OBSERVING MOLECULAR CLOUDS IN HALO DARK CLUSTERS THROUGH ABSORPTION-LINES

In addition to Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs), as detected by microlensing, cold molecular clouds (mainly of H-2) may w ell contribute substantially to the galactic halo dark matter. Here, w e argue that the existence of such halo clouds can be inferred from th e observation of absorption lines (due to heavy molecules located in t he clouds themselves) towards stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud, whi ch lie very close, within similar to 1', to a previously microlensed o ne.