Credit: NASA/Swift
Swift, Back in Action
In preparation for NASA's bold attempt to boost
NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory to a higher altitude to save it from the dangerous clutches of the earth's atmosphere, Swift was put into a safe orientation to minimize atmospheric drag. This orientation however prevented Swift from carrying out any science observations for a few months while the boost mission was readied for launch - a small sacrifice for astronomers in the hope of Swift's rescue. But space is hard, and the risky rescue mission did not succeed. So in the remaining time left, however long it is, Swift has begun to take new observations once again. This past Wednesday, August 26, the Swift mission turned on the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) and the X-ray Telescope (XRT). The image above shows a brand-new XRT X-ray image of the famous Tycho supernova remnant - each white pixel represents a detected X-ray photon (the dark linear stripes are detector artifacts).
The team plans to activate the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) in the next few weeks. Swift is now accepting proposals for targets of opportunity from the community; who knows what extraordinary outbursts or other remarkable discoveries Swift may yet find? Check out the Swift blog to find out the latest news.
Published: August 31, 2026
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Page Author: Dr. Michael F. Corcoran
Last modified Tuesday, 08-Sep-2026 13:56:57 EDT