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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Systematic search for spherical crystal X-ray microscopes matching 1–25 keV spectral line sources

Spherical-crystal microscopes are used as high-resolution imaging devices for monochromatic x-ray radiography or for imaging the source itself. Crystals and Miller indices (hkl) have to be matched such that the resulting lattice spacing d is close to half the spectral wavelength used for imaging, to fulfill the Bragg equation with a Bragg angle near 90° which reduces astigmatism. Only a few suitable crystal and spectral-line combinations have been identified for applications in the literature, suggesting that x-ray imaging using spherical crystals is constrained to a few chance matches. In this paper, after performing a systematic, automated search over more than 9 × 10 6 possible combinations for x-ray energies between 1 and 25 keV, for six crystals with arbitrary Miller-index combinations hkl between 0 and 20, we show that a matching, efficient crystal and spectral-line pair can be found for almost every He α or K α x-ray source for the elements Ne to Sn. Finally, using the data presented here it should be possible to find a suitable imaging combination using an x-ray source that is specifically selected for a particular purpose, instead of relying on the limited number of existing crystal imaging systems that have been identified to date.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2011

DETECTION OF THE COSMIC FAR-INFRARED BACKGROUND IN AKARI DEEP FIELD SOUTH

We report new limits on the absolute brightness and spatial fluctuations of the cosmic infrared background (CIB) via the AKARI satellite. We carried out observations at 65, 90, 140, and 160 {mu}m as a cosmological survey in AKARI Deep Field South, which is one of the lowest cirrus regions with a contiguous area of the sky. After removing bright galaxies and subtracting zodiacal and Galactic foregrounds from the measured sky brightness, we successfully measured the CIB brightness and its fluctuations across a wide range of angular scales, from arcminutes to degrees. The measured CIB brightness is consistent with previous results reported from COBE data, but significantly higher than the lower limits at 70 and 160 {mu}m obtained via Spitzer from the stacking analysis of selected 24 {mu}m sources. The discrepancy with the Spitzer result is possibly due to a new galaxy population at high redshift obscured by hot dust or unknown diffuse emission. From a power spectrum analysis at 90 {mu}m, two components were identified: the CIB fluctuations with shot noise due to individual galaxies in a small angular scale from the beam size up to 10 arcminutes, and Galactic cirrus emission dominating at the largest angular scales of a few degrees. The overall shape of the power spectrum at 90 {mu}m is very similar to that at longer wavelengths, as observed by Spitzer and the Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST). Our power spectrum, with an intermediate angular scale of 10-30 arcminutes, gives a firm upper limit for galaxy clustering, which was found by Spitzer and BLAST. Moreover, the color of the CIB fluctuations, which is obtained by combining our data with the previous results, is as red as ultra-luminous infrared galaxies at high redshift. These galaxies are not likely to provide the majority of the CIB emission at 90 {mu}m, but are responsible for the fluctuations. Our results provide new constraints on the evolution and clustering properties of distant infrared galaxies and any diffuse emission from the early universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE BRIGHTEST OF REIONIZING GALAXIES SURVEY: CONSTRAINTS ON THE BRIGHT END OF THE z {approx} 8 LUMINOSITY FUNCTION

