FIGURE ROTATION AND THE MASS OF THE GALACTIC BULGE

The mass of the Galactic bulge, M(B), is estimated from the tenser virial theorem. By including the effects of a barred stellar distribution and figure rotation (81 km s(-1) kpc(-1)) and by assuming that the bar is oriented at theta = 20 degrees to our line of sight, M(B) is found to be as high as 2.8 x 10(10) M.. This estimate is in good agreement with the total mass inferred from the observed optical depth to microlensing for stars toward the inner Galaxy. For larger angles, theta similar to 40 degrees, or smaller pattern speeds (20 km s(-1) kpc(-1)), M(B) is found to be similar to 1.7-1.9 x 10(10) M., similar to previous estimates for a barred bulge (2 x 10(10) M.) and axisymmetric bulge (1.8 x 10(10) M.).