Swift ends new observations as its falling orbit prevents stable pointing
NASA announced on 23 October that the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory had completed its science mission, with its final observation three days earlier. Atmospheric drag prevented stable pointing once the orbit fell below 275 kilometres. The telescope leaves a public archive spanning about 22 years, including observations of thousands of explosive cosmic events. The collection includes 1.5 million ultraviolet and optical images.
Science··Morning
An orbit below 275 kilometres ends stable observations
NASA, the US space agency, confirmed on 23 October that its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory had stopped collecting science observations. Its last science target was observed on 20 October. As the orbit dropped below 275 kilometres, atmospheric drag made the stable pointing required to study targets impossible. The agency expected the spacecraft to return to the atmosphere within weeks. The announcement therefore closes new observing operations while the existing data remain available.[1]
Rapid turns linked telescopes to brief cosmic explosions
Swift launched on 20 November 2004 to locate gamma-ray bursts, extremely powerful flashes that can fade quickly. It could usually turn towards a target in about a minute and send its position to other observatories. That combination let telescopes on the ground and in space follow the same event at different wavelengths. Over its lifetime, Swift’s observations covered over 1,400 exploding stars, or supernovae, alongside more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts. Some days included as many as 75 targets.[1]
Twenty-two years of data remain open for research
The public archive includes roughly 12 terabytes of data, including around 1.5 million images captured in optical and ultraviolet light. Data collected across approximately 22 years contributed to around 7,000 scientific papers. The observing programme expanded beyond its original burst mission to stellar eruptions, black-hole surroundings and other transient events. Swift took the name of Neil Gehrels, its founding principal investigator, in 2018. Its material remains accessible for further analysis. NASA is considering how future missions could continue rapid-response observing.[1]
