Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Volume 782, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/782/2/L17
Keywords
galaxies: evolution; galaxies: ISM; galaxies: star formation; instrumentation: interferometers; submillimeter: galaxies
Categories
Funding
- INSU/CNRS (France)
- MPG (Germany)
- IGN (Spain)
- DFG [1573]
- STFC [ST/K003119/1, ST/J00152X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/K003119/1, ST/J00152X/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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We study the properties of the interstellar medium in the interacting system BR1202-0725 at z = 4.7 via its [N II] and [C II] fine-structure line emission. This system consists of a QSO, a sub-mm galaxy (SMG), and two Ly alpha emitters (LAEs). Such a diversity in galaxy properties makes BR1202-0725 a unique laboratory of star formation and galaxy evolution at high redshift. We present ionized nitrogen ([N II] 205 mu m) observations of this system, obtained with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. We find no [N II] emission at the quasar location, but tentative [N II] line detections associated with the SMG and one of the LAEs. Together with available ionized carbon ([C II] 158 mu m) Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations of this system, we find the following: the [C II]/[N II] luminosity ratio is >5.5 for the QSO and the SMG, but it is as low as similar to 2 in the LAE, suggesting that, in this source, most of the [C II] emission is associated with the ionized medium (H II regions) rather than the neutral one (photon-dominated regions). This study demonstrates the importance of combined studies of multiple fine-structure lines in order to pin down the physical properties of the interstellar medium in distant galaxies.
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