Abundant Methanol Masers but no New Evidence for Star Formation in
  GCM0.253+0.016
  We present new observations of the quiescent giant molecular cloud
GCM0.253+0.016 in the Galactic center, using the upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very
Large Array. Observations were made at wavelengths near 1 cm, at K (24 to 26
GHz) and Ka (27 and 36 GHz) bands, with velocity resolutions of 1-3 km/s and
spatial resolutions of ~0.1 pc, at the assumed 8.4 kpc distance of this cloud.
The continuum observations of this cloud are the most sensitive yet made, and
reveal previously undetected emission which we attribute primarily to free-free
emission from external ionization of the cloud. In addition to the sensitive
continuum map, we produce maps of 12 molecular lines: 8 transitions of NH3 --
(1,1),(2,2),(3,3),(4,4),(5,5),(6,6),(7,7) and (9,9), as well as the HC3N (3-2)
and (4-3) lines, and CH3OH 4(-1) - 3(0) the latter of which is known to be a
collisionally-excited maser. We identify 148 CH3OH 4(-1) - 3(0) (36.2 GHz)
sources, of which 68 have brightness temperatures in excess of the highest
temperature measured for this cloud (400 K) and can be confirmed to be masers.
The majority of these masers are concentrated in the southernmost part of the
cloud. We find that neither these masers nor the continuum emission in this
cloud provide strong evidence for ongoing star formation in excess of that
previously inferred by the presence of an H2O maser.
