Editing Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (section)

== Notable detections ==
[[File:GRB 080319B.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|[[GRB 080319B]], one of the brightest astronomical events ever detected, seen in X-ray and visible/UV light.]]
[[File:GRB 151027B in X-ray, UV and visible light.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|GRB 151027B, the 1000th GRB detected by Swift.]]
[[File:GRBs detected by Swift, 2004-2015.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|All-sky map of GRBs detected by Swift between 2004 and 2015.]]
[[File:PIA21076 Brown Dwarf Microlensing (Illustration), Figure 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|Illustration of a brown dwarf combined with a graph of light curves from OGLE-2015-BLG-1319: Ground-based data (grey), Swift (blue), and Spitzer (red)]]

* 9 May 2005: Swift detected [[GRB 050509B]], a burst of gamma rays that lasted one-twentieth of a second. The detection marked the first time that the accurate location of a short-duration gamma-ray burst had been identified and the first detection of X-ray afterglow in an individual short burst.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4537905.stm|title=Blast hints at black hole birth |publisher=BBC News|first=David|last=Whitehouse|date=May 11, 2005|access-date=July 12, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/05/31_shortburst.shtml |title=Astronomers hot on the trail of nature's exotic flashers|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|first=Joshua|last=Bloom|date=May 31, 2005|access-date=July 7, 2015}}</ref>
* 4 September 2005: Swift detected [[GRB 050904]] with a [[redshift]] value of 6.29 and a duration of 200 seconds (most of the detected bursts last about 10 seconds). It was also found to be the most distant yet detected, at approximately 12.6 billion [[light-year]]s.
* 18 February 2006: Swift detected [[GRB 060218]], an unusually long (about 2000 seconds) and nearby (about 440 million light-years) burst, which was unusually dim despite its close distance, and may be an indication of an imminent [[supernova]].
* 14 June 2006: Swift detected [[GRB 060614]], a burst of gamma rays that lasted 102 seconds in a distant galaxy (about 1.6 billion light-years). No supernova was seen following this event (and [[GRB 060505]] to deep limits) leading some to speculate that it represented a new class of progenitors. Others suggested that these events could have been massive star deaths, but ones which produced too little radioactive [[Isotopes of nickel|<sup>56</sup>Ni]] to power a supernova explosion.
* 9 January 2008: Swift was observing a supernova in [[NGC 2770]] when it witnessed an X-ray burst coming from the same galaxy. The source of this burst was found to be the beginning of another supernova, later called [[SN 2008D]]. Never before had a supernova been seen at such an early stage in its evolution. Following this stroke of luck (position, time, most appropriate instruments), astronomers were able to study in detail this [[Type Ib and Ic supernovae|Type Ibc supernova]] with the [[Hubble Space Telescope]], the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]], the [[Very Large Array]] in [[New Mexico]], the [[Gemini North]] telescope in [[Hawaii]], [[Gemini South]] in Chile, the [[Keck I]] telescope in Hawaii, the {{cvt|1.3|m}} PAIRITEL telescope at [[Mount Hopkins (California)|Mount Hopkins]], the [[Hale Telescope|200-inch]] and {{cvt|60|in}} telescopes at the [[Palomar Observatory]] in [[California]], and the {{cvt|3.5|m}} telescope at the [[Apache Point Observatory]] in New Mexico. The significance of this supernova was likened by discovery team leader [[Alicia Soderberg]] to that of the [[Rosetta Stone]] for egyptology.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/swift_supernova.html|title=NASA's Swift Satellite Catches a Star Going "Kaboom!"|publisher=NASA|date=May 21, 2008|access-date=May 2, 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 8 and 13 February 2008: Swift provided critical information about the nature of [[Hanny's Voorwerp]], mainly the absence of an ionizing source within the Voorwerp or in the neighboring [[IC 2497]].
