We present a map at 10.8 microns made with good spatial resolution (4.4" x 4.1") of the infrared-luminous disk in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068. The relationship of the 10.8 micron emission with low-excitation, visible H II regions greatly strengthens the previous conclusion that the high infrared luminosity is reradiation from dust heated by young stars. The 10.8 micron emission is distributed across the central 3.5 kpc primarily in two very extended complexes, one located north of the nucleus and the other to the southwest. The two complexes coincide with the two dominant CO features and are located near the ends of a prominent bar evident in the near-infrared. Based on considerations of the rotation curve for the central region of NGC 1068, we show that the luminous starburst, the CO complexes, and the visually bright, inner spiral-like features probably result from a bar-driven density wave which also includes the effects of shock focusing. We conclude that the luminous Seyfert nucleus is not causally related to the extended starburst, except perhaps indirectly by the fueling of both the active galactic nucleus and the starburst with gas flowing in from the gas-rich galaxy disk.
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Telesco et al. (1988) studied this question.