We report the discovery of 33 Lyman-break galaxy candidates at z {approx} 8 detected in Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) imaging as part of the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) pure-parallel survey. The ongoing BoRG survey currently has the largest area (274 arcmin{sup 2}) with Y {sub 098} (or Y {sub 105}), J {sub 125}, and H {sub 160} band coverage needed to search for z {approx} 8 galaxies, about three times the current CANDELS area, and slightly larger than what will be the final CANDELS wide component with Y {sub 105} data (required to select z {approx} 8 sources). Our sample of 33 relatively bright Y {sub 098}-dropout galaxies have J {sub 125}-band magnitudes between 25.5 and 27.4 mag. This is the largest sample of bright (J {sub 125} {approx}< 27.4) z {approx} 8 galaxy candidates presented to date. Combining our data set with the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field data set, we constrain the rest-frame ultraviolet galaxy luminosity function at z {approx} 8 over the widest dynamic range currently available. The combined data sets are well fitted by a Schechter function, i.e., {phi} (L) = {phi}{sub *} (L/L{sub *}){sup {alpha}} e{sup -(}L{sup /L{sub *})}, without evidence for an excess of sources at the bright end. At 68% confidence, for h = 0.7 we derive {phi}{sub *} = (4.3{sup +3.5} {sub -2.1}) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} Mpc{sup -3}, M {sub *} = -20.26{sup +0.29} {sub -0.34}, and a very steep faint-end slope {alpha} = -1.98{sup +0.23} {sub -0.22}. While the best-fit parameters still have a strong degeneracy, especially between {phi}{sub *} and M {sub *}, our improved coverage at the bright end has reduced the uncertainty of the faint-end power-law slope at z {approx} 8 compared to the best previous determination at {+-}0.4. With a future expansion of the BoRG survey, combined with planned ultradeep WFC3/IR observations, it will be possible to further reduce this uncertainty and clearly demonstrate the steepening of the faint-end slope compared to measurements at lower redshift, thereby confirming the key role played by small galaxies in the reionization of the universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Searching for debris disks around seven radio pulsars

We report on our searches for debris disks around seven relatively nearby radio pulsars, which are isolated sources that were carefully selected as targets on the basis of our deep K{sub s} -band imaging survey. The K{sub s} images obtained with the 6.5 m Baade Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory are analyzed together with the Spitzer/IRAC images at 4.5 and 8.0 μm and the WISE images at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm. No infrared counterparts of these pulsars are found, with flux upper limits of ∼μJy at near-infrared (λ < 10 μm) and ∼10-1000 μJy at mid-infrared wavelengths (λ > 10 μm). The results of this search are discussed in terms of the efficiency of converting the pulsar spin-down energy to thermal energy and X-ray heating of debris disks, with a comparison made of the two magnetars 4U 0142+61 and 1E 2259+586, which are suggested to harbor a debris disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE RED MSX SOURCE SURVEY: THE MASSIVE YOUNG STELLAR POPULATION OF OUR GALAXY

We present the Red MSX Source survey, the largest statistically selected catalog of young massive protostars and H II regions to date. We outline the construction of the catalog using mid- and near-infrared color selection. We also discuss the detailed follow up work at other wavelengths, including higher spatial resolution data in the infrared. We show that within the adopted selection bounds we are more than 90% complete for the massive protostellar population, with a positional accuracy of the exciting source of better than 2 arcsec. We briefly summarize some of the results that can be obtained from studying the properties of the objects in the catalog as a whole; we find evidence that the most massive stars form: (1) preferentially nearer the Galactic center than the anti-center; (2) in the most heavily reddened environments, suggestive of high accretion rates; and (3) from the most massive cloud cores.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

RAPID INFRARED VARIABILITY OF THREE RADIO-LOUD NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 GALAXIES: A VIEW FROM THE WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER

Using newly released data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we report the discovery of rapid infrared variability in three radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) selected from the 23 sources in the sample of Yuan et al. J0849+5108 and J0948+0022 clearly show intraday variability, while J1505+0326 has a longer measurable timescale within 180 days. Their variability amplitudes, corrected for measurement errors, are {approx}0.1-0.2 mag. The detection of intraday variability restricts the size of the infrared-emitting region to {approx}10{sup -3} pc, significantly smaller than the scale of the torus but consistent with the base of a jet. The three variable sources are exceptionally radio-loud, have the highest radio brightness temperature among the whole sample, and all show detected {gamma}-ray emission in Fermi/LAT observations. Their spectral energy distributions resemble those of low-energy-peaked blazars, with a synchrotron peak around infrared wavelengths. This result strongly confirms the view that at least some radio-loud NLS1s are blazars with a relativistic jet close to our line of sight. The beamed synchrotron emission from the jet contributes significantly to and probably dominates the spectra in the infrared and even optical bands.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