* 19 March 2008: Swift detected [[GRB 080319B]], a burst of gamma rays amongst the brightest celestial objects ever witnessed. At 7.5 billion [[light-year]]s, ''Swift'' established a new record for the farthest object (briefly) visible to the naked eye. It was also said to be 2.5 million times intrinsically brighter than the previous [[SN 2005ap|brightest accepted supernova (SN 2005ap)]]. ''Swift'' observed a record four GRBs that day, which also coincided with the death of noted science-fiction writer [[Arthur C. Clarke]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/brightest_grb.html |title=NASA Satellite Detects Naked-Eye Explosion Halfway Across Universe|publisher=NASA|date=March 20, 2008|access-date=May 2, 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 13 September 2008: Swift detected [[GRB 080913]], at the time the most distant GRB observed (12.8 billion light-years) until the observation of [[GRB 090423]] a few months later.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/28/more-observations-of-grb-090423-the-most-distant-known-object-in-the-universe/|title=More Observations of GRB 090423, the Most Distant Known Object in the Universe |publisher=Universe Today|first=Nancy|last=Atkinson|date=October 28, 2009|access-date=February 23, 2010}}</ref><ref name='NASA'>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/farthest_grb.html |title=NASA's Swift Catches Farthest Ever Gamma-Ray Burst|publisher=NASA|first=Robert|last=Garner|date=September 19, 2008|access-date=November 3, 2008}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 23 April 2009: Swift detected [[GRB 090423]], the most distant cosmic explosion ever seen at that time, at 13.035 billion light-years. In other words, the universe was only 630 million years old when this burst occurred.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/cosmic_record.html|title=New Gamma-Ray Burst Smashes Cosmic Distance Record|publisher=NASA|first=Francis|last=Reddy|date=April 28, 2009|access-date=May 2, 2009}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 29 April 2009: Swift detected [[GRB 090429B]], which was found by later analysis published in 2011 to be 13.14 billion light-years distant (approximately equivalent to 520 million years after the Big Bang), even farther than GRB 090423.<ref name='BBC News'>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13539914|title=Cosmic distance record "broken"|publisher=BBC News|first=Jonathan |last=Amos|date=May 25, 2011|access-date=May 25, 2011}}</ref>
* 16 March 2010: Swift tied its record by again detecting and localizing four bursts in a single day.
* 13 April 2010: Swift detected its 500th GRB.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/500th.html|title=NASA's Swift Catches 500th Gamma-ray Burst|publisher=NASA|first=Francis |last=Reddy|date=April 19, 2010|access-date=June 17, 2011}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 28 March 2011: Swift detected Swift J1644+57 which subsequent analysis showed to possibly be the signature of a star being disrupted by a black hole or the ignition of an active galactic nucleus.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/black-hole-eats-star_n_878317.html|title=Black Hole Devours Star: Source Of Mysterious Flash In Distant Galaxy Determined|newspaper=The Huffington Post |first=Alicia|last=Chang|date=June 16, 2011|access-date=June 17, 2011}}</ref> "This is truly different from any explosive event we have seen before", said [[Joshua Bloom]] of the [[University of California, Berkeley]], the lead author of the study published in the June issue of ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/4428/black-hole-eats-star-produce-gamma-ray-flash|title=Black hole eats star, triggers gamma-ray flash|publisher=Cosmos (Australian magazine)|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=June 17, 2011|access-date=June 17, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110618164403/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/4428/black-hole-eats-star-produce-gamma-ray-flash|archive-date=June 18, 2011}}</ref>
* 16 and 17 September 2012: BAT triggered two times on a previously unknown hard X-ray source, named [[Sw J1745-26]], a few degrees from the [[Galactic Center]]. The outburst, produced by a rare X-ray nova, announced the presence of a previously unknown stellar-mass black hole undergoing a dramatic transition from the low/hard to the high/soft state.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/new-black-hole.html|title=NASA's Swift Satellite Discovers a New Black Hole in our Galaxy|publisher=NASA|first=Francis|last=Reddy|date=October 5, 2012 |access-date=November 10, 2013}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=4383|title=Swift J174510.8-262411 (to be known as Sw J1745-26): 0.5 Crab and rising|newspaper=The Astronomer's Telegram|first=Boris|last=Sbarufatti|date=September 17, 2012|access-date=November 10, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=4450|title=Swift J174510.8-262411 in the hard intermediate state|newspaper=The Astronomer's Telegram|first=Tomaso|last=Belloni|date=October 3, 2012|access-date=November 10, 2013}}</ref>
