ORFEUS-II-ECHELLE SPECTRA - ABSORPTION BY H-2 IN THE LMC

We report the first detection of H-2 absorption profiles of LMC gas on the line of sight to star 3120 in the association LH 10 near the emis sion nebula N 11B. Transitions found in the Lyman band are used to der ive a total column density N(H-2) = 6.6 x 10(18) cm(-2). Excitation te mperatures of less than or equal to 50 K for levels J less than or equ al to 1 and of similar or equal to 470 K for levels 2 less than or equ al to J less than or equal to 4 of H-2 are derived. We conclude that m oderate UV pumping influences the population even of the lowest rotati onal states in this LMC gas.