Related papers: The Galactic Transient Sky with Swift
I provide an incomplete inventory of the astronomical variability that will be found by next-generation time-domain astronomical surveys. These phenomena span the distance range from near-Earth satellites to the farthest Gamma Ray Bursts.…
In the past fifteen years a new generation of X-ray satellites led to the discovery of a subclass of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) with supergiant companions and a peculiar transient behaviour: supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs).…
The new recurrent X-ray transient MAXI J1957+032 has had four X-ray outbursts within 16 months, all very briefly detected (lasting <5 days). During the most recent event (Sep/Oct 2016), we obtained with SALT the first optical spectrum of…
The phenomenology of a subclass of High Mass X-ray Binaries hosting a blue supergiant companion, the so-called Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs), is reviewed. Their number is growing, mainly thanks to the discoveries performed by the…
The purpose of this study is to find transient X-ray sources in M31, and to investigate and classify their nature. Three X-ray transients were observed with Swift. For each of the three X-ray transients we use the Swift X-ray and optical…
INTEGRAL monitoring of the Galactic Plane is revealing a growing number of recurrent X-ray transients, characterised by short outbursts with very fast rise times (~ tens of minutes) and typical durations of a few hours. A substantial…
We introduce a new capability of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, dubbed `continuous commanding,' achieving 10 seconds latency response time on-orbit to unscheduled Target of Opportunity requests. This allows Swift to respond to early…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXT) are a class of High-Mass X-ray Binaries whose optical counterparts are O or B supergiant stars, and whose X-ray outbursts are ~ 4 orders of magnitude brighter than the quiescent state. LOFT, the Large…
We report on the detection and follow-up high cadence monitoring observations of MAXI J1659-152, a bright Galactic X-ray binary transient with a likely black-hole accretor, by Swift over a 27 day period after its initial outburst detection.…
A growing number of previously hidden Galactic X-ray sources are now detected with recent surveys performed by the Integral and Swift satellites. Most of these new sources eluded past surveys due to their large local X-ray extinction and…
We review the status of our knowledge on supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs), a new hot topic in multi wavelength studies of binaries. We discuss the mechanisms believed to power these transients and then highlight the unique…
We present science highlights and performance from the Swift X-ray Telescope (XRT), which was launched on November 20, 2004. The XRT covers the 0.2-10 keV band, and spends most of its time observing gamma-ray burst (GRB)afterglows, though…
The Large Area Telescope on the Fermi gamma-ray Space Telescope provides unprecedented sensitivity for all-sky monitoring of gamma-ray activity. It has detected a few Galactic sources, including 2 gamma-ray binaries and a microquasar. In…
The recent hard X-ray surveys performed by INTEGRAL and Swift have started to reveal the demographics of compact sources including Super-Massive Black Holes hosted in AGNs and have proven invaluable in tracking explosive events as the death…
We present the discovery of a luminous X-ray transient, serendipitously detected by Swift's X-ray Telescope (XRT) on 2020 February 5, located in the nucleus of the galaxy SDSS J143359.16+400636.0 at z=0.099 (luminosity distance $D_{\rm…
The Second Swift-XRT Point Source catalogue offers a combination of sky coverage and sensitivity and presents an invaluable opportunity for transient discovery. We search the catalogue at the positions of inactive and active galaxies, and…
We report on the Swift detection of a thermonuclear X-ray burst from the very-faint quasi-persistent neutron star X-ray binary XMMU J174716.1-281048, which triggered the satellite's Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on 2010 August 13. Analysis of…
INTEGRAL monitoring of the Galactic Plane is revealing a growing number of recurrent X-ray transients, characterised by short outbursts with very fast rise times (~ tens of minutes) and typical durations of a few hours. Here we show that…
Recent observations with Swift have begun to uncover $\gamma$-ray transients whose total energies are comparable to those of gamma-ray bursts (GRB), but have a duration an order of magnitude or more longer than the bulk of the GRB…
Swift has allowed the possibility to give Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs), the new class of High Mass X-ray Binaries discovered by INTEGRAL, non serendipitous attention throughout all phases of their life. We present our results…