We present a high–resolution ( 3.6 ^ { \prime \prime } , 70 pc ) ^ { 12 } { CO } ( J = 1 \to 0 ) mosaic of the molecular gas in M 82 covering an area of 2.5 ^ { \prime } \times 3.5 ^ { \prime } ( 2.8 kpc \times 3.9 kpc ) obtained with the OVRO millimeter interferometer .
The observations reveal the presence of huge amounts of molecular gas ( > 70 % of the total molecular mass , M _ { tot } \approx 1.3 \times 10 ^ { 9 } M _ { \odot } ) outside the central 1 kpc disk .
Molecular streamers are detected in and below M 82 ’ s disk out to distances from the center of \sim 1.7 kpc .
Some of these streamers are well correlated with optical absorption features ; they form the basis of some of the prominent tidal HI features around M 82 .
This provides evidence that the molecular gas within M 82 ’ s optical disk is disrupted by the interaction with M 81 .
Molecular gas is found in M 82 ’ s outflow/halo , reaching distances up to 1.2 kpc below the plane ; CO line–splitting has been detected for the first time in the outflow .
The maximum outflow velocity is \sim 230 km s ^ { -1 } ; we derive an opening angle of \sim 55 ^ { \circ } for the molecular outflow cone .
The total amount of gas in the outflow is > 3 \times 10 ^ { 8 } M _ { \odot } and its kinetic energy is of order 10 ^ { 55 } erg , about one percent of the estimated total mechanical energy input of M 82 ’ s starburst .
Our study implies that extreme starburst environments can move significant amounts of molecular gas in to a galaxy ’ s halo ( and even to the intergalactic medium ) .