Gamma-ray astronomy is the astronomical observation of gamma rays, the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation, with photon energies above 100 keV. Radiation below 100 keV is classified as X-rays and is the subject of X-ray astronomy. Gamma rays in the MeV range are generated in solar flares (and even in the Earth's atmosphere), but gamma rays in the GeV range do not originate in the Solar System and are important in the study of extrasolar, and especially extra-galactic astronomy. The mechanisms emitting gamma rays are diverse, mostly identical with those emitting X-rays but at higher energies, including electron-positron annihilation, the Inverse Compton Effect, and in some cases also the decay of radioactive material (gamma decay) in space reflecting extreme events such as supernovae and hypernovae, and the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, as in pulsars and blazars. The highest photon energies measured to date are in the TeV range, the record being held by the Crab Pulsar in 2004, yielding photons with as much as 80 TeV.