NEAR-INFRARED 0''.15 RESOLUTION IMAGING OF THE GALACTIC-CENTER

We present deep 1.6 (H) and 2.2 mum (K) images of the central parsec of the Galaxy at a resolution of 0.''15. Most of the flux in earlier seeing-limited images comes from about 340 unresolved stellar sources with K-magnitudes less-than-or-equal-to 14. Most of the fainter stars in the central parsec are likely M- rather than K-giants. The IRS 16 and 13 complexes are resolved into about 25 and six sources, a number of which are probably luminous hot stars. We confirm the presence of a blue near-infrared object (K almost-equal-to 13) at the position of the compact radio source Sgr A*. The spatial centroid of the number distribution of compact sources is consistent with the position of Sgr A* but not with a position in the IRS 16 complex. The stellar surface density is very well fitted by an isothermal cluster model with a core radius of 0.15 +/- 0.05 pc. The central stellar density is close to 10(8) M. pc-3. Buildup of massive stars by collisional merging of lower mass stars and collisional disruption of giant atmospheres are very probable processes in the central 0.2 pc.