A general gamma-ray source catalog

The past several years have seen unprecedented growth in the field of gamma -ray astronomy. Highly successful missions such as the Compton Gamma-Ray Ob servatory (CGRO) have led to both a great increase in the number of detecte d gamma-ray sources and a more fundamental understanding of the basic physi cal processes involved for those sources. New ground-based observatories, t he Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), and the SIGMA instrument aboard the GRANAT spacecraft have all contributed to this explosion. Detailed observat ions of active galaxies, pulsars, accreting binaries, and diffuse emission have had a tremendous impact on our view of the universe. Given that new ex periments that will provide a similar increase in source numbers are severa l years away, it is a good time to take inventory of the state of gamma-ray astronomy. To this end, we have developed a general gamma-ray point-source catalog containing 309 objects that summarize the field. Gamma-ray astrono my, as we define it, includes photon energies from 50 keV to about 1 TeV. W hile many catalogs concentrate on a single type of astronomical object and/ or a very restricted energy range, the nature of this catalog is somewhat d ifferent. The large variety of objects and the many orders of magnitude in energy space covered by gamma-ray astronomy presents an organizational chal lenge. We focus on two main types of information: a general listing of the basic characteristics of each source, and detailed tables of a representati ve sample of high-energy observations. We also summarize the gamma-ray inst ruments whose observations are included in the catalog.(3).