Swift
What is the Swift Observatory?
How did the Swift Observatory locate gamma-ray bursts?
What important observations did the Swift Observatory make?
Why did the Swift satellite fall out of orbit?
What is happening with the Swift satellite?
News •
Swift, U.S. satellite observatory designed to swing into the proper orientation to catch the first few seconds of gamma-ray bursts. It was launched on November 20, 2004. Swift had a gamma-ray telescope that makes the first detection of a gamma-ray burst. The spacecraft was moved so that the gamma-ray burst could be observed by an X-ray telescope and an ultraviolet-optical telescope. Sixty seconds after the first gamma rays are observed, the X-ray telescope produced a better position for the burst, and within 200 seconds the ultraviolet-optical telescope produced the most accurate position of all. In 2018 the mission was renamed after American astrophysicist Neil Gehrels, who was the satellite’s principal investigator until his death in 2017.
- In full: Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory
- Launched: November 20, 2004, Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S.
- Nationality: U.S.
- Notable accomplishments: observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts (2004–26); first observation of supernova in the act of exploding (2008)
- End of mission: October 23, 2026
- Re-entry: November 4, 2026
Swift observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts. The most distant of these, GRB 090429B, detected on April 29, 2009, exploded about 13 billion light-years from Earth. One event, GRB 080319B, detected on March 19, 2008, was so powerful that it could have been observed with the naked eye, even though it was 7.5 billion light-years away.
Swift also recorded for the first time the precise location of a relatively short-lived gamma-ray burst, GRB 050509B, detected on May 9, 2005. On the basis of its position, this event was shown to have arisen in a relatively nearby galaxy (2.7 billion light-years away), which meant that the luminosity of the event was approximately a thousand times less than those of long-lived gamma-ray bursts detected from distant galaxies. Some astronomers thought that short bursts arose from the merger of compact objects—for example, when two neutron stars coalesced and produced jets of high-energy particles and radiation. In 2008, Swift also made the first observation of a supernova in the act of exploding.
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Strong solar storms in 2024 puffed up Earth’s atmosphere, increasing drag on the Swift satellite so much that it was predicted to re-enter in 2026. NASA in 2025 contracted Katalyst Space to rescue Swift. Katalyst Space designed the LINK satellite, which was launched on July 3, 2026. LINK would have rendezvoused with Swift, grabbed it with LINK’s robotic arms, and boosted it to a higher orbit. However, the mission was unsuccessful. NASA ended Swift’s mission on October 23, 2026, shortly before it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on November 4.