THE MOLECULAR GAS CONTENT OF THE KEYHOLE NEBULA

We report the detection of molecular gas emission associated with the Keyhole nebula located near Eta Carinae. A detailed map of (CO)-C-12(2 -1) is presented covering a field of 8 x 7 arcmin(2). In a few directi ons other molecular lines were observed. The distribution of the molec ular gas is very inhomogeneous, breaking up into at least nine clumps most of them well separated both in space and in velocity. Their typic al size is a few tenths of a parsec with linewidths in the range 2 - 4 km s(-1) and masses of similar to 10 M(.). We present evidence sugges ting that the dense clumps are unbound and supported by the external p ressure of the surrounding ionized gas. The dynamics of the molecular gas are highly perturbed: the clumps separation, projected in the plan e of the sky, is of less than a parsec with velocity differences of up to 20 km s(-1). Such a velocity dispersion, which is comparable with that measured in the ionized gas, is likely to be a result of the inte raction between the strong stellar winds of Eta Carinae and the surrou nding gas.