Document Type
Article
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Disciplines
Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Abstract
We report a possible detection of TeV gamma rays from the Galactic center by the Whipple 10 m gamma-ray telescope. Twenty-six hours of data were taken over an extended period from 1995 through 2003 resulting in a total significance of 3.7 σ. The measured excess corresponds to an integral flux of 1.6 × 10-8 ± 0.5 × 10-8 (stat) ± 0.3 × 10-8 (sys) photons m-2 s-1 above an energy of 2.8 TeV, roughly 40% of the flux from the Crab Nebula at this energy. The 95% confidence region has an angular extent of about 15' and includes the position of Sgr A*. The detection is consistent with a point source and shows no evidence of variability.
Recommended Citation
Kosack, K. et al., 2004. TeV Gamma-Ray Observations of the Galactic Center. The Astrophysical Journal, 608(2), pp.L97–L100. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/422469.
Publication Details
The Astrophysical Journal Letters. © 2004. The American Astronomical Society.
We would like to acknowledge Fulvio Melia, Paolo Gondolo, Jonathan Katz, and Ramanath Cowsik for useful discussions. The VERITAS Collaboration is supported by the US Department of Energy, NSF, the Smithsonian Institution, PPARC (UK), NSERC (Canada), and Enterprise-Ireland.