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C. L. Taylor (FCRAO/U. Mass), F. Walter (Caltech)
We present wide field 12CO (1-0) observations of the prototypical starburst galaxy M82 made with the SEQUOIA focal plane array on the FCRAO 14m telescope. We constructed a fully sampled map of a region 12\prime \times 9\prime, covering the plane of the major axis and extending above it by 8\prime. We have discovered CO emission at a height of 3.\prime5 (3.3 kpc at a distance of 3.25 Mpc) above the plane of the galaxy. The velocity of this emission differs from that of the CO immediately below it in the plane of the disk by ~ 100 km/s and from the systemic velocity of the galaxy by ~ 50 km/s. We discuss the possibilities that this emission above the disk results from an outflow from the starburst in M82, or originates in tidal debris from the interaction with M81.
The Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated with the permission of the Metropolitan District Commission, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and with the support of the National Science Foundation under grant AST-9725951.