Observations of OH in NGC 4945 and NGC 253

OH absorptions at 1665 and 1667 MHz has been detected against the nuclei of the edge-on galaxis NGC 4945 and NGC 253. For NGC 4945 the strongest absorption (at 1667 MHz) has a width of 300 km sec^-1 and a peak optical depth (0.3) occurs at a velocity 40 km sec^-1 higher than the systemic velocity. For NGC 253, the absorption is weaker - at 1667 MHz the peak optical depth is 0.07 at a velocity 50 km sec^-1 below the systemic velocity. There may be a narrow-band (30-kHz) emission at 1665 and 1667 MHz; if so, it possibly results from maser amplification of the bright nuclear source.