The brown dwarf population in the star-forming region NGC 2264

ABSTRACT The brown dwarf population in the canonical star-forming region NGC 2264 is so far poorly explored. We present a deep, multiwavelength, multiepoch survey of the star-forming cluster NGC 2264, aimed to identify young brown dwarf candidates in this region. Using criteria including optical/near-infrared (IR) colours, variability, Spitzer mid-IR colour excess, extinction, and Gaia parallax and proper motion (in order of relevance), we select 902 faint red sources with indicators of youth. Within this sample, we identify 429 brown dwarf candidates based on their IR colours. The brown dwarf candidates are estimated to span a mass range from 0.01 to 0.08 M⊙. We find rotation periods for 44 sources, 15 of which are brown dwarf candidates, ranging from 3.6 h to 6.5 d. A subset of 38 brown dwarf candidates show high-level irregular variability indicative of ongoing disc accretion, similar to the behaviour of young stars.

Pearson, Samuel↗
DOE OSTI2018

Imprints of gravitational lensing in the Planck cosmic microwave background data at the location of W I S E × SCOS galaxies

We detect weak gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background at the location of the WISE × SuperCOSMOS (WISE × SCOS) galaxies using the publicly available Planck lensing convergence map. By stacking the lensing convergence map at the position of 12.4 million galaxies in the redshift range 0.1 ≤ $\mathscr{z}$ ≤ 0.345, we find the average mass of the galaxies to be $M_{200_{crit}}$ = 6.25 ± 0.6 × 10 12 M$_⊙$. The null hypothesis of no lensing is rejected at a significance of 17$σ$ . We split the galaxy sample into three redshift slices, each containing ~4.1 million objects, and obtain lensing masses in each slice of 4.18 ± 0.8, 6.93 ± 0.9, and 18.84 ± 1.2 × 10 12 M$_⊙$. Our results suggest a redshift evolution of the galaxy sample masses, but this apparent increase might be due to the preferential selection of intrinsically luminous sources at high redshifts. The recovered mass of the stacked sample is reduced by 28% when we remove the galaxies in the vicinity of galaxy clusters with mass $M_{200_{crit}}$ = 2 × 10 14 M ⊙ . We forecast that upcoming CMB surveys can achieve 5% galaxy mass constraints over sets of 12.4 million galaxies with $M_{200_{crit}}$ = 1 × 10 12 M ⊙ at $z$ = 1 .

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fast automated energy changes at synchrotron radiation beamlines equipped with transfocator or focusing mirrors

Algorithms and procedures to fully automate retuning of synchrotron radiation beamlines over wide energy ranges are discussed. The discussion is based on the implementation at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Cancer Institute Structural Biology Facility at the Advanced Photon Source. When a user selects a new beamline energy, software synchronously controls the beamline monochromator and undulator to maintain the X-ray beam flux after the monochromator, preserves beam attenuation by determining a new set of attenuator foils, changes, as needed, mirror reflecting stripes and the undulator harmonic, preserves beam focal distance of compound refractive lens focusing by changing the In/Out combination of lenses in the transfocator, and, finally, restores beam position at the sample by on-the-fly scanning of either the Kirkpatrick–Baez mirror angles or the transfocator up/down and inboard/outboard positions. The sample is protected from radiation damage by automatically moving it out of the beam during the energy change and optimization.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Screening of transporters to improve xylodextrin utilization in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The economic production of cellulosic biofuel requires efficient and full utilization of all abundant carbohydrates naturally released from plant biomass by enzyme cocktails. Recently, we reconstituted the Neurospora crassa xylodextrin transport and consumption system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, enabling growth of yeast on xylodextrins aerobically. However, the consumption rate of xylodextrin requires improvement for industrial applications, including consumption in anaerobic conditions. As a first step in this improvement, we report analysis of orthologues of the N. crassa transporters CDT-1 and CDT-2. Transporter ST16 from Trichoderma virens enables faster aerobic growth of S. cerevisiae on xylodextrins compared to CDT-2. ST16 is a xylodextrin-specific transporter, and the xylobiose transport activity of ST16 is not inhibited by cellobiose. Other transporters identified in the screen also enable growth on xylodextrins including xylotriose. Taken together, these results indicate that multiple transporters might prove useful to improve xylodextrin utilization in S. cerevisiae. Efforts to use directed evolution to improve ST16 from a chromosomally-integrated copy were not successful, due to background growth of yeast on other carbon sources present in the selection medium. Future experiments will require increasing the baseline growth rate of the yeast population on xylodextrins, to ensure that the selective pressure exerted on xylodextrin transport can lead to isolation of improved xylodextrin transporters.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG)- Better Buildings Neighborhood Program Final Report

