FINAL YEAR: SWIFT LOCALIZATION OF MAXI DISCOVERED GALACTIC X-RAY TRANSIENTS

WE PROPOSE TO CONTINUE FOR THE FINAL YEAR OF MAXI OPERATIONS THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM TO USE SWIFT TO PERFORM LOCALIZATION OF GALACTIC X-RAY TRANSIENTS NEWLY DISCOVERED BY MAXI. MAXI SCANS ALMOST THE ENTIRE X-RAY SKY EVERY ~92 MINUTES WITH A SOURCE DETECTION SENSITIVITY OF ~60 MCRAB IN ONE ORBIT AND ~15 MCRAB IN ONE DAY DISCOVERING X-RAY TRANSIENTS WITH 0.1-0.5 DEGREE ACCURACIES IN THE 2-20 KEV ENERGY BAND. SWIFT IS ABLE TO PROVIDE RAPID FOLLOW-UP OBSERVATIONS OF MAXI TRIGGERS AND LOCALIZATION UP TO 1.4 ARCSECOND ERROR RADIUS WHICH IS VITAL FOR IDENTIFYING ANY OPTICAL/RADIO COUNTERPART. XRT OBSERVATIONS WILL ALSO PROVIDE MEASUREMENTS OF THE LOW ENERGY X- RAY SPECTRA. UVOT WILL BE USED TO PROVIDE ASTROMETRIC CORRECTIONS AND TO SEARCH FOR ANY OPTICAL COUNTERPARTS. SWIFT IS PROVEN TO BE UNIQUELY CAPABLE IN THIS TASK.