ATOMIC CARBON IN THE HIGH-LATITUDE MOLECULAR CLOUD MBM-12

We report the first detection of neutral atomic carbon emission from a high-latitude cloud. [C I] 492 GHz emission was detected from seven (CO)-C-13 cores in MBM 12, the nearest known molecular cloud (d = 65 pc; b = -34-degrees). There is strong evidence that the lines of [C I] and CO are formed in the same regions of the cloud. The average C/CO column density ratio is approximately 0.7, which is a factor of approximately 1.4-7 times higher than the same value measured toward dense Galactic photodissociation regions. Recent chemical models of translucent clouds with I(UV) = 1 Habing field can account for this ratio. Due to the proximity of MBM 12, we have discovered evidence for density clumps with sizes less than or similar to 2000 AU. The clumps contain H-2 masses of order the mass of Jupiter.