✉news ScienceScience first seen 8 d ago, last 8 d ago, peak #27
NASA's Swift observatory retires after 20 years studying cosmic explosions
Original: NASA's Swift observatory ends 20-year mission to study the most powerful explosions since the Big Bang
NASA's Swift space observatory has concluded its mission after two decades in orbit. Launched in 2004, the telescope was built to detect and study gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe since the Big Bang, observing thousands of them along with comets, supernovae and black hole activity. The retirement closes a landmark chapter in high-energy astrophysics that reshaped understanding of these cataclysmic cosmic events.
Why now: The end of a two-decade NASA mission that transformed the study of gamma-ray bursts is a significant milestone in space science.
Evidence
- NASA's Swift observatory ends 20-year mission to study the most powerful explosions since the Big Bang · Live Science
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