IRS-16 - THE GALAXY CENTRAL WIMP

We have constructed burst models of the stellar population in the Gala ctic center. Many classes of models can be excluded entirely. Models w ith an age of 7-8 Myr and an initial mass of less than 4 x 10(5) M. ca n reproduce the red supergiant stars and stars with the continuum char acteristics of IRS 16 and provide the ionizing flux. We show that if I RS 16 is the product of normal stellar evolution associated with a rec ent star formation burst that currently dominates the energetics of th e region, then IRS 16 itself is inconsequential to Galactic center ene rgetics.