National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions the Universe has seen since the Big Bang. They occur approximately once per day and are brief, but intense, flashes of gamma radiation. They come from all different directions of the sky and last from a few milliseconds to a few hundred seconds. So far scientists do not know what causes them. Do they signal the birth of a black hole in a massive stellar explosion? Are they the product of the collision of two neutron stars? Or is it some other exotic phenomenon that causes these bursts?

With Swift, a NASA mission with international participation, scientists have a tool dedicated to answering these questions and solving the gamma-ray burst mystery. Its three instruments give scientists the ability to scrutinize gamma-ray bursts like never before. Within seconds of detecting a burst, Swift relays its location to ground stations, allowing both ground-based and space-based telescopes around the world the opportunity to observe the burst's afterglow. Swift is part of NASA's medium explorer (MIDEX) program and was launched into a low-Earth orbit on a Delta 7320 rocket on November 20, 2004. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Brad Cenko (NASA-GSFC).

NASA's Swift Tracks Potential Magnetic Flip of Monster Black Hole

A rare and enigmatic outburst from a galaxy 236 million light-years away may have been sparked by a magnetic reversal, a spontaneous flip of the magnetic field surrounding its central black hole. In a comprehensive new study, an international science team links the eruption's unusual characteristics to changes in the black hole's environment that likely would be triggered by such a magnetic switch. This illustration shows the accretion disk, corona (pale, conical swirls above the disk), and supermassive black hole of active galaxy 1ES 1927+654 before its recent flare-up. Credit: NASA/Swift

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If you're a Swift Team member looking for the Team site, try:

• Swift Team Pages

• Curator: J.D. Myers
• NASA Official: Phil Newman
• Swift PI: Brad Cenko
• PAO Contact: Francis Reddy

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• › Page Last Updated: Mon, May 09, 2022