* 2013:  Discovery of ultra-long class of gamma-ray bursts
* 24 April 2013: Swift detected an X-ray flare from the Galactic Center. This proved not to be related to [[Sgr A*]] but to a previously unsuspected [[magnetar]]. Later observations by the [[NuSTAR]] and the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]] confirmed the detection.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/A-Cosmic-Sleight-of-Hand-206975291.html|title=A Cosmic Sleight of Hand|publisher=Sky & Telescope|first=Monica|last=Young|date=May 10, 2013|access-date=November 10, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130630092246/http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/A-Cosmic-Sleight-of-Hand-206975291.html|archive-date=June 30, 2013}}</ref>
* 27 April 2013: Swift detected the "shockingly bright" Gamma-ray burst [[GRB 130427A]]. Observed simultaneously by the [[Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope]], it is one of the five closest GRBs detected and one of the brightest seen by either space telescope.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/shocking-burst.html|title=NASA's Fermi, Swift See 'Shockingly Bright' Burst|publisher=NASA |first=Francis|last=Reddy|date=May 3, 2013|access-date=November 10, 2013}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 3 June 2013:  Evidence for kilonova emission in short GRB
* 23 April 2014: Swift detected the strongest, hottest, and longest-lasting sequence of stellar flares ever seen from a [[DG Canum Venaticorum|nearby red dwarf star]]. The initial blast from this record-setting series of explosions was as much as 10,000 times more powerful than the largest solar flare ever recorded.<ref name="nasa20140930">{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasas-swift-mission-observes-mega-flares-from-a-mini-star/|title=NASA's Swift Mission Observes Mega Flares from a Mini Star|publisher=NASA|date=September 30, 2014|access-date=March 19, 2015}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 3 May 2014: Detection of a UV Pulse from an iPTF discovered young Type Ia SN
* June–July 2015: The [[brown dwarf]] OGLE-2015-BLG-1319 was discovered using the [[gravitational microlensing]] detection method in a joint effort between Swift, [[Spitzer Space Telescope]], and the ground-based [[Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment]], the first time two space telescopes have observed the same microlensing event. This method was possible because of the large separation between the two spacecraft: Swift is in [[low Earth orbit]] while Spitzer is more than one [[astronomical unit|AU]] distant in an Earth-trailing [[heliocentric orbit]]. This separation provided significantly different perspectives of the brown dwarf, allowing for constraints to be placed on some of the object's physical characteristics.<ref name="nasa20161110">{{cite web|url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6673|title=NASA Space Telescopes Pinpoint Elusive Brown Dwarf|publisher=NASA|date=November 10, 2016|access-date=December 18, 2016}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 27 October 2015: Swift detected its 1000th gamma-ray burst, GRB 151027B.<ref name="nasa20151106"/>
* 18 August 2017: Swift discovers UV emission from the [[kilonova]] [[AT 2017gfo]], the electromagnetic counterpart to [[GW170817]].<ref name="Evans2017">{{cite journal|title=Swift and NuSTAR observations of GW170817: detection of a blue kilonova|arxiv=1710.05437|first=P. A.|last=Evans|journal=Science|date=October 16, 2017|volume=358|issue=6370|pages=1565–1570|doi=10.1126/science.aap9580 |pmid=29038371|bibcode=2017Sci...358.1565E|s2cid=4028270}}</ref>
* 23 September 2017: Swift is the first to identify {{nowrap|TXS 0506+056}} as the possible source of the IceCube-170922A extremely high energy (EHE) [[neutrino]]s.<ref name="gnc20170926">{{cite web |url=https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn/gcn3/21930.gcn3|title=IceCube-170922A: Swift-XRT observations|work=GCN Circulars|first1=A.|last1=Keivani|first2=P. A.|last2=Evans|first3=J. A.|last3=Kennea|first4=D. B. |last4=Fox|first5=D. F.|last5=Cowen|first6=J. P.|last6=Osborne|first7=F. E.|last7=Marshall|display-authors=1|date=September 26, 2017|access-date=April 19, 2018}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 14 January 2019: Swift discovers the most powerful observed gamma-ray burst, [[GRB 190114C]], reaching [[teraelectronvolt]] energies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-fermi-swift-missions-enable-a-new-era-in-gamma-ray-science|title=NASA's Fermi, Swift Missions Enable a New Era in Gamma-ray Science|publisher=NASA|date=November 20, 2019|access-date=November 26, 2019}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
* 09 October 2022: Swift discovers, simultaneously with Fermi, [[GRB 221009A]], one of the closest GRBs ever detected and the brightest ever detected.