The original BetterBuildings for Greensboro grant program included an outreach campaign to inform 100% of the Greensboro community about the benefits of reducing energy use; a plan to reduce energy consumption in at least 34% of the homes and 10% of the other buildings in the east Greensboro target area; and a plan to create and retain jobs in the energy conservation industry. Under the original program structure the City of Greensboro planned to partner with local and regional lenders to create a diversified portfolio of loan products to meet the needs of various income levels and building types. All participants would participate in the loan programs as a method of meeting the program’s 5 to1 private capital match/leverage requirements. In June 2011 the program was restructured to include partnerships with large commercial and multifamily projects, with these partners providing the greater portion of the required match/leverage. The geographic focus was revised to include reducing energy consumption across the entire City of Greensboro, targeting neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-moderate income households and aged housing stock. The community outreach component used a neighborhood-based approach to train community residents and volunteers to conduct door-to-door neighborhood sweeps; delivered high quality information on available program resources; helped residents to evaluate alternative energy efficiency measures and alternative financing sources; assisted with contractor selections and monitoring/evaluation of work; coordinated activities with BetterBuildings program partners; and collected data required by the Department of Energy. Additionally, HERO (Home Energy Response Officers) delivered intro packages (energy efficiency information and products) to thousands of households at the initial point of contact. A pilot program (Early Adopters) was offered from March 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011. The Early Adopters program was designed to offer immediate assistance to property owners ready and able to make their homes more energy efficient, by offering a rebate on their energy assessment and on the cost of upgrades installed. Eligible energy efficient upgrades were inclusive of basic level insulating and weather-stripping, HVAC system and water heater upgrades, to whole home upgrades that include the replacement of windows, doors and appliances. Renewable energy systems such as solar hot water systems were also eligible for the rebate program.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2019

Carbon Dioxide Enhanced Oil Recovery Life Cycle (CELiC) Model

The Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Life Cycle (CELiC) Model calculates life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a CO 2 -EOR system, where the user can select one of three sources of the injected CO 2 : (1) extracted from a natural dome, (2) captured from a coal-fired power plant, or (3) captured from a natural gas power plant. The model has several parameters and options to allow the assessment of the system for a wide-array of products—electricity, pipeline CO 2 , crude oil, and refined fuels. The model is also capable of deterministic (i.e., point estimate) and stochastic (i.e., probabilistic) analyses and finally a deterministic time-series analysis that shows the changing GHG emissions for the CO 2 -EOR system over time.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Community Resilience Indicator Analysis: Commonly Used Indicators from Peer-Reviewed Research (Updated for Research Published 2003-2021)

