We have presented in this paper, I, J, and K band images of the spiral galaxy, M 74.
These images highlight the presence of a weak oval distortion in the central
regions of the galaxy. We believe that this oval distortion is responsible for
the circumnuclear ring of star formation observed in molecular CO emission
(Wakker & Adler 1995)
and 2.3 
m CO absorption (James & Seigar 1999). We have
also argued that even weak oval distortions can be responsible for such
circumnuclear star formation, using the simulations presented by Combes &
Gerin (1985).
Acknowledgements
This research is based on data from the ING archive. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The author would like to thank the anonymous referee for comments which greatly improved the content of this paper.
Copyright ESO 2002