NO NEED FOR MACHOS IN THE HALO

One interpretation of the more than dozen microlensing events seen in the direction of the LMC is a halo population of 0.5 M. MACHOs that ac counts for about half of the mass of the Galaxy. Such an interpretatio n is not without its problems, and we show that LMC microlensing can b e explained by a combination of dark components of the thick disk and spheroid in a viable and detailed model of the Galaxy. In our models, the total mass within 50 kpc is similar to 10(11) M.. about 60% of the value based on halo MACHO models, and the estimate for the lens mass is lower, 0.3 M. versus 0.5 M.. The chemical evolution problems associ ated with the MACHO progenitors are not resolved. However, since the M ACHO distribution does not trace the l/r(2) dark halo, which extends s ignificantly beyond 50 kpc, the total baryon mass fraction of the Gala xy is reduced considerably, which lessens the problem.