Capabilities of GRO for observations of supernovae and novae

The Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), scheduled for launch in March, 1990, represents NASA’s next major mission in high‐energy astrophysics. GRO will carry four large instruments whose main objectives are to undertake comprehensive observations of astrophysical sources throughout the 20 keV to 30 GeV energy range. This region includes those gamma‐ray lines which are expected to reflect the explosive nucleosynthetic processes occurring in supernovae and novae. The capabilities of GRO to study these objects is discussed.