The sky will soon be populated with a fleet of new X- and gamma-ray satellites with extraordinary capabilities. This paper is meant to introduce these new missions, Chandra, XMM, and Astro-E, which will provide a large fraction of our high energy “space observatory” functionality for the next decade.

The Sun accelerates ions up to tens of GeV and electrons up to 100s of MeV in solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The energy in the accelerated tens-of-keV electrons and possibly ~1 MeV ions constitutes a significant fraction of the total energy released in a flare, implying that the particle acceleration and flare energy release mechanisms are intimately related. The total rate of energy release in transients from flares down to microflares/nanoflares may be significant for heating the active solar corona.

Shock waves driven by fast CMEs appear to accelerate the high-energy particles in large solar energetic particle events detected at 1 AU. Smaller SEP events are dominated by ~1 to tens-of-keV electrons, with low fluxes of up to a few MeV/nucleon ions, typically enriched in 3He. The acceleration in gamma-ray flares appears to resemble that in these small electron-3He SEP events.

Recent measurements of young, accreting binary neutron stars are determining more precise magnetic field and accretion parameters. A low magnetic field, accreting, millisecond pulsar has finally been found in a binary burster. At least 20 low-mass binaries have exhibited high frequency oscillations, 300–1200 hertz. The majority have, for some range of luminosity, the pair of quasiperiodic oscillations that have never been seen in a black hole candidate. Recent evidence from burst oscillations strengthens the case that the difference frequency of this pair is close to the spin frequency of the neutron star. These oscillations are correlated with the spectra, luminosity, and low frequency oscillations. Quasiperiodic oscillations are also seen sometimes in strong magnetic field pulsars, where their origin can be closely examined.

Recent results of X-ray observations of Galactic X-ray binaries containing black holes are reviewed. So far, eleven X-ray binaries are confirmed to contain a black hole based on the mass determined from the optical mass functions. Study of these X-ray binaries shows that accreting black holes exhibit a characteristic X-ray spectrum that is distinct from that of accreting neutron stars. In total, about two dozen X-ray binaries show this characteristic spectrum and are believed to contain a black hole. Most of them are low-mass X-ray binaries and are transients. The statistics indicate the presence of several hundred or more black holes in quiescent X-ray binaries in our galaxy. The observed properties of accreting black holes are discussed, and other, related subjects are also presented.

Recent X-ray observatories such as ROSAT, ASCA, RXTE, BeppoSAX, and Chandra have achieved important progress in neutron star and pulsar astronomy. The identification of Geminga as a rotation-powered pulsar, the discovery of X-ray emission from millisecond pulsars, and the identification of cooling neutron stars are only a few of the fascinating results. In the following, I will give a brief review on the X-ray emission properties of rotation-powered pulsars and their wind nebulae.

The Constellation-X mission is a large collecting-area X-ray facility emphasizing observations at high spectral resolution (E/ΔE ~ 300–3000) while covering a broad energy band (0.25–40 keV). By increasing the telescope aperture and utilizing efficient spectrometers, the mission will achieve a factor of 100 increased sensitivity over current high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy missions. The use of focusing optics across the 10–40 keV band will provide a similar factor of 100 increased sensitivity in this band. When observations commence in ~ 2008, Constellation-X will address many pressing questions concerning the extremes of gravity and the evolution of the Universe.

X-ray observations over the past several years have led to the discovery of nonthermal X-ray emission arising in the shells of many young supernova remnants, including SN 1006, Cas A, and Tycho. This emission is thought to be synchrotron emission from electrons that have been shock accelerated to hundreds of TeV, and thus represents strong evidence that cosmic rays are accelerated in SNR shocks. The X-ray observations are corroborated by detection of TeV gamma rays from two of these remnants. A systematic investigation of young, shell-like remnants suggests that the nonthermal X-ray emission from shock-accelerated electrons is a common, if not ubiquitous, feature. We review the status of the X-ray observations and describe how they can be used to provide insight into the shock acceleration process.

Recent X-ray satellite observations provide plenty of spectral information with high resolution in a broad band. Major results from the spectral observations are related to the interaction of the power-law continuum flux with the ambient plasmas and accretion disks. The most prominent result is the broad iron-line feature from Seyfert I galaxies which is interpreted as the emission from the relativistic accretion disk. Doppler shift and boosting, as well as gravitational redshifts, are considerable at the distance of several Schwarzschild radii from the central black hole. Strong radiation from the central engine ionizes the ambient material of AGN. Edge structure found at around 0.8 keV is attributed to highly ionized oxygen of O VII and O VIII. Some iron emission lines from Seyfert II galaxies are emitted by highly photoionized plasmas. The study of fast temporal and spectral variability is the key approach to examine the emission mechanism and structure of the central vicinity of AGN. In 2000, two X-ray observatories (Chandra and XMM will be in orbit, and they will provide us with deeper insights of the physics around the black holes and of the physics of hot plasmas.

In the following, we shall briefly summarize some facts and ideas concerning the presence of neutron stars in supernova remnants. While sources similar to the Crab Nebula require the presence of a central energetic object, shell-type remnants such as Cas A are compatible with the presence of neutron stars releasing a weak relativistic wind.

