Molecules in Galaxies. III. The Virgo Cluster.

Using the 7 meter Bell Laboratories antenna, observations of forty-seven spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster were made in the (12)CO J=1->0 line. CO emission from twenty-five of the galaxies was detected at greater than the 3sigma level. Most of the galaxies were observed at the central position, and also at four adjacent positions one beamwidth away. A method is presented for estimating the total flux of the galaxy, using this spatially undersampled map. The CO emission is found to be correlated with radio continuum emission, and 60microns + 100microns band infrared, suggesting direct relationships among molecular gas content, CO emission and massive star formation in these galaxies. Total CO flux is essentially uncorrelated with visual blue luminosity.