A Methanol Maser Survey of IRAS-Selected Regions in the Magellanic Clouds

We report the results of an Australia telescope 6.6 GHz methanol maser survey of 55 positions in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, selected on the basis of their IRAS colors to be ultracompact H II regions. In addition, 12 regions in the LMC possessing compact Hα and radio continuum emission were observed. A new cluster of strong masers (1-4 Jy) was detected from one source, IRAS 05011-6815; no other detections are claimed above a typical 7 if level of 700 mJy beam -1 . A comparison of the Galactic and Magellanic Cloud 6.6 GHz methanol maser peak flux density distributions indicates a significantly lower detection rate in the latter. We examine the effects of the lower metal and dust abundances of the Magellanic Clouds on the production of saturated methanol masers, which may explain this deficiency. copyright 1996. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.