In 2017, FEMA’s National Integration Center (NIC) Technical Assistance (TA) Branch identified a need to establish a data-driven basis for prioritizing locations for TA investment and guiding local emergency management planning. To achieve this goal, FEMA tasked Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) with identifying commonly used indicators of community resilience across the landscape of published peer-reviewed research. FEMA and Argonne completed the first Community Resilience Indicator Analysis (CRIA) in 2018 and repeated the process in 2022. The CRIA process begins with a literature review and cataloguing of published peer-reviewed assessment methodologies on social vulnerability and community resilience. The literature review findings are then filtered by inclusion criteria established by the CRIA research team to ensure the methodologies are: (1) Quantitative, (2) Data and methodology are publicly available, (3) Calculated at the county level or lower, (4) Examine generalized hazard risk (rather than a singular hazard), and (5) Focused on pre-disaster community conditions. After this, the research team identifies the commonly used indicators across these methodologies and selects the best data source for each indicator. Finally, the research team bins the data for visual display, conducts a correlation analysis and creates a composite index, the FEMA Community Resilience Index (FEMA CRI). In 2018, the CRIA identified eight resilience and vulnerability assessment methodologies and 20 commonly used indicators (indicators used in three or more of the eight methodologies). The FEMA CRI in 2018 was created from these 20 indicators and was produced for at the county level. The 2022 CRIA updated the literature review to expand the list of methodologies examined and followed the same process, resulting in an analysis of 14 methodologies published between 2003 and 2021 and 22 indicators identified as commonly used (indicators used in five or more of the 14 methodologies). In 2022, the research team produced the FEMA CRI at the county and the census tract levels. To make the CRIA data more accessible and more actionable, each individual indicator and the FEMA CRI is binned and included in FEMA’s Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool (RAPT). RAPT enables emergency managers and community partners to quickly visualize relative differences in potential resilience by county, tribe and census tract. By reviewing the data for each of these 22 indicators individually, emergency managers can gain insights for targeted outreach strategies, planning, mitigation investments and response and recovery operations. Communities, regional governments and others can use this data to better understand potential challenges to resilience. As the social science field of examining and validating indicators of resilience evolves, FEMA will update RAPT to provide emergency managers and community partners with additional data and tools to inform planning, mitigation, response and recovery. It is important to understand that the role of the emergency manager is not to change or to “improve” the data, but to plan appropriately for the community characteristics reflected in the data. These datasets are community characteristics that researchers have identified as important considerations for resilience. For example, people with disabilities may have greater challenges to be resilient to disasters. If a community has a high population of people with disabilities, the emergency manager(s) may need to create tailored preparedness outreach programs and strategies to ensure those residents have support if evacuation is necessary. Rather than label these indicators as an absolute measure of resilience, FEMA considers “potential challenges to resilience” a better frame to understand these indicators. Everyone is vulnerable to disasters. While scholars theorize that certain characteristics may make an individual or a household more socially vulnerable, the data does not reflect measures that individuals and/or communities have taken to address potential challenges, such as emergency management planning and outreach or household preparedness measures. To aid emergency managers in understanding how to use these indicators, calling them potential challenges to resilience supports a more positive and strategic application of the data in all phases of emergency management.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2016

GAS KINEMATICS AND STAR FORMATION IN THE FILAMENTARY IRDC G34.43+0.24

We performed a multiwavelength study toward the infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G34.43+0.24. New maps of {sup 13}CO J = 1–0 and C{sup 18}O J = 1–0 were obtained from the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) 13.7 m radio telescope. At 8 μm (Spitzer-IRAC), IRDC G34.43+0.24 appears to be a dark filament extended by 18′ along the north–south direction. Based on the association with the 870 μm and C{sup 18}O J = 1–0 emission, we suggest that IRDC G34.43+0.24 should not be 18′ in length, but extend to 34′. IRDC G34.43+0.24 contains some massive protostars, UC H ii regions, and infrared bubbles. The spatial extend of IRDC G34.43+0.24 is about 37 pc, assuming a distance of 3.7 kpc. IRDC G34.43+0.24 has a linear mass density of ∼1.6 × 10{sup 3} M{sub ⊙} pc{sup −1}, which is roughly consistent with its critical mass to length ratio. The turbulent motion may help stabilize the filament against the radial collapse. Both infrared bubbles N61 and N62 show a ringlike structure at 8 μm. In particular, N61 has a double-shell structure that has expanded into IRDC G34.43+0.24. The outer shell is traced by 8 μm and {sup 13}CO J = 1–0 emission, while the inner shell is traced by 24 μm and 20 cm emission. We suggest that the outer shell (9.9 × 10{sup 5} years) is created by the expansion of H ii region G34.172+0.175, while the inner shell (4.1 ∼ 6.3 × 10{sup 5} years) may be produced by the energetic stellar wind of its central massive star. From the GLIMPSE I catalog, we selected some Class I sources with an age of ∼10{sup 5} years. These Class I sources are clustered along the filamentary molecular cloud.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ultraviolet emission lines of Si ii in quasars—investigating the “Si ii disaster”

