http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Swift Fri, 2 Mar 2012 11:29:00 -0500 http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/shocking-burst.html 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. id_72 03 May 2013 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/supergiant-stars.html 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. id_71 16 April 2013 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/ison.html 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. id_70 29 March 2013 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/star-wreck.html 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. id_69 15 March 2013 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/swift-images.html" this PDF. General information about the use of Swift CALDB files is available at the Swift Calibration page.]]> id_68 25 February 2013 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/swift-images.html Of the three telescopes carried by NASA's Swift satellite, only one captures cosmic light at energies similar to those seen by the human eye. Although small by the standards of ground-based observatories, Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) plays a critical role in rapidly pinpointing the locations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the brightest explosions in the cosmos id_67 28 December 2012 http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/proposals/c9_acceptarg.html Swift Cycle 9 Accepted Targets and Proposals Have Been Posted id_66 18 December 2012 http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/andromeda-xray.html Back in January, a new X-ray source flared and rapidly brightened in the Andromeda galaxy (M31), located 2.5 million light-years away. Classified as an ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX), the object is only the second ever seen in M31 and became the target of an intense observing campaign by orbiting X-ray telescopes - including NASA's Swift - and radio observatories on the ground. These efforts resulted in the first detection of radio-emitting jets from a stellar-mass black hole outside our own galaxy. id_65 12 December 2012 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/binary-clash.html The hottest and most massive stars don't live long enough to disperse throughout the galaxy. Instead, they can be found near the clouds of gas and dust where they formed - and where they will explode as supernovae after a few million years. They huddle in tight clusters with other young stars or in looser groupings called OB associations, a name reflecting their impressive populations of rare O- and B-type stars. id_64 12 October 2012 http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/ NASA received 158 proposals (slightly up from last year), requesting a total observing time of 13.2 Ms and $4.3M in funds for 866 targets. The Swift Cycle 9 Peer Review will be held in December to evaluate the merits of submitted proposals and choose those that are recommended for funding and observing time. id_64 05 October 2012 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/new-black-hole.html NASA's Swift satellite recently detected a rising tide of high-energy X-rays from a source toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The outburst, produced by a rare X-ray nova, announced the presence of a previously unknown stellar-mass black hole. id_63 05 October 2012