Gamma-ray observations with Swift and their impact

Abstract

The Swift gamma-ray burst explorer was launched on Nov. 20, 2004 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The .rst instrument onboard became fully operational less than a month later. Since that time the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on Swift has detected more than 180 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), most of which have also been observed within two minutes by the Swift narrow-.eld instruments: the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the Ultra-Violet and Optical Telescope (UVOT). Swift trigger notices are distributed worldwide within seconds of the trigger through the Gamma-ray burst Coordinates Network (GCN) and a substantial fraction of GRBs have been followed up by ground and space-based telescopes, ranging in wavelength from radio to TeV. Correlations of Swift bursts with neutrino and gravity wave detectors have promise of finding the .rst non-electromagnetic signature of a GRB. Swift is also a sensitive X-ray observatory with capabilities to monitor galactic and extragalactic transients on a daily basis, carry out the .rst all-sky hard X-ray survey since HEAO-1, and study in detail the spectra of X-ray transients as part of coordinated multi-wavelength observing campaigns.