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Description
This database table includes the early results published in the Gamma-Ray Burst Coordinates Network (GCN) circulars on GRBs detected by the Swift observatory and GRBs detected first by other observatories and followed by Swift. The Swift observatory has a rapid (minute timescale) response to GRB detection and performs sensitive X-ray and optical afterglow observations of hundreds of GRBs on all timescales, from minutes to even months later. The instrumentation consists in a large field of view (FOV) instrument, the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT, 15-150 keV) and two narrow field of view instruments, the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) and the X-ray Telescope (XRT). The BAT searches the sky for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), determines their location with a precision of a few arcminutes, and triggers an autonomous spacecraft slew to place the burst in the FOV of the narrow field instruments. The first-look data from the three Swift instruments for a newly discovered GRB and its afterglow are transmitted to the ground via TDRSS. The complete telemetry (including the messages transmitted via TDRSS) is subsequently sent down via the Malindi ground station. The information transmitted via TDRSS are broadcast via the the Gamma-Ray Burst Coordinates Network (GCN) followed by subsequent GCN circular based on the early ground analysis of the data collected by Malindi. If the GRB is triggered by Swift , this table records the initial characteristic associated to a burst obtained with the data coming via TDRSS and initial data downloaded via Malindi which results are published via the GCN. In addition the table reports other burst characteristics as for redshift obtained by observations with ground observatories. If the GRB is detected first by other observatories, the table reports results obtained with the ground analysis of the Malindi data and published via the GCN. This database table is generated by compiling the results of the GCN circulars. It was added to the HEASARC database in March 2025. During operation, it is updated weekly and/or for any new trigger. This table is also available at <a href="https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/grb_table/">https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/grb_table/</a>. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .
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