Robert Simcoe

“When we see something very red in the universe, we often assume that it is surrounded by dust,”

Robert Simcoe · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-20

Researchers analyzed the distinct reddish hue of the newly discovered cosmic object.

“To our surprise, it turns out you can, if you have an extremely dense screen of hydrogen, so dense that it looks more like the surface of an enormous star than a wispy interstellar nebula.”

Robert Simcoe · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Simcoe describes the surprising simulation result that dense hydrogen alone could produce the red color.

“Just as wildfire smoke from Canada recently made the sky in Boston look bright red, astronomical objects can also appear redder than their intrinsic color when you see them through a veil of dust.”

Robert Simcoe · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Simcoe uses wildfire smoke over Boston as an analogy for dust reddening of astronomical objects.

“We started to ask: Could you make something that red using just hydrogen, without any dust?”

Robert Simcoe · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Simcoe recounts the question the team posed when running simulations of the red dot's color.

“When we see something very red in the universe, we often assume that it is surrounded by dust, like soot or ash,”

Robert Simcoe · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-16

Simcoe explains the usual assumption that red astronomical objects are reddened by dust.