The Dual Nature of GHZ9: Coexisting Active Galactic Nuclei and Star Formation Activity in a Remote X-ray Source at z = 10.145

Abstract

We present James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)/NIRSpec PRISM spectroscopic characterization of GHZ9 at z= 10.145 $\pm$ 0.010, currently the most distant source detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The spectrum reveals several UV high-ionization lines, including CII, SiIV, NIV], CIV, HeII, OIII], NIII], and CIII]. The prominent rest-frame equivalent widths (EW(CIV)$\simeq$65A, EW(OIII])$\simeq$28A, EW(CIII])$\simeq$48A) show the presence of a hard active galactic nucleus (AGN) radiation field, while line ratio diagnostics are consistent with either AGN or star formation as the dominant ionizing source. GHZ9 is nitrogen-enriched (6--9.5 (N/O)${}_{\odot }$), carbon-poor (0.2--0.65 (C/O)${}_{\odot }$), metal-poor (Z = 0.01--0.1 Z${}_{\odot }$), and compact ($<$ 106 pc), similarly to GN-z11, GHZ2, and recently discovered N-enhanced high redshift objects. We exploited the newly available JWST/NIRSpec and NIRCam data set to perform an independent analysis of the Chandra data confirming that GHZ9 is the most likely JWST source associated with X-ray emission at 0.5-7 keV. Assuming a spectral index $\hat{I}“$ = 2.3 (1.8), we estimate a black hole (BH) mass of 1.60 $\pm$ 0.31 (0.48 $\pm$ 0.09) $\times$ 10${}^8$M${}_{\odot }$, which is consistent either with Eddington-accretion onto heavy ($\ge$ 10${}^6$ M${}_{\odot }$) BH seeds formed at z=18, or super-Eddington accretion onto a light seed of $\sim$ 10${}^2-10^4$ M${}_{\odot }$ at z = 25. The corresponding BH-to-stellar mass ratio M${}_{BH}$/M${}_{star}$= 0.33$\pm$0.22 (0.10$\pm$0.07), with a stringent limit $>$0.02, implies an accelerated growth of the BH mass with respect to the stellar mass. GHZ9 is the ideal target to constrain the early phases of AGN-galaxy coevolution with future multi-frequency observations.

15 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal