X-RAY-EMISSION FROM THE STARBURST GALAXY-IC-342

Multiple supernovae in starburst galaxies should produce a hot gas bub ble that evolves through stages with distinctive X-ray signatures. We obtained X-ray observations of IC 342 with the ROSAT High Resolution I mager and find both diffuse and point source X-ray emission from the c entral region with a luminosity of 1.5 x 10(39) ergs s-1. The diffuse emission has a diameter of 400 pc, a hot gas density of 0.2 cm-3 , and a pressure of approximately 10(6) K cm-3. The X-ray size and shape ar e similar to that seen at 1.4 GHz and in Halpha, but unlike the promin ent molecular bar. Theoretical modeling implies that the hot gas bubbl e has an age of 2 x 10(5) yr and is still confined to the disk, sugges ting that IC 342 is a starburst galaxy early in its development.