Searching for Low-redshift Hot Dust-obscured Galaxies

Hot dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs), discovered by the “W1W2 dropout” selection at high redshifts (z ∼ 2–4), are a rare population of hyperluminous obscured quasars. Their number density is comparable to similarly luminous type 1 quasars in the same redshift range, potentially representing a short, yet critical stage in galaxy evolution. The evolution in their number density toward low redshift, however, remains unclear as their selection function is heavily biased against objects at z ≲ 2. We combine data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Herschel archives to search for Hot DOGs at z < 0.5 based on their unique spectral energy distributions. We find 68 candidates, and spectroscopic observations confirm that 3 of them are at z < 0.5. For those three, we find their black hole accretion is close to the Eddington limit, with lower bolometric luminosities and black hole masses than those of higher-z Hot DOGs. Compared to high-z systems, these low-z systems are closer to the local relation between host galaxy stellar mass and black hole mass but still lie above it, and we discuss several possible scenarios for it. Finally, we also find the surface number density of z < 0.5 Hot DOGs is 2.4 × 10−3 deg−2, about an order of magnitude lower than high-z Hot DOGs but comparable to hyperluminous unobscured quasars in the same redshift range. These results further support the idea that Hot DOGs may be a transitional phase of galaxy evolution.