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M.-C. Liang (ASIAA), T.R. Geballe (Gemini-N), K.Y. Lo, D.-C. Kim (ASIAA)
We have obtained velocity-resolved long slit spectra of the Pa\beta, Br\gamma, and Br\alpha lines of atomic hydrogen in the interacting region of the Antennae Galaxies, where intense starburst activity is present. CO mm wave spectroscopy of this region using the BIMA array has revealed two distinct concentrations of molecular gas at widely different velocities, each apparently associated with one of the interacting galaxies. Four zones of infrared recombination line emission were detected along the slit, two of which are located in the region where the two CO velocity components overlap. In those locations both a comparison of the velocities of the infrared recombination and the CO lines and estimates of the extinction to the ionized gas and through the molecular material indicate that the more blueshifted of these molecular cloud complexes is in front of the redshifted complex. This implies that the two cloud complexes are presently moving away from one another, a conclusion that raises interesting questions about the physical mechanisms leading to the current starburst in the Antennae and in other interacting galaxies.