We report the detection of a nearby emission line companion to the z = 4.695 quasar BR1202–0725 .
Deep narrow-band exposures on this field from the UH 2.2 m show a Ly \alpha flux of 1.5 \times 10 ^ { -16 } ergs cm ^ { -2 } s ^ { -1 } .
High-resolution HST WFC2 imaging in the F814W filter band shows continuum structure near the emission position , at 2 ^ { \prime \prime } \kern - 5.975079 pt . \kern 1.707165 pt 6 NW of the quasar , corresponding to a projected separation of \sim 7.5 h ^ { -1 } kpc for q _ { 0 } =0.5 , where h \equiv H _ { 0 } / 100 ~ { } { km s } ^ { -1 } Mpc ^ { -1 } .
We discuss possible explanations for the combined line and color properties .
The ionization is most likely produced by the quasar , but if due to underlying star formation would require a star formation rate of \sim 7 h ^ { 2 } M _ { \odot } yr ^ { -1 } .