The observed line intensity ratios of the Si ii λ1263 and λ1307 multiplets to that of Si ii λ1814 in the broad-line region (BLR) of quasars are both an order of magnitude larger than the theoretical values. This was first pointed out by Baldwin et al., who termed it the “Si ii disaster,” and it has remained unresolved. We investigate the problem in the light of newly published atomic data for Si ii. Specifically, we perform BLR calculations using several different atomic data sets within the CLOUDY modeling code under optically thick quasar cloud conditions. In addition, we test for selective pumping by the source photons or intrinsic galactic reddening as possible causes for the discrepancy, and we also consider blending with other species. However, we find that none of the options investigated resolve the Si ii disaster, with the potential exception of microturbulent velocity broadening and line blending. We find that a larger microturbulent velocity (∼500 km s{sup −1}) may solve the Si ii disaster through continuum pumping and other effects. The CLOUDY models indicate strong blending of the Si ii λ1307 multiplet with emission lines of O i, although the predicted degree of blending is incompatible with the observed λ1263/λ1307 intensity ratios. Clearly, more work is required on the quasar modeling of not just the Si ii lines but also nearby transitions (in particular those of O i) to fully investigate whether blending may be responsible for the Si ii disaster.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

PHOTOMETRIC SELECTION OF A MASSIVE GALAXY CATALOG WITH z ≥ 0.55

We present the development of a photometrically selected massive galaxy catalog, targeting Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) and massive blue galaxies at redshifts of z⩾0.55. Massive galaxy candidates are selected using infrared/optical color–color cuts, with optical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and infrared data from “unWISE” forced photometry derived from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The selection method is based on previously developed techniques to select LRGs with z>0.5, and is optimized using receiver operating characteristic curves. The catalog contains 16,191,145 objects, selected over the full SDSS DR10 footprint. The redshift distribution of the resulting catalog is estimated using spectroscopic redshifts from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey and photometric redshifts from COSMOS. Restframe U − B colors from DEEP2 are used to estimate LRG selection efficiency. Using DEEP2, the resulting catalog has an average redshift of z = 0.65, with a standard deviation of σ=2.0, and an average restframe of U−B=1.0, with a standard deviation of σ=0.27. Using COSMOS, the resulting catalog has an average redshift of z = 0.60, with a standard deviation of σ=1.8. We estimate 34% of the catalog to be blue galaxies with z⩾0.55. An estimated 9.6% of selected objects are blue sources with redshift z<0.55. Stellar contamination is estimated to be 1.8%.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Unveiling the First Black Holes With JWST:Multi-wavelength Spectral Predictions

Growing supermassive black holes (∼10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙}) that power luminous z>6 quasars from light seeds—the remnants of the first stars—within a Gyr of the Big Bang poses a timing challenge. The formation of massive black hole seeds via direct collapse with initial masses ∼10{sup 4}--10{sup 5} M{sub ⊙} alleviates this problem. Viable direct-collapse black hole formation sites, the satellite halos of star-forming galaxies, merge and acquire stars to produce a new, transient class of high-redshift objects, obese black hole galaxies (OBGs). The accretion luminosity outshines that of the stars in OBGs. We predict the multi-wavelength energy output of OBGs and growing Pop III remnants at z = 9 for standard and slim disk accretion, as well as high and low metallicities of the associated stellar population. We derive robust selection criteria for OBGs—a pre-selection to eliminate blue sources, followed by color–color cuts ([F{sub 090W}−F{sub 220W}]>0;−0.3<[F{sub 200W}−F{sub 444W}]<0.3) and the ratio of X-ray flux to rest-frame optical flux (F{sub X}/F{sub 444W}≫1). Our cuts sift out OBGs from other bright, high- and low-redshift contaminants in the infrared. OBGs with predicted M{sub AB}<25 are unambiguously detectable by the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), on the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). For parameters explored here, growing Pop III remnants with predicted M{sub AB}<30 will likely be undetectable by JWST. We demonstrate that JWST has the power to discriminate between initial seeding mechanisms.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