The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory

News

Dec 20, 2013

Swift Cycle 10 Results

Swift Cycle 10 Recommended Targets and Proposals have been posted.
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Dec 16, 2013

Swift Discovers a Hundred Thousand New Cosmic X-ray Sources

Using the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), an international team led from the University of Leicester analyzed eight years' worth of data to make the first Swift X-ray Point Source catalogue (1SXPS). The team has published a list of over 150,0000 celestial X-ray sources, which will be a vital resource for future astronomical studies.
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Dec 4, 2013

Glimpsing the Infrastructure of a Gamma-ray Burst Jet

A new study using observations from a novel instrument provides the best look to date at magnetic fields at the heart of gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic explosions in the universe. An international team of astronomers from Britain, Slovenia and Italy has glimpsed the infrastructure of a burst's high-speed jet.
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Nov 21, 2013

NASA Missions Study 'Watershed' Cosmic Explosion in Unparalleled Detail

On April 27, a blast of light from a dying star in a distant galaxy became the focus of astronomers around the world. The explosion, known as a gamma-ray burst and designated GRB 130427A, tops the charts as one of the brightest ever seen.
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Oct 1, 2013

Swift Cycle 10 GI Program

NASA received 175 proposals (up from last year), requesting a total observing time of 15.6 Ms and $5.3M in funds for 1,150 targets. Considering PIs and Co-Is, about 500 individual scientists responded to the Swift Cycle 10 call. The Swift Cycle 10 Peer Review will be held in December to evaluate the merits of submitted proposals. Results will be posted in late December 2013.

Sep 30, 2013

Joint Swift/XMM-Newton Proposals Due Fr, Oct 11, 2013

For details on joint Swift/XMM-Newton Guest Observer opportunities, see Sec 5.4.5 of the XMM-Newton AO-13 Solicitation

Sep 25, 2013

Astronomers Uncover a 'Transformer' Pulsar

An international team of scientists using a fleet of orbiting X-ray telescopes, including NASA's Swift and Chandra X-ray Observatory, has discovered a millisecond pulsar with a dual identity. In a feat that has never before been observed, the star readily shifts back and forth between two mutually exclusive styles of pulsed emission - one in X-rays, the other in radio.
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Aug 7, 2013

Swift Cycle 10: Proposals Due September 26, 2013.

For details on the Swift Cycle 10 program elements and how to submit proposals, see the Swift Cycle 10 information page and the Cycle 10 FAQ.

Jul 19, 2013

Origin of gold found in rare neutron-star collisions

External Washington Post article.

Jun 3, 2013

NASA's Swift Produces Best Ultraviolet Maps of the Nearest Galaxies

Astronomers at NASA and Pennsylvania State University have used NASA's Swift satellite to create the most detailed ultraviolet light surveys ever of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the two closest major galaxies.
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May 29, 2013

NASA's Swift Reveals New Phenomenon in a Neutron Star

Astronomers using NASA's Swift X-ray Telescope have observed a spinning neutron star suddenly slowing down, yielding clues they can use to understand these extremely dense objects.
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May 23, 2013

A Hidden Population of Exotic Neutron Stars

Magnetars - the dense remains of dead stars that erupt sporadically with bursts of high-energy radiation - are some of the most extreme objects known in the Universe. A major campaign using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and several other satellites shows magnetars may be more diverse - and common - than previously thought.
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May 3, 2013

NASA's Fermi, Swift See 'Shockingly Bright' Burst

A record-setting blast of gamma rays from a dying star in a distant galaxy has wowed astronomers around the world. The eruption, which is classified as a gamma-ray burst, or GRB, and designated GRB 130427A, produced the highest-energy light ever detected from such an event.
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Apr 16, 2013

Dying Supergiant Stars Implicated in Hours-long Gamma-Ray Bursts

Three unusually long-lasting stellar explosions discovered by NASA's Swift satellite represent a previously unrecognized class of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Two international teams of astronomers studying these events conclude that they likely arose from the catastrophic death of supergiant stars hundreds of times larger than the sun.
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Mar 29, 2013

NASA's Swift Sizes Up Comet ISON

Astronomers from the University of Maryland at College Park (UMCP) and Lowell Observatory have used NASA's Swift satellite to check out comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which may become one of the most dazzling in decades when it rounds the sun later this year.
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Mar 15, 2013

NASA's Swift, Chandra Explore a Youthful 'Star Wreck'

While performing an extensive X-ray survey of our galaxy's central regions, NASA's Swift satellite has uncovered the previously unknown remains of a shattered star. Designated G306.3–0.9 after the coordinates of its sky position, the new object ranks among the youngest-known supernova remnants in our Milky Way galaxy.
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Feb 25, 2013

Swift/UVOT CALDB Update

A new CALDB file describing the long term change in the sensitivity of the Swift/UVOT was released on January 18, 2013. The new file corrects the update on June 6, 2012, which erroneously produces no change in sensitivity instead of the actual gradual decline of 1.0% to 1.5% per year depending on filter. A more complete description of the file and its updates is available in this PDF. General information about the use of Swift CALDB files is available at the Swift Calibration page.