Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2017
In our galaxy molecular clouds account for about half the total interstellar gas and are probably the sites of all star formation. The high gas content and widespread star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud would therefore suggest a high molecular content. Very little however is actually known about molecules in the LMC. The most extensive previous survey (see Israel in this volume) found CO in half of the 22 points observed but covered less than 10−4 of the LMC area.