view Abstract Citations (51) References (21) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS CO Emission in the Radio-loud Quasar 3C 48 Scoville, N. Z. ; Padin, S. ; Sanders, D. B. ; Soifer, B. T. ; Yun, M. S. Abstract We have used the Owens Valley Millimeter Array to conduct a sensitive search for CO (1 - 0) emission in the radio-loud quasar 3C 48. An emission feature is detected (4σ) at the redshift of the narrow optical emission lines (z = 0.3695). The width of this feature is ~250 km s^-1^(FWHM) similar to that expected for a galactic disk, and the integrated CO line flux implies an H_2_ mass of 7 x 10^10^ M_sun_ (assuming the same CO to H_2_ conversion factor found for giant molecular clouds in the Milky Way). This H_2_ mass is ~30 times that for the Galaxy, and about twice that estimated for ultraluminous IRAS galaxies such as Arp 220 and the UV-excess quasar Mrk 1014. These data support previous suggestions that 3C 48 may have formed from the recent merger of gas-rich galaxies and that the extended nebulosity surrounding the quasar is largely due to a population of young stars which could have been formed from the gas detected here. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: October 1993 DOI: 10.1086/187036 Bibcode: 1993ApJ...415L..75S Keywords: GALAXIES: ACTIVE; ISM: MOLECULES; GALAXIES: INTERACTIONS; GALAXIES: QUASARS: GENERAL; GALAXIES: QUASARS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: 3C 48; GALAXIES: STARBURST full text sources ADS | data products SIMBAD (5) NED (1)