Authors
Neil Gehrels, Guido Chincarini, PE Giommi, KO Mason, JA Nousek, AA Wells, NE White, SD Barthelmy, David N Burrows, Lynn R Cominsky, KC Hurley, FE Marshall, P Mészáros, PWA Roming, L Angelini, LM Barbier, T Belloni, S Campana, PA Caraveo, MM Chester, O Citterio, TL Cline, MS Cropper, JR Cummings, AJ Dean, ED Feigelson, EE Fenimore, DA Frail, AS Fruchter, GP Garmire, K Gendreau, G Ghisellini, J Greiner, JE Hill, SD Hunsberger, HA Krimm, SR Kulkarni, P Kumar, F Lebrun, NM Lloyd-Ronning, CB Markwardt, BJ Mattson, RF Mushotzky, JP Norris, J Osborne, B Paczynski, DM Palmer, H-S Park, AM Parsons, J Paul, MJ Rees, CS Reynolds, JE Rhoads, TP Sasseen, BE Schaefer, AT Short, AP Smale, IA Smith, L Stella, G Tagliaferri, T Takahashi, M Tashiro, LK Townsley, J Tueller, MJL Turner, M Vietri, W Voges, MJ Ward, R Willingale, FM Zerbi, WW Zhang
Publication date
2004/8/20
Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume
611
Issue
2
Pages
1005
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Description
The Swift mission, scheduled for launch in 2004, is a multiwavelength observatory for gamma-ray burst (GRB) astronomy. It is a first-of-its-kind autonomous rapid-slewing satellite for transient astronomy and pioneers the way for future rapid-reaction and multiwavelength missions. It will be far more powerful than any previous GRB mission, observing more than 100 bursts yr-1 and performing detailed X-ray and UV/optical afterglow observations spanning timescales from 1 minute to several days after the burst. The objectives are to (1) determine the origin of GRBs,(2) classify GRBs and search for new types,(3) study the interaction of the ultrarelativistic outflows of GRBs with their surrounding medium, and (4) use GRBs to study the early universe out to z> 10. The mission is being developed by a NASA-led international collaboration. It will carry three instruments: a new-generation wide-field gamma-ray (15-150 keV …
Total citations
Scholar articles
N Gehrels, G Chincarini, PE Giommi, KO Mason… - The Astrophysical Journal, 2004