The Swift Gamma-Ray Explorer is designed to make prompt multiwavelength observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and GRB afterglows. The X-ray telescope (XRT) enables Swift to determine GRB positions with a few arcseconds accuracy within 100 s of the burst onset.The XRT utilizes a mirror set built for JET-X and an XMM-Newton/EPIC MOS CCD detector to provide a sensitive broad-band (0.2-10 keV) X-ray imager with effective area of >120 cm 2 at 1.5 keV, field of view of 23.6 × 23.6 arcminutes, and angular resolution of 18 arcseconds (HPD). The detection sensitivity is 2×10 −14 erg cm −2 s −1 in 10 4 s. The instrument is designed to provide automated source detection and position reporting within 5 s of target acquisition. It can also measure the redshifts of GRBs with Fe line emission or other spectral features. The XRT operates in an auto-exposure mode, adjusting the CCD readout mode automatically to optimize the science return for each frame as the source intensity fades. The XRT will measure spectra and lightcurves of the GRB afterglow beginning about a minute after the burst and will follow each burst for days or weeks.

Although the link between long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and supernovae has been established, hitherto there have been no observations of the beginning of a supernova explosion and its intimate link to a GRB. In particular, we do not know how the jet that defines a gamma-ray burst emerges from the star's surface, nor how a GRB progenitor explodes. Here we report observations of the relatively nearby GRB 060218 (ref. 5) and its connection to supernova SN 2006aj (ref. 6). In addition to the classical non-thermal emission, GRB 060218 shows a thermal component in its X-ray spectrum, which cools and shifts into the optical/ultraviolet band as time passes. We interpret these features as arising from the break-out of a shock wave driven by a mildly relativistic shell into the dense wind surrounding the progenitor. We have caught a supernova in the act of exploding, directly observing the shock break-out, which indicates that the GRB progenitor was a Wolf-Rayet star.

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We present the X-ray source number counts in two energy bands (0.5-2 and 2-10 keV) from a very large source sample: we combine data of six different surveys, both shallow wide-field and deep pencil-beam, performed with three different satellites (ROSAT, Chandra, and XMM-Newton). The sample covers with good statistics the largest possible flux range so far: 2:4 Â 10 À17 to 10 À11 ergs s À1 cm À2 in the soft band and 2:1 Â 10 À16 to 8 Â 10 À12 ergs s À1 cm À2 in the hard band. Integrating the flux distributions over this range and taking into account the (small) contribution of the brightest sources, we derive the flux density generated by discrete sources in both bands. After a critical review of the literature values of the total cosmic X-ray background (CXB) we conclude that, with the present data, 94:3 þ7:0 À6:7 % and 88:8 þ7:8 À6:6 % of the soft and hard CXB can be ascribed to discrete source emission. If we extrapolate the analytical form of the log N-log S distribution beyond the flux limit of our catalog in the soft band we find that the flux from discrete sources at $3 Â 10 À18 ergs s À1 cm À2 is consistent with the entire CXB, whereas in the hard band it accounts for only 93% of the total CXB at most, hinting at a faint and obscured population to arise at even fainter fluxes.

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows have provided important clues to the nature of these massive explosive events, providing direct information on the nearby environment and indirect information on the central engine that powers the burst. We report the discovery of two bright X-ray flares in GRB afterglows, including a giant flare comparable in total energy to the burst itself, each peaking minutes after the burst. These strong, rapid X-ray flares imply that the central engines of the bursts have long periods of activity, with strong internal shocks continuing for hundreds of seconds after the gamma-ray emission has ended.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 2 figures. Originally submitted to Nature on 6/6/05. Declined on 6/9/05. Revised and submitted to Science on 6/14/05. Accepted for publication in Science on 7/29/05 (this version

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We present observations of the early X-ray emission for a sample of 40 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) obtained using the Swift satellite, for which the narrow-field instruments were pointed at the burst within 10 minutes of the trigger. Using data from the Burst Alert Telescope and the X-Ray Telescope, we show that the X-ray light curve can be well described by an exponential that relaxes into a power law, often with flares superimposed. The transition time between the exponential and the power law provides a physically defined timescale for the burst duration. In most bursts, the power law breaks to a shallower decay within the first hour, and a late emission ''hump'' is observed, which can last for many hours. In other GRBs the hump is weak or absent. The observed variety in the shape of the early X-ray light curve can be explained as a combination of three components: prompt emission from the central engine, afterglow, and the late hump. In this scenario, afterglow emission begins during or soon after the burst, and the observed shape of the X-ray light curve depends on the relative strengths of the emission due to the central engine and that of the afterglow. There is a strong correlation such that those GRBs with stronger afterglow components have brighter early optical emission. The late emission hump can have a total fluence equivalent to that of the prompt phase. GRBs with the strongest late humps have weak or no X-ray flares.

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