The telescopes of the swift mission
Abstract
The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) Mission is a multi-wavelength observatory designed to capture the early light from GRBs. The observatory consists of three telescopes: the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the Ultra-Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT). The BAT uses coded-aperture mask technology in connection with a CdZnTe detector plane which provides a 1.4 steradian (half-coded) field-of-view (FOV). The energy range is from 15-150 keV with a resolution of 6 keV and a PSF of 17 arcmin. The sensitivity of the BAT is 0.2 ph*cm2*s-1, which provides for detection of >100 bursts/year. The XRT utilizes a XMM/EPIC MOS CCD detector which provides a 23.6 x 23.6 arcmin FOV. The energy range is from 0.2-10 keV with a resolution of 135 eV at 5.9 keV and an 18 arcsec HPD PSF at 1.5 keV. The sensitivity of XRT is 2x10-14 ergs*cm2*s-1 in 10,000 seconds. The UVOT employs a micro-channel plate intensified CCD detector which operates in a photon counting mode and provides a 17 x 17 arcmin FOV. The wavelength range is from 170-600 nm with a telescope PSF of 0.9 arcsec FWHM at 350 nm. The sensitivity is mB = 24.0 in the white light filter in 1,000 seconds. The UVOT houses three broadband UV filters, three broadband visual filters, a UV grism, an optical grism, a field magnifier, and a white light filter. The combination of the three telescopes allows Swift to quickly localize and characterize the GRB and to notify ground based observers of this information.
- Publication:
-
35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004cosp...35.1479R