{
  "abstract": "‘‘Little Red Dots” (LRDs) are an abundant high-redshift population newly discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and considered to be an early growth phase of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Using a method of pixel-by-pixel color selection and relaxing the compactness criteria, we identify four dual LRD candidates in the COSMOS-Web survey with projected separations of $0{_{.}^{\\prime\\prime}} 2$–$1{_{.}^{\\prime\\prime}} 2$. A comparison between existing LRD samples and mock data reveals that the projected separations of these dual LRD candidates are unlikely to result from chance projections of objects at different redshifts. Furthermore, two of the four systems are covered by COSMOS-3D slitless spectroscopy, and a single-line detection at the same observed wavelength for each LRD in a pair strongly supports that they are at identical redshifts. Assuming that the detected lines are H$\\alpha$ based on its high equivalent width and broad profile, the spectroscopic redshifts of $z=5.822$ and 5.464 for the two pairs are consistent with their photometric redshifts, yielding projected separations of 1.64 and 7.36 kpc. These discoveries suggest that the angular auto-correlation function (ACF) of LRDs exhibits an excess (${\\sim }50$ times) on sub-arcsec (kilo-parsec) separations compared to an extrapolation of a power-law ACF of LRDs measured over $10^{\\prime \\prime }$–$100^{\\prime \\prime }$. Our sample is likely to represent precursors of mergers between LRDs, and such mergers may be one of the mechanisms that can drive the rapid growth of SMBHs in their early evolutionary stages.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Center for Data-Driven Discovery, Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo , 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 ,",
    "Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 ,",
    "Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, The University of Tokyo , 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583 ,",
    "Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 ,",
    "Research Center for the Early Universe, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 ,",
    "Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , 2515 Speedway Boulevard Stop C1400, Austin, TX 78712 ,",
    "Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan , 1085 S. University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 ,",
    "Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871 ,",
    "School of Physics and Technology, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072 ,",
    "Center for Data Science, Waseda University , 1-6-1 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-0051 ,",
    "Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS), Waseda University , 1-21-1 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-0051 ,",
    "Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Building , Radmandsgade 62–64, DK-2200 Copenhagen N ,",
    "Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara , Broida Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93109-9530 ,",
    "NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center , Code 662, Greenbelt, MD, 20771 ,",
    "Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen , 9700 AV Groningen ,",
    "DTU Space, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej , Building 328, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby ,",
    "Caltech/IPAC , 1200 E. California Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91125 ,",
    "Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 N Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 ,",
    "Hamburger Sternwarte, University of Hamburg , Gojenbergsweg 112, D-21029 Hamburg ,",
    "Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaii , Hilo, 200 W Kawili St., Hilo, HI 96720 ,",
    "Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801 ,",
    "National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Urbana, IL 61801 ,",
    "David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto , 50 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H4 ,",
    "Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University , Beijing 100871 ,",
    "CAS Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Department of Astronomy, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui 230026 ,",
    "School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026 ,",
    "Department of Astronomical Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies , SOKENDAI, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588 ,",
    "National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588 ,",
    "Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA), National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) , CAS, 20A Datun Road, Beijing 100012 ,",
    "School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 ,",
    "Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, The University of Tokyo , 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582 ,",
    "Department of Astronomical Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) , Osawa 2-21-1, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181-8588 ,",
    "Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology , 84 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623 ,",
    "Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 ,",
    "Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 10 Yuanhua Road, Nanjing 210023 ,",
    "Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris , UMR 7095, CNRS, and Sorbonne Université, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris ,",
    "Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91001 ,",
    "Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz , 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 ,",
    "Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité , CEA, CNRS, AIM, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette ,",
    "Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 Copenhagen N ,"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 58,
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      "name": "Makoto Ando",
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      "name": "Shun Hatano",
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      "name": "Michiko S. Fujii",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6465-2978"
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      "name": "Jeyhan S. Kartaltepe",
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      "name": "Anton M. Koekemoer",
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      "name": "Daizhong Liu",
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      "name": "Henry Joy McCracken",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9489-7765"
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      "name": "Jason D. Rhodes",
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      "name": "R. A. Meyer",
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      "name": "I.T Andika",
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  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1b2y1w8era9bm.bib",
  "cited_by": 25,
  "doi": "10.1093/pasj/psag092",
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  "id": "1b2y1w8era9bm",
  "issns": [
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    "2053-051X"
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  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/pasj/psag092",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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      "3103|Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena"
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  "published": "2026-07-09",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1b2y1w8era9bm.ris",
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  "subjects": [
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      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "openalex:3103|Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena",
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  ],
  "title": "Hidden in Pixels. I. Discovery of dual “little red dots” indicates excess clustering on kilo-parsec scales",
  "title_text": "Hidden in Pixels. I. Discovery of dual “little red dots” indicates excess clustering on kilo-parsec scales",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:02Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1b2y1w8era9bm",
  "venue": "Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan",
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