A NASA satellite to detect and study gamma-ray bursts, launched on 20 November 2004. It carries three instruments to observe gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows caused as the shockwave from the burst hits interstellar gas at gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical wavelengths. Swift's wide-angle Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) detects gamma-ray bursts and immediately notifies astronomers on the ground. The spacecraft then aligns itself on the burst to study it in more detail with its narrow-field X-ray Telescope (XRT) and Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) to image and take spectra of the afterglow, while ground-based astronomers simultaneously point their own telescopes at it. SWIFT contributed valuable data on the hypernova event that occurred in August 2017, which was accompanied by a gamma-ray burst of short duration, including the discovery of a short-lived ultraviolet pulse that probably came from material blown away by the short-lived disk of debris that powered the gamma-ray burst.

https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov Keep up to date with research on gamma-ray bursts and watch Swift in action on this site.