HIGH-RESOLUTION 12.4 MICRON IMAGES OF THE STARBURST REGION IN M82

We present 12.4-mu-m images, made with 1" resolution, of the intense star-forming region in the galaxy M82. Considerable small-scale structure is evident, including several bright clumps less than approximately 20 pc in size which may be embedded with giant star clusters more massive than 3 x 10(5) M.. No correlation is seen between the infrared emission and the bright radio/X-ray point sources which are thought to be very young supernova remnants. We propose that high values of the ratio of nonthermal and infrared emission near the nucleus, and of the ratio L(IR)/L(CO) at one of the starburst lobes, can be attributed to disruption of the central region by supernova activity. However, we argue that the mid-infrared-emitting dust is heated by young stars and not, as recently proposed, by supernova shocks.