2005A&A...433..205M

We present high spatial resolution observations of the 6 cm continuum emission of compact HII regions in well-known sites of massive star formation located in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. The observations include N81 in the SMC, and N4A, N83B, N11A, N160A and N159-5 in the LMC. Some of the compact HII regions are isolated, while others are embedded in more diffuse ionised regions. A description of the radio morphology of the sources, together with comparisons with other observations, is given in detail. The regions cover a wide range in size (from ∼0.1 to 7pc), rms electron density (from ∼200 to 6500cm^–3), emission measure (from ∼3x10⁵ to 2x10⁷pc/cm⁶), ionised gas mass (from ∼0.2 to 750M_☉) and rate of Lyman continuum photons (from ∼3x10⁴⁷ to 5x10⁴⁹s^–1). The spectral types determined from the Lyman continuum fluxes are consistent with optical determinations. We have compared these Magellanic Cloud HII regions with their Galactic counterparts in terms of size, rms electron density and Lyman continuum flux. This comparison shows that their properties relate to each other in the same way as those in Galactic HII regions.