MACHOS AND THE DIFFUSE-X-RAY BACKGROUND

The possible contribution of X-ray emission from massive compact objec ts in the Galactic halo (MACHOs) to the diffuse X-ray background is ex plored. We show that such emission cannot be responsible for the shado wing seen in soft X-ray observations by ROSAT but that these objects m ay indeed contribute significantly (at levels > 10%) to the diffuse ba ckground at higher (greater than or similar to 0.5 keV) energies. Thus , X-ray observations may well be able to significantly constrain the s patial distribution of MACHOs.