H_2_CO and H{alpha} observations of UC HII

By analyzing H_2_CO absorption against the UC H II region continuum emission, we resolve the distance ambiguity toward 44 sources. This determination is critical to measure global physical properties of UC H II regions (e.g., luminosity, size, mass) and properties of the Galaxy (e.g., spiral structure, abundance gradients).

We find that the distribution of UC H II regions in this survey is consistent with a ``local spur'', the Perseus, Sagittarius, and Scutum arms as delineated by Taylor & Cordes. However, departures from model velocities produce distance uncertainties only slightly smaller than the proposed arm separations.