NASA’S HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE REVEALS GIANT ATMOSPHERIC WAVE AROUND SATURN’S SOUTH POLE<\/a><\/p>\n Swift conducted its final observation on Oct. 20 and is expected to reenter Earth\u2019s atmosphere<\/a> in the next few weeks.<\/p>\n The telescope is currently orbiting less than 171 miles above Earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n Photo of NASA’s Swift satellite.<\/p>\n (NASA)<\/p>\n “Swift delivered an incredible, lasting return on investment for the nation, designed for a two-year primary mission but productive for more than 10 times as long,” Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said. “In that time, Swift played a major role in advancing our understanding of the changing universe and was part of a revolution in astrophysics that showed how critical rapid-response observations are to the entire community.”<\/p>\n NASA SATELLITES REVEAL STRIKING OCEAN COLOR CHANGE AS SUPER EL NI\u00d1O STRENGTHENS<\/a><\/p>\n Over the course of its mission, Swift observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts, over 1,400 supernova explosions, detected stars being shredded by black holes, monitored active galaxies and conducted an all-sky X-ray survey.<\/p>\n The telescope also studied numerous asteroids and comets, advancing NASA\u2019s<\/a> research.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory orbits above Earth in this artist\u2019s concept.<\/p>\n (NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab \/ NASA)<\/p>\n Swift\u2019s data has contributed to approximately 7,000 published scientific papers.<\/p>\n “Swift leaves us with an extraordinary archive of multiwavelength observations that will fuel new discoveries for decades more,” Domagal-Goldman said.<\/p>\n NASA STARTS PREPARATIONS FOR ARTEMIS III MISSION WITH SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM ROLLOUT<\/a><\/p>\n Named after Neil Ghrels, the first principal investigator, the telescope was launched on Nov. 20, 2004.<\/p>\n The completed Swift spacecraft is seen in a clean room at NASA Goddard on Sept. 9, 2003.<\/p>\n (NASA \/ NASA)<\/p>\n Swift was designed as a multiwavelength observatory equipped with co-aligned optical\/ultraviolet and X-ray telescopes.<\/p>\n The goal was to rapidly image gamma-ray bursts and pinpoint their locations, allowing scientists to study these brief cosmic outbursts before they faded.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019S MARS ROVER REACHES MAJOR MILESTONE WITH RECORD-BREAKING JOURNEY<\/a><\/p>\n “Swift needed to detect and locate gamma-ray bursts, communicate their position to other observatories, and then swing its telescopes around to image the burst locations before their afterglows faded out,” S. Bradley Cenko, the mission\u2019s principal investigator at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland<\/a>, said. “This typically took Swift about a minute to do.”<\/p>\n This picture shows a regions captured by a telescope aboard the Swift satellite of a region 200,00 light years wide.<\/p>\n (NASA\/Swift\/Stefan Immler (GSFC) and Erin Grand (UMCP))<\/p>\n Before Swift\u2019s launch, astronomers<\/a> had limited ability to pinpoint these bursts quickly and precisely enough to observe their fading afterglows.<\/p>\n NASA ANNOUNCES ARTEMIS III ASTRONAUTS IN NEXT PHASE OF MISSION TO RETURN HUMANS TO THE MOON<\/a><\/p>\n In 2005, Swift demonstrated its capabilities by detecting the afterglow of a short gamma-ray burst<\/a> that lasted approximately 0.03 seconds.<\/p>\n The observatory turned toward the burst quickly enough to detect 11 X-ray <\/a>photons, marking the first detection of an afterglow from a short gamma-ray burst.<\/p>\n Over time, Swift evolved into an astronomical multitool.<\/p>\n Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is fine-tuned to quickly locate and study gamma-ray bursts from the creation of black holes in multiple wavelengths.\u00a0<\/p>\n (NASA \/ NASA)<\/p>\n Its systems allowed NASA to request “target-of-opportunity” observations that could be commanded from the ground in as little as a few minutes. The telescope could also schedule up to 75 independent targets a day.<\/p>\n Swift has since collected nearly 22 years of brightness measurements of cosmic outbursts<\/a>, multiwavelength spectra and more than 1.5 million images from its ultraviolet\/optical telescope.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/screenshot-2026-06-29-161629.png\")
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