Detection of Sub-TeV Gamma-Rays from the Galactic Center Direction by CANGAROO-II

Abstract

We have detected sub-TeV gamma-ray emission from the direction of the Galactic Center (GC) using the CANGAROO-II Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT). We detected a statistically signicant excess at energies greater than 250GeV. The flux was one order of magnitude lower than that of Crab at 1 TeV with a soft spectrum E^{-4.6+-0.5}. The signal centroid is consistent with the GC direction and the observed prole is consistent with a point-like source. Our data suggests that the GeV source 3EG J1746-2851 is identical with this TeV source and we study the combined spectra to determine the possible origin of the gamma-ray emission. We also obtain an upper limit on the cold dark-matter density in the Galactic halo.