschmann, G. Illingworth, A.K. Inoue, B.D. Johnson, J. Leja, E. Leonova, I. Mcconachie, M.V. Maseda, P. Natarajan, E. Nelson, D.J. Setton, I. Shivaei, D. Sobral, M. Stefanon, S. Tacchella, S. Toft, A. Torralba Torregrosa, P. Van Dokkum, A. Van Der Wel, M. Volonteri, F. Walter, B. Wang, D. Watson, K. Whitaker, Nature 656 (2026) 329–333. Naidu, R. P., Matthee, J. J., Katz, H., De Graaff, A., Oesch, P. A., Smith, A., … Whitaker, K. (2026). A gas-enshrouded and gas-reddened black hole at cosmic dawn. <i>Nature</i>. Springer Nature. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4</a> Naidu, Rohan P., Jorryt J Matthee, Harley Katz, Anna De Graaff, Pascal A. Oesch, Aaron Smith, Jenny E. Greene, et al. “A Gas-Enshrouded and Gas-Reddened Black Hole at Cosmic Dawn.” <i>Nature</i>. Springer Nature, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4</a>. R. P. Naidu <i>et al.</i>, “A gas-enshrouded and gas-reddened black hole at cosmic dawn,” <i>Nature</i>, vol. 656, no. 8127. Springer Nature, pp. 329–333, 2026. Naidu RP, Matthee JJ, Katz H, et al. A gas-enshrouded and gas-reddened black hole at cosmic dawn. <i>Nature</i>. 2026;656(8127):329-333. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4">10.1038/s41586-026-10846-4</a> Naidu RP, Matthee JJ, Katz H, De Graaff A, Oesch PA, Smith A, Greene JE, Brammer G, Weibel A, Hviding R, Chisholm J, Labbé I, Simcoe RA, Witten C, Sun WQ, Atek H, Baggen JFW, Belli S, Bezanson R, Boogaard LA, Bose S, Bouwens RJ, Covelo-Paz A, Dayal P, Fudamoto Y, Furtak LJ, Giovinazzo E, Goulding A, Gronke M, Heintz KE, Hirschmann M, Illingworth G, Inoue AK, Johnson BD, Leja J, Leonova E, Mcconachie I, Maseda MV, Natarajan P, Nelson E, Setton DJ, Shivaei I, Sobral D, Stefanon M, Tacchella S, Toft S, Torralba Torregrosa A, Van Dokkum P, Van Der Wel A, Volonteri M, Walter F, Wang B, Watson D, Whitaker K. 2026. A gas-enshrouded and gas-reddened black hole at cosmic dawn. Nature. 656(8127), 329–333. 227512026-08-23T22:01:46Z2026-09-07T12:50:34Z