The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory

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NASA's Swift Reaches 20th Anniversary in Improved Pointing Mode

After two decades in space, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. The spacecraft has made great scientific strides in the years since scientists dreamed up a new way to explore gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe.
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NASA's Swift Studies Gas-Churning Monster Black Holes

Scientists using observations from NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have discovered, for the first time, the signal from a pair of monster black holes disrupting a cloud of gas in the center of a galaxy.
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NASA-UMBC Interaction Days

Sep 9, Sep 16, Sep 30, 2024

We are excited to announce three days of NASA-UMBC interaction, where senior scientists and technologists from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center will give lectures on cutting edge science and technology advancements and discuss opportunities for students and faculty to engage with Goddard scientists and engineers.
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Swift Users Workshop, Aug 20, 2024

Jul 19, 2024

The Swift team is excited to announce an upcoming online workshop specifically designed for Swift users on August 20th from 11 am to 1 pm EDT. In this workshop, the respective instrument teams (BAT, XRT, and UVOT) will update the community on instrument status, their latest pipelines, and data analysis techniques developed to assist users. These updates will guide users in proposing their science cases in a well-informed manner. The workshop will also provide guidance on how to review a proposal. There will be a significant amount of time devoted to questions from the attendees.
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ROSES-24 Amendment 23: D.5 Swift General Investigator Amendment: IXPE Joint Observing Program and Change to NuSTAR Exclusive-Use Period

Jun 25, 2024

D.5 Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory General Investigator (GI) - Cycle 21 solicits proposals for basic research relevant to the Swift gamma-ray burst mission. The primary goal of this mission is to determine the origin of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and use these bursts to probe the early Universe. Two changes have been made to D.5 Swift GI: 1) A joint GI observing program with Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer has been added and 2) all NuSTAR data acquired through the Swift GI Program will have a standard 6-month exclusive-use period, see Section 1.3.2. New text is in bold and deleted text is struck through. The proposal due date is unchanged: Phase-1 proposals are due by 4:30 p.m. Eastern time on September 26, 2024, via ARK/RPS.

On or about June 24, 2024, this Amendment to the NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2024" (NNH24ZDA001N) will be posted on the NASA research opportunity homepage and will appear on SARA's ROSES blog.

Programmatic information concerning D.5 Swift GI may be obtained from Mario Perez and Technical questions concerning this program element may be directed to Bindu Rani.

Jun 18, 2024

Astronomers See a Massive Black Hole Awaken in Real Time

In late 2019 the previously unremarkable galaxy SDSS1335+0728 suddenly started shining brighter than ever before. To understand why, astronomers have used data from several space and ground-based observatories, to track how the galaxy's brightness has varied. In a study out today, they conclude that they are witnessing changes never seen before in a galaxy - likely the result of the sudden awakening of the massive black hole at its core.
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May 23, 2024

NASA Swift Satellite and AI Unravel the Distance of the Farthest Gamma-Ray Bursts

A team of astronomers is using machine learning to analyze gamma-ray burst data from our Swift observatory and ground-based telescopes including the Subaru Telescope, to better estimate the distances to these powerful cosmic events.
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Feb 6, 2024

Swift Cycle 20 Results

Swift Cycle 20 Recommended Targets and Proposals have been posted.

Sep 7, 2023

NASA's Swift Learns a New Trick, Spots a Snacking Black Hole

Using NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which launched in 2004, scientists have discovered a black hole in a distant galaxy repeatedly nibbling on a Sun-like star. The object heralds a new era of Swift science made possible by a novel method for analyzing data from the satellite's X-ray Telescope (XRT).
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Mar 28, 2023

NASA Missions Study What May Be a 1-In-10,000-Year Gamma-ray Burst

On Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, a pulse of intense radiation swept through the solar system so exceptional that astronomers quickly dubbed it the BOAT - the brightest of all time.
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