Viewgraph topics include: optical image of Taurus; dust extinction in IR has provided a new
tool for probing cloud morphology; observations of the gas can contribute critical information
on gas temperature, gas column density and distribution, mass, and kinematics; the Taurus
molecular cloud complex; average spectra in each mask region; mas 2 data; dealing with
mask 1 data; behavior of mask 1 pixels; distribution of CO column densities; conversion to
H2 column density; variable CO/H2 ratio with values much less than 10 (exp-4) at low N …

We report the results of a 100 deg 2 survey of the Taurus molecular cloud region in 12 CO
and 13 CO J= 1\rightarrow 0. The image of the cloud in each velocity channel includes≃
3\times 10^{6} Nyquist-sampled pixels on a 20''grid. The high sensitivity and large spatial
dynamic range of the maps reveal a very complex, highly structured cloud morphology,
including filaments, cavities, and rings. The axes of the striations seen in the 12 CO emission
from relatively diffuse gas are aligned with the direction of the magnetic field. We have …