Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center\r
Alt text: Infographic of some of Swift’s science highlights\r
Image description: This infographic highlighting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is done mostly in shades of blue except for pops of green, purple, brown and orange. A line of icon-style images, sort of like a film strip, bisects the image. The icons get smaller the further away they are, giving the sense of distance. Furthest to the left is a green Earth and a brown asteroid. Then there is a white comet, an orange star, a blue-and-white neutron star, a purple-and-black black hole, a blue-and-white spiral galaxy, a reddish nebula, and a purple gamma-ray burst.\r
At top left, text reads “Astrophysics Multitool” and “NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.” Below that is a box labeled “Original Objectives,” with text reading “To discover and quickly localize GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) and observe their afterglows in visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.” The GRB text is purple, and the rest is blue. Below the box, text reads “Since launching on Nov. 20, 2004, Swift has …” \r
To the right of the film strip are four boxes. The top box is labeled “GRBs” in purple. There are five lines of text below it reading “Detected thousands of GRBs / Discovered the farthest GRB / Pinpointed the afterglows of short GRBs / Helped monitor the brightest GRB ever seen / Assisted in tying short GRBs to neutron star mergers.”\r
The next box down and a little to the left is labeled “Stars” in orange text on a brown background. Five lines of text below it read “Spotted megaflares from red dwarf stars / Monitored the clashing winds of giant binary stars / Caught enormous star quakes on distant magnetars / Discovered a supernova remnant / Surveyed star formation in the nearest galaxies.”\r
The next box down and a little more to the left is labeled “Earth” in green. The five lines of text below it read “Measured water released by comets / Analyzed an asteroid collision / Caught a comet slowing its spin / Tracked a near-Earth asteroid / Studied a Sun-grazing comet.”\r
The last box at bottom right is labeled “Black Holes” in blue. Five lines of text below it read “Discovered new black holes / Observed monster black holes destroying stars / Used X-ray echoes to map gas around a black hole / Showed that galaxy collisions fuel their central black holes / Found a black hole repeatedly nibbling on a star.”", "items": [ { "id": 521701, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1204094, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a015000/a015046/Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final_half.jpg", "filename": "Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final_half.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This infographic highlights some of the achievements of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has become the agency’s astrophysics multitool since launching in 2004. The spacecraft studies a wide range of objects, from those near Earth, to stars, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. \rCredit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center\rAlt text: Infographic of some of Swift’s science highlights\rImage description: This infographic highlighting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is done mostly in shades of blue except for pops of green, purple, brown and orange. A line of icon-style images, sort of like a film strip, bisects the image. The icons get smaller the further away they are, giving the sense of distance. Furthest to the left is a green Earth and a brown asteroid. Then there is a white comet, an orange star, a blue-and-white neutron star, a purple-and-black black hole, a blue-and-white spiral galaxy, a reddish nebula, and a purple gamma-ray burst.\rAt top left, text reads “Astrophysics Multitool” and “NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.” Below that is a box labeled “Original Objectives,” with text reading “To discover and quickly localize GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) and observe their afterglows in visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.” The GRB text is purple, and the rest is blue. Below the box, text reads “Since launching on Nov. 20, 2004, Swift has …” \rTo the right of the film strip are four boxes. The top box is labeled “GRBs” in purple. There are five lines of text below it reading “Detected thousands of GRBs / Discovered the farthest GRB / Pinpointed the afterglows of short GRBs / Helped monitor the brightest GRB ever seen / Assisted in tying short GRBs to neutron star mergers.”\rThe next box down and a little to the left is labeled “Stars” in orange text on a brown background. Five lines of text below it read “Spotted megaflares from red dwarf stars / Monitored the clashing winds of giant binary stars / Caught enormous star quakes on distant magnetars / Discovered a supernova remnant / Surveyed star formation in the nearest galaxies.”