Multiwavelength Astronomy Multimedia


Title

Swift Instrumentation

Description

Swift's three scientific instruments work together to learn as much as possible about gamma-ray bursts. The Burst Alert telescope (BAT) is the first instrument to detect gamma-rays in the quarter of the sky at which it is pointed. Then the satellite is reoriented using data from BAT so that XRT and UVOT, which have a much smaller field of view, can be pointed at the GRB. With this information, ground-based telescopes can be pointed directly at the source to gather more data about the GRB.

Subject

  • Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer
  • Observatory (space-based)

Credits

NASA/GSFC

Type

Artwork

Associated Lesson

Gamma Ray Tools

This material is based upon work supported by NASA under Grant Nos. NNX09AD33G and NNX10AE80G issued through the SMD ROSES 2009 Program.

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