Characteristics and performance of the Swift X-Ray telescope

The X-ray Telescope (XRT), on board the Swift satellite, has been built to provide automated source detection and position with few arcsecond accuracy within 5seconds of target acquisition; CCD spectroscopy and imaging capability (0.2-10keV), with a detection sensitivity of 210<SUP>-14</SUP> erg cm<SUP>-2</SUP> s<SUP>-1</SUP> in 10<SUP>4</SUP> s; automatic adjusting of the CCD readout mode to optimize the science return as the source fades. XRT can observe GRB afterglows over several orders of magnitude in flux. The first results obtained during the in-flight performance verification phase confirm that XRT is fully compliant with the requirements and is providing excellent results.