  The UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) is one of three instruments flying aboard the
Swift Gamma-ray Observatory. It is designed to capture the early (approximately
1 minute) UV and optical photons from the afterglow of gamma-ray bursts in the
170-600 nm band as well as long term observations of these afterglows. This is
accomplished through the use of UV and optical broadband filters and grisms.
The UVOT has a modified Ritchey-Chretien design with micro-channel plate
intensified charged-coupled device detectors that record the arrival time of
individual photons and provide sub-arcsecond positioning of sources. We discuss
some of the science to be pursued by the UVOT and the overall design of the
instrument.
