NASA's Swift, Now Burned Up, Mapped 20,000 UV Sources in Andromeda
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NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory fell out of orbit and burned up over Sumatra early on Nov. 4, Live Science reported, ending 22 years of work studying some of the most powerful explosions in the universe. One of its best-known leftovers is not an explosion at all, but a deep ultraviolet portrait of the Andromeda galaxy.
Swift's data will keep supporting research for years, according to the report. Here is what the telescope did, and what that Andromeda image shows.
What happened to the Swift Observatory?
Live Science described the telescope's end as a fiery reentry over Sumatra on Nov. 4. The outlet did not detail how the final descent unfolded. The observatory had spent 22 years in operation before it came down.
What was Swift built to do?
Swift was designed to turn quickly toward sudden blasts in deep space. It carried optical, ultraviolet and X-ray instruments, which let it watch bursts of energy across several kinds of light. According to Live Science, that made it especially good at catching bright, brief and distant flashes that other telescopes could miss.
One of its most significant detections was GRB 221009A, a gamma-ray burst nicknamed the BOAT, short for “brightest of all time.” Live Science said such blasts are likely produced when a giant star explodes as a supernova and then collapses into a black hole. Swift's image of that event resembles an orange bull's-eye, formed by waves from the explosion rippling through space.
What does the Andromeda image show?
Swift also made millions of observations of the nearby universe. Among them is a 24-hour exposure of the Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31, which lies about 2.5 million light-years from Earth. The picture was taken with Swift's ultraviolet instrument.
According to NASA, as cited by Live Science, the observatory picked out some 20,000 ultraviolet light sources in the image. The data were collected over two months, from May to July 2008. The sources include thousands of dense, hot star clusters spread around Andromeda's ring, which spans 150,000 light-years. The image also captures the distant galaxy M32, which appears as a bright orb to the lower right of Andromeda's center.
Why does Andromeda look different here than in other photos?
Live Science noted that in visible-light images from ground-based telescopes, Andromeda's bright core washes out many of the young, hot stars. Swift's ultraviolet view brings those stars forward, so they stand out across the galaxy's ring.
Why does it matter?
For general readers, the image is a reminder that the same object can look very different depending on the kind of light used to observe it. Andromeda is the closest major galaxy to the Milky Way, and Live Science said scientists suspect the two are moving toward each other and might eventually collide. That merger would add Andromeda's roughly 1 trillion stars to our sky, though the report said there probably would be no life left on Earth to see it.
Live Science's author wrote that Swift will probably be remembered more for its work on cosmic explosions than for images like this one. Still, the observatory's archive of millions of observations, including views of nearby galaxies, remains available for future study. The outlet said those observations will keep feeding scientific curiosity for years to come.
Read next
NASA's Swift Telescope Burns Up Over Sumatra After 22 Years in Orbit
How to Find the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 Million Light-Years Away
Andromeda Galaxy Visible Without a Telescope: Light 2.5 Million Years Old
Around Prague, based on reporting by Live Science