\rThe next box down and a little more to the left is labeled “Earth” in green. The five lines of text below it read “Measured water released by comets / Analyzed an asteroid collision / Caught a comet slowing its spin / Tracked a near-Earth asteroid / Studied a Sun-grazing comet.”\rThe last box at bottom right is labeled “Black Holes” in blue. Five lines of text below it read “Discovered new black holes / Observed monster black holes destroying stars / Used X-ray echoes to map gas around a black hole / Showed that galaxy collisions fuel their central black holes / Found a black hole repeatedly nibbling on a star.”", "width": 3641, "height": 2048, "pixels": 7456768 } }, { "id": 521699, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1204092, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a015000/a015046/Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final.jpg", "filename": "Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This infographic highlights some of the achievements of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has become the agency’s astrophysics multitool since launching in 2004. The spacecraft studies a wide range of objects, from those near Earth, to stars, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. \rCredit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center\rAlt text: Infographic of some of Swift’s science highlights\rImage description: This infographic highlighting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is done mostly in shades of blue except for pops of green, purple, brown and orange. A line of icon-style images, sort of like a film strip, bisects the image. The icons get smaller the further away they are, giving the sense of distance. Furthest to the left is a green Earth and a brown asteroid. Then there is a white comet, an orange star, a blue-and-white neutron star, a purple-and-black black hole, a blue-and-white spiral galaxy, a reddish nebula, and a purple gamma-ray burst.\rAt top left, text reads “Astrophysics Multitool” and “NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.” Below that is a box labeled “Original Objectives,” with text reading “To discover and quickly localize GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) and observe their afterglows in visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.” The GRB text is purple, and the rest is blue. Below the box, text reads “Since launching on Nov. 20, 2004, Swift has …” \rTo the right of the film strip are four boxes. The top box is labeled “GRBs” in purple. There are five lines of text below it reading “Detected thousands of GRBs / Discovered the farthest GRB / Pinpointed the afterglows of short GRBs / Helped monitor the brightest GRB ever seen / Assisted in tying short GRBs to neutron star mergers.”\rThe next box down and a little to the left is labeled “Stars” in orange text on a brown background. Five lines of text below it read “Spotted megaflares from red dwarf stars / Monitored the clashing winds of giant binary stars / Caught enormous star quakes on distant magnetars / Discovered a supernova remnant / Surveyed star formation in the nearest galaxies.”\rThe next box down and a little more to the left is labeled “Earth” in green. The five lines of text below it read “Measured water released by comets / Analyzed an asteroid collision / Caught a comet slowing its spin / Tracked a near-Earth asteroid / Studied a Sun-grazing comet.”\rThe last box at bottom right is labeled “Black Holes” in blue. Five lines of text below it read “Discovered new black holes / Observed monster black holes destroying stars / Used X-ray echoes to map gas around a black hole / Showed that galaxy collisions fuel their central black holes / Found a black hole repeatedly nibbling on a star.”", "width": 7282, "height": 4096, "pixels": 29827072 } }, { "id": 521700, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1204093, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a015000/a015046/Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final.png", "filename": "Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This infographic highlights some of the achievements of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has become the agency’s astrophysics multitool since launching in 2004. The spacecraft studies a wide range of objects, from those near Earth, to stars, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. \rCredit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center\rAlt text: Infographic of some of Swift’s science highlights\rImage description: This infographic highlighting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is done mostly in shades of blue except for pops of green, purple, brown and orange. A line of icon-style images, sort of like a film strip, bisects the image. The icons get smaller the further away they are, giving the sense of distance. Furthest to the left is a green Earth and a brown asteroid. Then there is a white comet, an orange star, a blue-and-white neutron star, a purple-and-black black hole, a blue-and-white spiral galaxy, a reddish nebula, and a purple gamma-ray burst.