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, sele cted on the basis of their IRAS colors to be ultracompact H II regions . In addition, 12 regions in the LMC possessing compact Her and radio continuum emission were observed. A new cluster of strong masers (simi lar to 1-4 Jy) was detected from one source, IRAS 05011-6815; no other detections are claimed above a typical 7 sigma level of similar to 70 0 mJy beam(-1). A comparison of the Galactic and Magellanic Cloud 6.6 GHz methanol maser peak flux density distributions indicates a signifi cantly lower detection rate in the latter. We examine the effects of t he lower metal and dust abundances of the Magellanic Clouds on the pro duction of saturated methanol masers, which may explain this deficienc y.