The Swift mission, scheduled for launch in 2004, is a multiwavelength observatory for gamma-ray burst (GRB) astronomy. It is a first-of-its-kind autonomous rapid-slewing satellite for transient astronomy and pioneers the way for future rapid-reaction and multiwavelength missions. It will be far more powerful than any previous GRB mission, observing more than 100 bursts yr À1 and performing detailed X-ray and UV/optical afterglow observations spanning timescales from 1 minute to several days after the burst. The objectives are to (1) determine the origin of GRBs, (2) classify GRBs and search for new types, (3) study the interaction of the ultrarelativistic outflows of GRBs with their surrounding medium, and (4) use GRBs to study the early universe out to z > 10. The mission is being developed by a NASA-led international collaboration. It will carry three instruments: a newgeneration wide-field gamma-ray (15-150 keV ) detector that will detect bursts, calculate 1 0 -4 0 positions, and trigger autonomous spacecraft slews; a narrow-field X-ray telescope that will give 5 00 positions and perform spectroscopy in the 0.2-10 keV band; and a narrow-field UV/optical telescope that will operate in the 170-600 nm band and provide 0B3 positions and optical finding charts. Redshift determinations will be made for most bursts. In addition to the primary GRB science, the mission will perform a hard X-ray survey to a sensitivity of $1 mcrab ($2 ; 10 À11 ergs cm À2 s À1 in the 15-150 keV band ), more than an order of magnitude better than HEAO 1 A-4. A flexible data and operations system will allow rapid follow-up observations of all types of high-energy transients, with rapid data downlink and uplink available through the NASA TDRSS system. Swift transient data will be rapidly distributed to the astronomical community, and all interested observers are encouraged to participate in follow-up measurements. A Guest Investigator program for the mission will provide funding for community involvement. Innovations from the Swift program applicable to the future include (1) a large-area gamma-ray detector using the new CdZnTe detectors, (2) an autonomous rapid-slewing spacecraft, (3) a multiwavelength payload combining optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray instruments, (4) an observing program coordinated with other ground-based and space-based observatories, and (5) immediate multiwavelength data flow to the community. The mission is currently funded for 2 yr of operations, and the spacecraft will have a lifetime to orbital decay of $8 yr.

Abstract. The XMM-OM instrument extends the spectral coverage of the XMM-Newton observatory into the ultraviolet and optical range. It provides imaging and time-resolved data on targets simultaneously with observations in the EPIC and RGS. It also has the ability to track stars in its field of view, thus providing an improved post-facto aspect solution for the spacecraft. An overview of the XMM-OM and its operation is given, together with current information on the performance of the instrument.

In 1992 the Far-Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST) provided measurements of the ultraviolet (140-180nm) diffuse sky background at high, medium, and low Galactic latitudes. A significant fraction of the detected radiation was found to be of Galactic origin, resulting from scattering by dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. To simulate the radiative transfer in the Galaxy, we employed a Monte Carlo model which utilized a realistic, non-isotropic radiation field based on the measured fluxes (at 156nm) and positions of 58,000 TD-1 stars, and a cloud structure for the interstellar medium. The comparison of the model predictions with the observations led to a separation of the Galactic scattered radiation from an approximately constant background, attributed to airglow and extragalactic radiation, and to a well constrained determination of the dust scattering properties. The derived dust albedo a = 0.45 ± 0.05 is substantially lower than albedos derived for dust in dense reflection nebulae and star-forming regions, while the phase function asymmetry g = 0.68 ± 0.10 is indicative of a strongly forward directed phase function. We show the highly non-isotropic phase function to be responsible, in conjunction with the non-isotropic UV radiation field, for the wide range of observed correlations between the diffusely scattered Galactic radiation and the column densities of neutral atomic hydrogen. The low dust albedo is attributed to a size distribution of grains in the diffuse medium with average sizes smaller than those in dense reflection nebulae.

The Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer (CHIPS) was designed to study diffuse emission from hot gas in the local interstellar cavity in the wavelength range 90 -265Å. Between launch in January 2003 and early 2004, the instrument was operated in narrow-slit mode, achieving a peak spectral resolution of about 1.4Å FWHM. Observations were carried out preferentially at high galactic latitudes; weighted by observing time, the mean absolute value of the galactic latitude for all narrow-slit observations combined is about 45 degrees. The total integration time is about 13.2 Msec (74% day, 26% night). In the context of a standard collisional ionization equilibrium plasma model, the CHIPS data set tight constraints on the emission measure at temperatures between 10 5.55 K and 10 6.4 K. At 10 6.0 K, the 95% upper limit on the emission measure is about 0.0004 cm −6 pc for solar abundance plasma with foreground neutral hydrogen column of 2 x 10 18 cm −2 . This constraint, derived primarily from limits on the extreme ultraviolet emission lines of highly ionized iron, is well below the range for the local hot bubble estimated previously from soft X-ray studies. If the pattern of elemental depletion in the hot gas follows that observed in much denser interstellar clouds, the gas phase abundance of iron, relative to other heavy elements that contribute more to the soft X-ray emission, might be much lower than solar. However, to support the emission measures inferred previously from X-ray data would require depletions much higher than the moderate values reported previously for hot gas. Excluding the He II Lyman lines, which are known to be primarily terrestrial in origin, the brightest feature we find in the integrated spectrum is an Fe IX line at 171.1Å. The sky-averaged flux of the feature is about 6 photons cm −2 s −1 ster −1 , a flux that exceeds the 1-sigma shot noise significantly but is comparable to the systematic uncertainty. We find "bright" 171.1Å emission (flux greater than 10 photons cm −2 s −1 ster −1 and S/N > 2) in about 10% of the observing time. However, these "bright" observations overwhelmingly select for day time (96% of 1.3 Msec). Thus, a local rather than interstellar origin for much of the 171.1Å emission seems likely.

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Using an automated telescope we have detected 20 supernovae in carefully documented observations of nearby galaxies. The supernova rates for late spiral (Sbc, Sc, Scd, and Sd) galaxies, normalized to a blue luminosity of 10 10 LBsun, are 0.4 h 2 , 1.6 h 2 , and 1.1 h 2 per 100 years for SNe type la, Ic, and II. The rate for type Ic supernovae is significantly higher than found in previous surveys. The rates are not corrected for detection inefficiencies, and do not take into account the indications that the Ic supernovae are fainter on the average than the previous estimates; therefore the true rates are probably higher. The rates are not strongly dependent on the galaxy inclination, in contradiction to previous compilations. If the Milky Way is a late spiral, then the rate of Galactic supernovae is greater than 1 per 30 ± 7 years, assuming h = 0.75. This high rate has encouraging consequences for future neutrino and gravitational wave observatories.

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The Berkeley spectrograph aboard the ORFEUS telescope made its second flight on the 14 day ORFEUS-SPAS II mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1996 November/December. Approximately half of the available observing time was dedicated to the Berkeley spectrograph, which was used by both principal and guest investigators. The spectrograph's full bandpass is 390-1218 Å ; here we discuss its in-flight performance at far-ultraviolet wavelengths, at which most of the observations were performed. The instrument's effective area peaks at cm 2 near 1020 Å , and the mean spectral resolution is 95 km s Ϫ1 FWHM for point sources. Over most 8.9 ‫ע‬ 0.5 of the spectral range, the typical nighttime background event rate in each spectral resolution element was ∼0.003 s Ϫ1 . Simultaneous background observations of an adjacent blank field were provided through a secondary, off-axis aperture. The Berkeley spectrograph's unique combination of sensitivity and resolution provided valuable observations of approximately 105 distinct astronomical targets, which ranged in distance from the Earth's own Moon to some of the brightest active galactic nuclei.