The phase-resolved broadband (optical to gamma-ray) spectral energy distributions of spin-powered pulsars contain important diagnostics of the emission zone plasma and its acceleration. I summarize some recent observations of young pulsars, describe models for the various spectral components, and argue that the next generation of telescopes and spacecraft will allow a true mapping of the e± plasma flow in the pulsar magnetosphere. Of course, spectral lines and breaks are more powerful tracers than the spectral energy distribution, and since we believe that synchrotron emission dominates in the near-IR to UV, features are expected that will allow even more detailed probes of the plasma physics. Most young pulsars are, however, quite faint, and new technology is needed to extract these diagnostics.

The analysis of thermal radiation emitted from the atmospheres of isolated neutron stars allows one to measure their surface temperatures, magnetic fields, masses, and radii, as well as the chemical composition of their atmospheres. Thus, multiwavelength observations of this radiation provide an important tool for studying the structure and evolution of neutron stars and for elucidating properties of the superdense matter in their interiors. We describe recent theoretical and observational results on thermal radiation from radio pulsars and radio-quiet neutron stars and discuss their astrophysical implications.

Some topics in the theory of jets are reviewed. These include jet precession, unconfined jets, the origin of knots, the internal shock model as a unifying theme from protostellar jets to gamma-ray bursts, relations between the Blandford-Znajek and MHD disk-wind models, and jet collimation in magnetic acceleration models.

Gamma-ray emission is the most direct diagnostic of energetic ions and relativistic electrons in solar flares. Analysis of solar flare gamma-ray data has shown: (i) ion acceleration is a major consequence of flare energy release, as the total flare energy in accelerated particles appears to be equipartitioned between ≳ 1 MeV/nucleon ions and ≳ 20 keV electrons, and amounts to an important fraction of the total energy release; (ii) there are flares for which over 50% of the energy is in a particles and heavier ions; (iii) in both impulsive and gradual flares, the particles that interact at the Sun and produce gamma rays are essentially always accelerated by the same mechanism that operates in impulsive flares, probably stochastic acceleration through gyroresonant wave particle interaction; and (iv) gamma-ray spectroscopy can provide new information on solar abundances, for example the site of the FIP-bias onset and the photospheric 3He abundance. We propose a new technique for the investigation of mass motion and mixing in the solar atmosphere: the observations of gamma-ray lines from long-term radioactivity produced by flare accelerated particles.

Fletcher & Martens have successfully modeled solar hard X-ray sources observed at the top and footpoints of flaring magnetic loops with a Fokker-Planck type particle transport code. I show here that there are invariances in the Fokker-Planck equations that make these results applicable to environments with vastly different physical parameters, such as hard X-ray flares in accretion disks in active galactic nuclei, and in RS CVn and ALGOL type binaries.

An early burst of energetic radiation is expected from a supernova at the time of shock breakout. This emission has not been directly observed but has been inferred from the photoionization around SN 1987A. X-ray emission has been detected from core-collapse supernovae in the days to years after the explosion as they interact with their circumstellar winds. Young Galactic supernova remnants provide the possibility of determining the composition structure of the ejecta through X-ray spectroscopy. An exciting finding for older remnants is that a number of remnants that appear to be interacting with molecular gas may be sources of high-energy γ-ray emission. The clumpy structure of molecular clouds has implications for the structure expected in high-energy emission. Finally, the field of γ-ray-line spectroscopy is beginning to yield results relevant to the explosive nucleosynthesis of radionuclides in supernovae.

Recent progress using RXTE and BeppoSAX to study the X/γ emission from radio-quiet active galactic nuclei, i.e., Seyfert galaxies, is reviewed. These satellites allow simultaneous broad-band spectra extending from 0.1–200 keV to be observed for the first time and allow the various spectral components to be determined with some certainty. In particular, the new observations support the unified model of Seyfert galaxies. Most importantly, it has been found that a large fraction of Seyfert 2 galaxies have Compton-thick tori surrounding their nuclei. Spectral transitions in Seyfert galaxies are discussed, as well as recent efforts trying to synthesize the cosmic X/γ-ray background. Finally, thermal Comptonization in these sources are discussed.

I review radiative processes responsible for X-ray emission in the hard (low) and soft (high) spectral states of black-hole binaries. The main process in the hard state appears to be thermal Comptonization (in a hot plasma) of blackbody photons emitted by a cold disk. This is supported by correlations between the spectral index, the strength of Compton reflection, and the peak frequencies in the power-density spectrum, as well as by the frequency-dependence of Fourier-resolved spectra. Spectral variability may then be driven by the variable truncation radius of the disk. The soft state appears to correspond to the smallest truncation radii. However, the lack of high-energy cutoffs observed in the soft state implies that its main radiative process is Compton scattering of disk photons by nonthermal electrons. The bulk-motion Comptonization model for the soft state is shown to be ruled out by the data.

We study the γ-ray emission from an outer-gap accelerator around a rotating neutron star. Assuming the existence of global currents in the magnetosphere, the charge depletion causes a large electric field along the magnetic field lines. This electric field accelerates migratory electrons and positrons which radiate gamma-rays via curvature radiation. These gamma-rays, in turn, produce yet more radiating particles by colliding with the X-rays, leading to a pair-production cascade. Imposing a gap-closure condition that a single pair produces one pair in the gap, on average, we explicitly solve the strength of the acceleration field and demonstrate how the peak energy and the luminosity of the curvature-radiated GeV photons and the cutoff energy and luminosity of Compton-scattered TeV photons depend on such parameters as the surface temperature, the rotational frequency, and the magnetic moment. It is demonstrated that both the GeV and TeV emissions of Geminga will be harder than those of B1055-52, B0656+14, and Vela, and that the TeV fluxes are too small to be observed by current ground-based telescopes.