Discovery of a new N-emitter in the epoch of reionization

Abstract

We report the discovery of a compact star-forming galaxy at z = 9.380 in the GOODS-North field (named GN-z9p4), which shows numerous strong UV-optical emission lines and a single UV line, N IV] λ1486. This makes GN-z9p4 the third-highest redshift N-emitter known to date. We determined the nebular abundances of H, C, N, O and Ne, along with the size and other physical properties of this object, then compared them to those of the other N-emitters known so far and to other star-forming galaxies. Using the direct method, we found a metallicity of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.37 ± 0.15, which stands as one of the lowest among N-emitters. The N/O abundance ratio is highly super-solar, while C/O and Ne/O are normal compared to other galaxies at low metallicity. We show that the compactness of GN-z9p4 (with an effective radius of 118 ± 16 pc at 2 μm) and other N-emitters translates to very high stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) surface densities, which could serve as a criterium for identifying other N-emitters. Future studies and larger samples are needed to understand these rare, and enigmatic objects that have only recently been discovered.