First direct electron temperature measurement in [O

We present new precise measurements of the electron temperatures and oxygen abundances in the southeast knot of I Zw 18, one of the most metal poor blue compact dwarf galaxies known. We used spectroscopic data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Data Release 1 (DESI DR1). For the first time in I Zw 18, we directly measured the electron temperature in the low-ionization zone using the rarely detected [O <ns0:sc>II</ns0:sc>]λλ7320,7330 doublet. We also detected the [O <ns0:sc>III</ns0:sc>]λ4363 and [S <ns0:sc>III</ns0:sc>]λ6312 auroral lines, which are associated with high- and intermediate-ionization zones, respectively. We derived Te([O <ns0:sc>III</ns0:sc>]) = 21 200 ± 860 K, Te([O <ns0:sc>II</ns0:sc>]) = 16 170 ± 950 K, and Te([S <ns0:sc>III</ns0:sc>]) = 17 290±1750, which highlights a significant temperature difference between the ionization zones. Using these direct temperature measurements, we determined a total oxygen abundance of 12+log(O/H) = 7.066 ± 0.046, log(N/O) = –1.509 ± 0.097, and log(S/O) = –1.558 ± 0.041. Our results extend the calibration of t2 − t3 relations to the highest temperatures and provide important anchor points for the temperature structure of extremely metal-poor H <ns0:sc>II</ns0:sc> regions, including high-redshift galaxies, for which direct temperature measurements are especially challenging.