  We report detection of moderate to high-mass star formation in an infrared
dark cloud (G11.11-0.12) where we discovered class II methanol and water maser
emissions at 6.7 GHz and 22.2 GHz, respectively. We also observed the object in
ammonia inversion transitions. Strong emission from the (3,3) line indicates a
hot (~60 K) compact component associated with the maser emission. The line
width of the hot component (4 km/s), as well as the methanol maser detection,
are indicative of high mass star formation. To further constrain the physical
parameters of the source, we derived the spectral energy distribution (SED) of
the dust continuum by analysing data from the 2MASS survey, HIRAS, MSX, the
Spitzer Space Telescope, and interferometric 3mm observations. The SED was
modelled in a radiative transfer program: a) the stellar luminosity equals 1200
L_sun corresponding to a ZAMS star of 8 M_sun; b) the bulk of the envelope has
a temperature of 19 K; c) the mass of the remnant protostellar cloud in an area
8x10^17 cm or 15 arcsec across amounts to 500M_sun, if assuming standard dust
of the diffuse medium, and to about 60 M_sun, should the grains be fluffy and
have ice mantles; d) the corresponding visual extinction towards the star is a
few hundred magnitudes. The near IR data can be explained by scattering from
tenuous material above a hypothetical disk. The class II methanol maser lines
are spread out in velocity over 11 km/s. To explain the kinematics of the
masing spots, we propose that they are located in a Kepler disk at a distance
of about 250 AU. The dust temperatures there are around 150 K, high enough to
evaporate methanol--containing ice mantles.
