COMPTEL Composite Image of the Galactic Anticenter

This figure is a composite skymap covering the region of the Galactic anticenter constructed from several observations made by the COMPTEL experiment aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory during the All-Sky Survey of Phase 1. Several sources are evident and comprise a representative sample of the classes of objects that can be observed by COMPTEL. The intense source toward the center of the field is the Crab pulsar and nebula. Slightly below the Crab at (l,b) = (191,-11) is the quasar PKS 0528+134. Toward the top of the field (l,b = 172,+6) is the cosmic gamma-ray burst of May 3rd, 1991; and toward the edge (l,b = 166,-12) is the hard x-ray/gamma-ray transient GRO J0422+32, observed as a target of opportunity by the Compton Observatory in August 1992.

Not included in this particular composite map are the energetic solar flares of June 1991, which occurred when the Sun was also very near (l,b = 180,-10) the direction of the Galactic anticenter. These solar flares were detected by COMPTEL in both gamma-rays and neutrons.

Thus, within this single field during the Sky Survey, COMPTEL has detected medium-energy gamma-ray emission from sources ranging in distance from 1 AU (the Sun) out to quasars, the most distant class of objects in the Universe. These sources were detected in the course of observations conducted with all the scientific observing modes of COMPTEL (double-scatter telescope, burst, and solar neutron modes), demonstrating that COMPTEL is a versatile and sensitive instrument, capable of carrying out a variety of observational programs.

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