May 28 2:30 - 6:00 PM
The launch of the Swift mission near the end of 2003 will begin a new era in observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows. The community should receive GRB and afterglow detections at a rate of two or more per week, all with accurate arcsecond positions based on X-ray and UV/optical data collected starting about one minute after the burst.
We invite astronomers to attend the half-day session, held on May 28, 2003, to prepare for the Swift era. Confirmed speakers are:
GRB Discoveries Over the Past Decade
Shri Kulkarni (Cal Tech)
The Swift Gamma-ray Burst Mission
Neil Gehrels (Goddard, NASA)
GRBs and High Energy Afterglows
Luigi Piro (CNR, Italy)
Swift Gamma-Ray & Afterglow Capabilities
Scott Barthelmy (Goddard, NASA)
Ground-based Capabilities Related to Swift
Dale Frail (NRAO)
Current Understanding of GRBs
Don Lamb (Chicago)
Tools Available for Using Swift
Frank Marshall (Goddard, NASA)
GRB Operations with Swift
John Nousek (Penn State)
Issues for Consideration in the Swift Era
Nicole Lloyd-Ronning (CITA, Canada)
The purpose of the Topical Session will be to bring astronomers together to prepare for the Swift era. The focus will be on involving the community in planning Swift operations and GRB follow-up observations. We hope that you will attend.
Dale Frail
Neil Gehrels
John Nousek
If you have a question about Swift, please contact us via the Feedback form.