THE centre of our Galaxy is known to contain a large condensation of m
ass(1), and it has been suggested that a massive black hole (of severa
l million solar masses) is located there. Massive black holes have bee
n proposed to explain active galactic nuclei, and if the Galactic Cent
re is a less-powerful version of such sources it should radiate X-rays
and gamma-rays(1). But although earlier observations(2-6) have shown
that the region does emit X-rays and gamma-rays, the true centre, corr
esponding to the object Sagittarius A, does not emit strongly at leas
t up to energies of 30 keV (refs 4-6). Whether Sgr A emits radiation
at higher energies, however, was not resolved. Here we present the res
ults of a deep imaging survey of the Galactic Centre, performed with t
he Sigma/GRANAT telescope. We determine the locations of the nine hard
X-ray sources-six of them being observed for the first time in the sp
ectral band-to an accuracy of about 2 arcmin, but find no source assoc
iated with Sgr A. The hard X-ray luminosity of Sgr A* is a factor of.
4 x 10(7) less than that expected for a black hole of a million solar
masses accreting gas at the maximum stable rate, challenging the idea
that there is a black hole at the Galactic Centre.