DISCOVERY OF GAMMA-RAY EMISSION ABOVE 350 GEV FROM THE BL LACERTAE OBJECT 1ES 2344+514

We present the discovery of gamma-ray emission greater than 350 GeV fr om the BL Lacertae (BL Lac) object 1ES 2344+514 with the Whipple Obser vatory 10 m gamma-ray telescope. This is the third BL Lac object detec ted at very high energies (VHE, E > 300 GeV), the other two being Mark arian 421 (Mrk 421) and Mrk 501. These three active galactic nuclei ar e all X-ray selected and have the lowest known redshifts of any BL Lac objects currently identified with declination greater than 0 degrees. The evidence for emission from 1ES 2344+514 comes mostly from an appa rent flare on 1995 December 20 (UT) during which a 6 sigma excess was detected with an average flux of I(>350 GeV)= 6.6 +/- 1.9 x 10(-11) ph otons cm(-2) s(-1). This is approximately 63% of the VHE emission from the Crab Nebula, the standard candle in this field. Observations take n between 1995 October and 1996 January, excluding the night of the ha re, yield a 4 sigma detection indicating a flux level of I(> 350 GeV) = 1.1 +/- 0.4 x 10(-11) photons cm(-2) s(-1), or about 11% of the VHE Crab Nebula flux. Observations taken between 1996 September and 1997 J anuary on this object did not yield a significant detection of a stead y flux or any evidence of flaring activity. The 99.9% confidence level upper limit from these observations is I(>350 GeV)< 8.2 x 10(-12) pho tons cm(-2) s(-1), 58% of the Crab Nebula flux. The low baseline emiss ion level and variation in the nightly and yearly flux of 1ES 2344+514 are the same as the VHE emission characteristics of Mrk 421 and Mrk 5 01.