Related papers: The Galactic Transient Sky with Swift
Swift is a satellite equipped with gamma-ray, X-ray, and optical-UV instruments aimed at discovering, localizing and collecting data from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Launched at the end of 2004, this small-size mission finds about a hundred…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXT) are High Mass X-ray Binaries displaying X-ray outbursts reaching peak luminosities of 10$^{38}$ erg/s and spend most of their life in more quiescent states with luminosities as low as…
We report the detection of a dust scattering halo around a recently discovered X-ray transient, Swift J174540.7-290015, which in early February of 2016 underwent one of the brightest outbursts (F_X ~ 5e-10 erg/cm^2/s) observed from a…
We present the Living Swift-XRT Point Source catalogue (LSXPS) and real-time transient detector. This system allows us for the first time to carry out low-latency searches for new transient X-ray events fainter than those available to the…
The Swift Gamma-Ray Explorer is designed to make prompt multiwavelength observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and GRB afterglows. The X-ray Telescope (XRT) enables Swift to determine GRB positions with a few arcseconds accuracy within 100…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients are a class of Galactic High Mass X-ray Binaries with supergiant companions. Their extreme transient X-ray flaring activity was unveiled thanks to INTEGRAL/IBIS observations. The SFXTs dynamic range, with…
I present an overview of the Swift mission, which was launched on November 20, 2004 to discover and observe the most energetic of astrophysical phenomena, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). After almost 6 years in space the Observatory is in…
For the first time, Swift is giving us the opportunity to study supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) throughout all phases of their life: outbursts, intermediate level, and quiescence. We present our intense monitoring of four SFXTs,…
We investigate the characteristics of bright flares for a sample of supergiant fast X-ray transients and their relation to the orbital phase. We have retrieved all Swift/BAT Transient Monitor light curves, and collected all detections in…
Over the next decade, we can expect time domain astronomy to flourish at optical and radio wavelengths. In parallel with these efforts, a dedicated transient "machine" operating at higher energies (X-ray band through soft gamma-rays) is…
The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) hard X-ray transient monitor tracks more than 700 galactic and extragalactic sources on time scales ranging from a single Swift pointing (approximately 20 minutes) to one day. The monitored sources…
We analyze the two unclassified newly outbursting X-ray binary transients in the galactic center, Swift J174540.7-290015 and Swift J174540.2-290037, in an attempt to identify the nature of these sources. We engage in a thorough spectral…
The exhilerating results from Swift in its first year of operations have opened a new era of exploration of the high energy universe. The surge to higher redshifts of the Gamma-ray bursts now imaged with increased sensitivity establishes…
Gamma-ray Bursts are the most powerful objects in the Universe. Discovered in the 1960's as brief flashes of gamma-radiation, we now know they emit across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, are located in distant galaxies and comprise two…
IGR J16479-4514 is a Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT), a new class of High Mass X-ray Binaries, whose number is rapidly growing thanks to the observations of the Galactic plane performed with the INTEGRAL satellite. IGR J16479-4514…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) are HMXBs with OB supergiant companions. I review the results of the Swift SFXT Project, which since 2007 has been exploiting Swift's capabilities in a systematic study of SFXTs and supergiant X-ray…
In the recent years, the discovery of a new class of Galactic transients with fast and bright flaring X-ray activity, the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients, has completely changed our view and comprehension of massive X-ray binaries. These…
Supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) are a class of high-mass X-ray binaries with possible counterparts in the high energy gamma rays. The Swift SFXT Project has conducted a systematic investigation of the properties of SFTXs on…
The X-ray Telescope (XRT), on board the {\it Swift} satellite, provides: automated source detection and position with few arcsecond accuracy within few seconds from target acquisition; CCD spectroscopy and imaging capability (0.2-10 keV),…
We present the newly developed broadband transient monitor using the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and the MAXI Gas Slit Camera (GSC) data. Our broadband transient monitor monitors high energy transient sources from 2 keV to 200 keV in…