\rAt top left, text reads “Astrophysics Multitool” and “NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.” Below that is a box labeled “Original Objectives,” with text reading “To discover and quickly localize GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) and observe their afterglows in visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.” The GRB text is purple, and the rest is blue. Below the box, text reads “Since launching on Nov. 20, 2004, Swift has …” \rTo the right of the film strip are four boxes. The top box is labeled “GRBs” in purple. There are five lines of text below it reading “Detected thousands of GRBs / Discovered the farthest GRB / Pinpointed the afterglows of short GRBs / Helped monitor the brightest GRB ever seen / Assisted in tying short GRBs to neutron star mergers.”\rThe next box down and a little to the left is labeled “Stars” in orange text on a brown background. Five lines of text below it read “Spotted megaflares from red dwarf stars / Monitored the clashing winds of giant binary stars / Caught enormous star quakes on distant magnetars / Discovered a supernova remnant / Surveyed star formation in the nearest galaxies.”\rThe next box down and a little more to the left is labeled “Earth” in green. The five lines of text below it read “Measured water released by comets / Analyzed an asteroid collision / Caught a comet slowing its spin / Tracked a near-Earth asteroid / Studied a Sun-grazing comet.”\rThe last box at bottom right is labeled “Black Holes” in blue. Five lines of text below it read “Discovered new black holes / Observed monster black holes destroying stars / Used X-ray echoes to map gas around a black hole / Showed that galaxy collisions fuel their central black holes / Found a black hole repeatedly nibbling on a star.”", "width": 7282, "height": 4096, "pixels": 29827072 } }, { "id": 521781, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1204158, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a015000/a015046/Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final_half_searchweb.png", "filename": "Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final_half_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This infographic highlights some of the achievements of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has become the agency’s astrophysics multitool since launching in 2004. The spacecraft studies a wide range of objects, from those near Earth, to stars, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. \rCredit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center\rAlt text: Infographic of some of Swift’s science highlights\rImage description: This infographic highlighting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is done mostly in shades of blue except for pops of green, purple, brown and orange. A line of icon-style images, sort of like a film strip, bisects the image. The icons get smaller the further away they are, giving the sense of distance. Furthest to the left is a green Earth and a brown asteroid. Then there is a white comet, an orange star, a blue-and-white neutron star, a purple-and-black black hole, a blue-and-white spiral galaxy, a reddish nebula, and a purple gamma-ray burst.\rAt top left, text reads “Astrophysics Multitool” and “NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.” Below that is a box labeled “Original Objectives,” with text reading “To discover and quickly localize GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) and observe their afterglows in visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.” The GRB text is purple, and the rest is blue. Below the box, text reads “Since launching on Nov. 20, 2004, Swift has …” \rTo the right of the film strip are four boxes. The top box is labeled “GRBs” in purple. There are five lines of text below it reading “Detected thousands of GRBs / Discovered the farthest GRB / Pinpointed the afterglows of short GRBs / Helped monitor the brightest GRB ever seen / Assisted in tying short GRBs to neutron star mergers.”\rThe next box down and a little to the left is labeled “Stars” in orange text on a brown background. Five lines of text below it read “Spotted megaflares from red dwarf stars / Monitored the clashing winds of giant binary stars / Caught enormous star quakes on distant magnetars / Discovered a supernova remnant / Surveyed star formation in the nearest galaxies.”