Swift is a NASA medium explorer (MIDEX) satellite developer by an international
partecipation and dedicated to the study of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) science.
On board, SWIFT has three instruments (BAT, UVOT, XRT) working at different
wavelenghts (gamma-ray, X-ray and optical) to observe, for the first time,
bursts from the very beginning to the end.
the main mission objectives for SWIFT are to:
- Determine the origin of gamma-ray bursts
- Classify gamma-ray bursts and search for new types
- Determine how the blastwave evolves and interacts with the surrundings
- Use gamma-ray bursts to study the early universe
- Perform a sensitive survey of the sky in the hard X-ray band
SWIFT is built to be fast, to
swiftly turn and point its instruments
at the burst and relay burst location within second:
NO SATELLITE POINTS FASTER
OAB provided the optics for the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and built a
small rapid reaction automatic optical-infrared telescope,
REM, dedicated to
monitor the prompt IR/optical afterglow of gamma-ray bursts.
Webmaster: Dino Fugazza, Monica Sperandio
The italian partecipation is possible
thanks to the support by ASI
(contract I/R/039/04)