HIGH-RESOLUTION CO OBSERVATIONS OF NGC-1275

We present high resolution CO observations of the inner 15 kpc of NGC 1275 (3C84), the giant elliptical galaxy located in the center of the Perseus cluster of galaxies. Both, the intensity distribution of the C O emission and the dynamical properties resemble the interplay of rota tion and highly turbulent motion of the molecular gas. The projected r otation velocity of the gas is found to be approximately 100 km/s, how ever, the line emission is dominated by a high velocity dispersion of sigma(upsilon) > 200 km/s on either side of the nucleus.The origin of the observed features is discussed referring to two scenarios, which h ave been developed on the bases of optical and X-ray data: First, we m ay observe the merging of NGC 1275 with an infalling, molecular rich ( M(gas) approximately 6.10(9) h75(-2) M.) galaxy. Alternatively, the mo lecular gas may be a condensation product of the cooling flow of appro ximately 300 M.y-1 which has been proposed for the center of the Perse us cluster. The dynamical behaviour of the molecular gas, however, sup ports the view that both processes may be responsible for the features traced by our observations.