\rThe next box down and a little more to the left is labeled “Earth” in green. The five lines of text below it read “Measured water released by comets / Analyzed an asteroid collision / Caught a comet slowing its spin / Tracked a near-Earth asteroid / Studied a Sun-grazing comet.”\rThe last box at bottom right is labeled “Black Holes” in blue. Five lines of text below it read “Discovered new black holes / Observed monster black holes destroying stars / Used X-ray echoes to map gas around a black hole / Showed that galaxy collisions fuel their central black holes / Found a black hole repeatedly nibbling on a star.”", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 521782, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 1204159, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a015000/a015046/Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final_half_thm.png", "filename": "Swift_Multitool_Infographic_Final_half_thm.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This infographic highlights some of the achievements of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has become the agency’s astrophysics multitool since launching in 2004. The spacecraft studies a wide range of objects, from those near Earth, to stars, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. \rCredit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center\rAlt text: Infographic of some of Swift’s science highlights\rImage description: This infographic highlighting NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is done mostly in shades of blue except for pops of green, purple, brown and orange. A line of icon-style images, sort of like a film strip, bisects the image. The icons get smaller the further away they are, giving the sense of distance. Furthest to the left is a green Earth and a brown asteroid. Then there is a white comet, an orange star, a blue-and-white neutron star, a purple-and-black black hole, a blue-and-white spiral galaxy, a reddish nebula, and a purple gamma-ray burst.\rAt top left, text reads “Astrophysics Multitool” and “NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.” Below that is a box labeled “Original Objectives,” with text reading “To discover and quickly localize GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) and observe their afterglows in visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.” The GRB text is purple, and the rest is blue. Below the box, text reads “Since launching on Nov. 20, 2004, Swift has …” \rTo the right of the film strip are four boxes. The top box is labeled “GRBs” in purple. There are five lines of text below it reading “Detected thousands of GRBs / Discovered the farthest GRB / Pinpointed the afterglows of short GRBs / Helped monitor the brightest GRB ever seen / Assisted in tying short GRBs to neutron star mergers.”\rThe next box down and a little to the left is labeled “Stars” in orange text on a brown background. Five lines of text below it read “Spotted megaflares from red dwarf stars / Monitored the clashing winds of giant binary stars / Caught enormous star quakes on distant magnetars / Discovered a supernova remnant / Surveyed star formation in the nearest galaxies.”\rThe next box down and a little more to the left is labeled “Earth” in green. The five lines of text below it read “Measured water released by comets / Analyzed an asteroid collision / Caught a comet slowing its spin / Tracked a near-Earth asteroid / Studied a Sun-grazing comet.”\rThe last box at bottom right is labeled “Black Holes” in blue. Five lines of text below it read “Discovered new black holes / Observed monster black holes destroying stars / Used X-ray echoes to map gas around a black hole / Showed that galaxy collisions fuel their central black holes / Found a black hole repeatedly nibbling on a star.”", "width": 80, "height": 40, "pixels": 3200 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 380402, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/15046/#media_group_380402", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "The Neil Gehrels’ Swift Observatory is NASA’s astrophysics multitool, capable of quickly observing a wide range of cosmic objects in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray light. It launched as the Swift Gamma-ray Observatory on Nov. 20, 2004. In 2018, the agency renamed it in honor of Neil Gehrels, who helped develop the mission and served as its first principal investigator.
At launch, Swift was a first-of-its kind multiwavelength observatory designed to study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the cosmos, using its Ultraviolet/Optical, X-ray, and Burst Alert telescopes.
The spacecraft is named after the bird for its ability to rapidly turn to study bursts and their afterglows, which has made it a key player in NASA’s fleet of spacecraft that participate in time-domain astronomy, the study of astronomical objects across various divisions of time, from microseconds to decades or more.
