NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer is designed to localize and study
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows, beginning within a few
minutes of the burst events. Swift has now discovered over 100 GRBs and
has produced detailed X-ray light curves and spectroscopy on over 90% of
these, exceeding in the first nine months the total sample of GRB
afterglows found in the previous 8 years. Key findings to date include
rapid decays at early times and giant X-ray flares, suggesting that the
central engines of GRBs continue long past the end of the prompt gamma-ray
emission. We have also localized several short GRBs, providing important
supporting evidence for compact merger theories for short bursts, but
yielding puzzling afterglows with flares that suggest somewhat complex
merger processes. I will discuss what these observations may be telling us
about black hole creation associated with GRBs.
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