The Swift Song

We know that gamma ray explosions happen randomly all over the sky

(It's like a lottery: a ticket for each square degree)

You see a FLASH! and then there's not another till about a day has gone by

(But that depends upon detector sensitivity)

In just a moment they spew energy worth (That's pretty fast)

A value we can't even fathom on Earth (It's really vast!)

But just what's giving rise to gamma ray sparked skies?

Is it the death cry of a massive star or black hole birth?

(Or both, or both? or both!)

Chorus:

Swiftly swirling, gravity twirling

Neutron stars about to collide

Off in a galaxy so far away

Catastrophic interplay

A roller coaster gamma ray ride

Superbright explosion then

Never to repeat again

How are we supposed to know?

How about a telescope rotation

Swiftly onto the location

Of its panchromatic afterglow?

In just a moment gamma ray bursts reach a peak and swiftly fade from view

(It's like a beacon shining clear across the Universe)

But they leave embers in the longer wavelengths fading for a day or two

(It's exponential -- it decays forever)

To solve this space age mystery is why (We wanna know)

We want to catch a thousand bursts on the fly (What makes' em go?)

Their X-ray light disperse unlock the Universe

Measure their distance from their redshift mark their spot on the sky

(They're where? They're here! They're there! They're everywhere!)

(Chorus)

Swiftly swirling, gravity twirling

Neutron stars about to collide

Off in a galaxy so far away

Catastrophic interplay

A roller coaster gamma ray ride

Superbright explosion then

Never to repeat again

How are we supposed to know?

Swift is the satellite that swings

Onto those brightly bursting things

To grab the multiwavelength answer to what makes them glow

It's like a lottery - a ticket for each square degree

It's like a beacon shining clear across the Universe

Swift is the satellite that swiftly swings all over the sky

Swift is designed to catch a burst of gamma rays on the fly