Swift is also critical to multimessenger astronomy, which involves detecting light — the best-known cosmic “messenger” — emitted from sources discovered by observatories sensitive to non-electromagnetic signals, like high-energy particles and space-time ripples called gravitational waves. It has contributed to the study of everything from comets in our solar system to black hole activity in distant galaxies.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Astrophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "eMITS" } ] }, { "role": "Graphic designer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "eMITS" } ] }, { "role": "Science writer", "people": [ { "name": "Jeanette Kazmierczak", "employer": "University of Maryland College Park" } ] } ], "missions": [ "Swift" ], "series": [ "Astrophysics Stills" ], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Universe" ], "keywords": [ "Ast", "Asteroid", "Astrophysics", "Black Hole", "Comet", "Galaxy", "Gamma Ray Burst", "Magnetar", "Neutron Star", "Space", "Star", "Supernova", "Swift", "Universe", "X-ray" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 14786, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14786/", "page_type": "Animation", "title": "Swift Spacecraft Animations: 2025", "description": "NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, shown in this artist’s concept, orbits Earth as it studies the ever-changing universe. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab || SWIFT_S1_v2_4k_60fps_proRes.00005_print.jpg (1024x576) [148.3 KB] || SWIFT_S1_v2_4k_60fps_proRes.00005_searchweb.png (320x180) [64.4 KB] || SWIFT_S1_v2_4k_60fps_proRes.00005_thm.png [4.4 KB] || Swift_S1_v2_4k60.mp4 (3840x2160) [25.6 MB] || SWIFT_S1_v2_4k_60fps_proRes.mov (3840x2160) [4.2 GB] || Swift_S1_v2_4k60.hwshow [423 bytes] || ", "release_date": "2025-02-20T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2025-02-20T13:41:54-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1152601, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014700/a014786/SWIFT_S1_v2_4k_60fps_proRes.00005_print.jpg", "filename": "SWIFT_S1_v2_4k_60fps_proRes.00005_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, shown in this artist’s concept, orbits Earth as it studies the ever-changing universe. \rCredit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab\r", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 14721, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14721/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "What's In A Name? NASA's Swift Mission", "description": "Watch to learn how NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory got its name.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: “In a Conundrum,” Pip Heywood [PRS], Universal Production Music“Spinning Particles,” Christian Telford [ASCAP] and Koichi Sanchez-Imahashi [ASCAP], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || Swift_Name_20_Thumbnail2.jpg (1280x720) [308.5 KB] || Swift_Name_20_Thumbnail2_searchweb.png (320x180) [103.9 KB] || Swift_Name_20_Thumbnail2_thm.png (80x40) [9.3 KB] || 14721_Swift20_WhatsInAName_Good.mp4 (1920x1080) [199.2 MB] || 14721_Swift20_WhatsInAName_Best.mp4 (1920x1080) [883.1 MB] || 14721_Swift20_WhatsInAName_Captions.en_US.srt [3.7 KB] || 14721_Swift20_WhatsInAName_Captions.en_US.vtt [3.5 KB] || 14721_Swift20_WhatsInAName_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [2.6 GB] || ", "release_date": "2024-11-20T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2024-11-21T08:13:16-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1139124, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014700/a014721/Swift_Name_20_Thumbnail2.jpg", "filename": "Swift_Name_20_Thumbnail2.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Watch to learn how NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory got its name.\r\rCredit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center\rMusic: “In a Conundrum,” Pip Heywood [PRS], Universal Production Music“Spinning Particles,” Christian Telford [ASCAP] and Koichi Sanchez-Imahashi [ASCAP], Universal Production MusicWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 11738, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11738/", "page_type": "Infographic", "title": "Infographic: NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory", "description": "This infographic summarizes key aspects of NASA's Swift mission, from its instruments to scientific results gleaned from 20 years of operations. Swift is still going strong, and the observatory remains a key part of NASA’s strategy to monitor the changing sky with multiple telescopes using different approaches for studying the cosmos.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterClick the download button to select from a range of sizes. || Swift_20_Infographic_Quarter.jpg (1550x1991) [1.2 MB] || Swfit_20_Poster_CMYK.jpg (6200x7965) [19.2 MB] || Swift_20_Infographic_Full.jpg (6200x7965) [7.4 MB] || Swift_20_Infographic_Full.png (6200x7965) [34.2 MB] || Swift_20_Infographic_Half.jpg (3100x3983) [3.2 MB] || Swift_20_Infographic_Half.png (3100x3983) [10.5 MB] || Swift_20_Infographic_Full.jpg.dzi [178 bytes] || Swift_20_Infographic_Full.jpg_files [4.0 KB] || ", "release_date": "2024-11-20T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2024-11-21T08:05:39-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 858831, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011700/a011738/Swift_Infographic_Thumbnail.png", "filename": "Swift_Infographic_Thumbnail.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Click the download button to select from a range of sizes.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }