RESULTS

Maffei 2, a nearby SBb pec galaxy behind the Galactic plane, is the site of a nuclear burst of star formation as evidenced by near infrared (Rickard and Harvey 1984, A. J., 89, 1520; Ho et al. 1989, Ap. J., 344, 135), Brackett line (Ho et al. 1990, A. J., 349, 57), and radio continuum emission (Seaquist, et al. 1976, Astr. Ap., 48, 413; Turner and Ho 1993, preprint). Its proximity (∼5 Mpc) and large angular extent (∼10′) make it an ideal candidate for high resolution neutral gas studies which are necessary for understanding the processes driving the nuclear starburst.

The integrated HI emission ∫ I(v)dv is shown in greyscale in Figure 1. These VLA observations combine C and D configurations and, with tapered uniform weighting, achieve 20″ resolution. The peak column densities of 3.7 × 1021 cm-2 can be seen to lie in two arms around the nucleus, coincident with enhanced 20 cm continuum emission (Fig. 1, left). This continuum emission traces the spiral arms of Maffei 2 as seen in the near infrared (Hurt, et al. 1993, A. J., 105, 121). Very little HI is present in the nucleus, although the region between the dashed lines is strongly affected by extinction/emission from foreground Galactic HI clouds. There is a strong N/S asymmetry in the HI distribution that reflects the observed peculiar morphology in the radio continuum near infrared.