is a remarkable edge-on spiral galaxy. It is optically
disturbed and dusty, has a Seyfert2/LINER spectrum, an active nucleus, and
starburst activity (for a summary see Baan & Irwin 1995, and references
therein). Two radio lobes extending approximately along the minor axis of the
galaxy -- very similar to those in Circinus (see below) -- suggest the
presence of outflow (e.g., Duric & Seaquist 1988; Hummel, van Gorkom &
Kontanyi 1983). This is also indicated by the H
images which reveal a
giant loop (Ford et al. 1986) and, on deeper images, several filaments on kpc
scales (Armus, Heckmann & Miley 1990). The nuclear activity may be fuelled
by an inner molecular disk (Young, Claussen & Scoville 1988) which has a
radius of 400 pc. Broad HI absorption lines detected by Irwin
& Seaquist (1991) probably indicate a fast-rotating ring of similar size.
High-resolution VLA HI and OH absorption measurements by Baan & Irwin
(1995) reveal numerous components, one of which is a rapidly rotating compact
disk, extended by about 100 pc or 125 (see also Gallimore et al. 1994).
NGC 3079 also contains the most luminous known H2O megamaser.