COS-B: The highlights

Abstract

The COS-B satellite operated from August 1975 until April 1982 during which time an extensive survey of the Galaxy was made in the energy range 50 MeV to 5 Gev. The Caravane Collaboration built the gamma-ray telescope and performed the bulk of the scientific data reduction. Since the data are now available to the Astrophysics community at large, some alternate analyses are now being presented. A summary of the major findings of the mission is given in the context of the multi-disciplinary nature of this meeting. Hopefully, some the myths will be dispelled and some of the facts reinforced.