The Swift/BAT Hard X-ray Transient Monitor: A Status Report
Abstract
The Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) hard X-ray transient monitor provides near real-time coverage of the X-ray sky in the energy range 15-50 keV. This monitor was first announced at the 2006 HEAD meeting. Seven years later, it continues to operate and provides near real-time light curves of more than 900 astrophysical sources. The BAT observes ~75% of the sky each day with a 3-sigma detection sensitivity of 7 mCrab for a full-day observation and a time resolution as fine as 64 seconds. The three main purposes of the monitor are (1) the discovery of new transient X-ray sources, (2) the detection of outbursts or other changes in the flux of known X-ray sources, and (3) the generation of archival light curves spanning nearly seven years. The primary interface for the BAT transient monitor is a public web page. Since February 2005, 223 sources have been detected in the monitor, 142 of them persistent and 81 detected only in outburst. From 2006-2013, fourteen new sources have been discovered by the BAT transient monitor. We will describe the methodology of the transient monitor, present a summary of its statistics, and discuss the detection of known and newly discovered sources.
- Publication:
-
AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #13
- Pub Date:
- April 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013HEAD...1312303K