Very high energy gamma rays from PSR 1706-44

We have obtained evidence of gamma-ray emission above 1 TeV from PSR1706-44, using a ground-based telescope of the atmospheric \v{C}erenkov imaging type located near Woomera, South Australia. This object, a $\gamma$-ray source discovered by the COS B satellite (2CG342-02), was identified with the radio pulsar through the discovery of a 102 ms pulsed signal with the EGRET instrument of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The flux of the present observation above a threshold of 1 TeV is $\bf \sim $ 1 $\cdot$ 10$^{-11}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, which is two orders of magnitude smaller than the extrapolation from GeV energies. The analysis is not restricted to a search for emission modulated with the 102 ms period, and the reported flux is for all $\gamma$-rays from PSR1706-44, pulsed and unpulsed. The energy output in the TeV region corresponds to about 10$^{-3}$ of the spin down energy loss rate of the neutron star.