Gamma ray astronomy and the COS-B satellite.

An assessment is made of the COS-B satellite's contributions to the development of gamma-ray astronomy over the seven years of operation ending in April, 1982. The primary achievement of the spacecraft was a full chart of the sky in gamma radiation (comprised of the highest energy protons in the electromagnetic spectrum) which offers an entirely new view of the Galaxy. In addition, however, COS-B has detected 21 gamma sources not identified with stars by other means, which are heavily concentrated along the galactic plane. Several hypotheses are adduced to characterize these 'gamma objects', including pulsar, supernovae-remain, and black hole models.