A (C-12)O survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud

The central 2^deg^ x 2^deg^ area of the Small Magellanic Cloud has been fully surveyed in the J = 1 -> 0 rotational transition of ^12^CO at an angular resolution of 8.8'. Most of the emission arises from two large complexes, located in the southwest and northeast regions of the Bar, closely associated with the most intense H I emission from the SMC. Five individual molecular clouds have been identified; their peak antenna temperatures are very weak, ~ 0.035 K. We suggest that for the SMC the conversion factor to derive the column density of molecular hydrogen from the velocity-integrated CO line emission is 6 x 10^21^ cm^-2^ K^-1^ km^-1^ s, which is about 20 times higher than the value adopted for our Galaxy. The total mass of molecular gas in the SMC is estimated to be 3 x 10^7^ M_sun_, implying a ratio of molecular to atomic mass of roughly 7%.