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  • Systematically Exploring the
    Dynamic Universe

Important message about data releases in ZTF-O4

The ZTF program was extended by a year (Sept 30, 2023 - Sept 30, 2024) thanks to additional funding by the National Science Foundation and our partner institutions. During that period, we are introducing changes to the public data releases. To learn more and find out the new schedule for the releases, please head to the "Public release" pages on this website.

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What is ZTF?

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) is a public-private partnership aimed at a systematic study of the optical night sky. Using an extremely wide-field of view camera, ZTF scans the entire Northern sky every two days. The resulting large area survey will enable the astronomical community to pursue a broad range of time-domain science ranging from near-Earth asteroids to the study of distant superluminous supernovae. ZTF is funded in equal part by the US National Science Foundation and an international consortium of universities and institutions.

Extreme Field of View

ZTF employs a custom-built mosaic CCD camera which utilizes the entire focal plane (~ 47 sq deg) of the P48 telescope at Palomar, providing the largest instantaneous field-of-view of any camera on a telescope of aperture greater than half a meter.

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Unique survey

ZTF scans the northern sky at high cadance (~2 days) to produce a comprehensive, multi-filter survey. ZTF delivers bi-monthly public data releases of high quality and reliable data products to enable time-domain science.

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Machine Learning & Dedicated Followup

Data pipelines incorporate machine learning algorithms to sieve through billions of individual astrophysical sources and send candidates for dedicated and automated followup and classification.

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Powerful collaboration

The ZTF partnership has formed a strong, scientifically diverse collaboration with partners from the USA, Europe and Asia. This large multidisciplinary team also offers access to an extensive network of followup resources.

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Featured Video

Discovered so far...

8029

Classified Supernovae

80

Tidal Disruption Events

232

Near Earth Asteroids & Comets

50

Ultra-compact Binaries

Science

Science Vlog

Cosmic Newsflash is the ZTF newsletter for the large time-domain astronomy community that uses ZTF public data. Timed with our public data releases, it includes practical information about the release, a summary of science highlights from the ZTF partnership, updates from operations, a spotlight on team members and more.

News & Announcements

blog

Jan 10, 2024 | Category: Press Release

Astronomers finally see the aftermath of a supernova

A team of astronomers from the ZTF partnership has seen for the first time direct evidence in near real time of the formation of a compact object, a black hole or a neutron star at the end of a massive star's life. Results are published in the journal Nature.

blog

Nov 15, 2023 | Category: Press Release

The weirdest of them all - a stellar corpse shows signs of life

The Zwicky Transient Facility captured repeated energetic flares from a stellar corpse, a phenomena astronomer are observing for the very first time. Results are published in the journal Nature.

blog

July 19, 2023 | Category: Press release

Two-faced star exposed

In a first for white dwarfs, the burnt-out cores of dead stars, astronomers have discovered that at least one member of this cosmic family is two faced. One side of the white dwarf is composed of hydrogen, while the other is made up of helium.

Outreach

Our global team and varied science provide excellent opportunities for outreach. In ZTF phase II, we continue to run our ZTF summer schools designed to provide PhD student with hands-on skills in data processing and analysis of ZTF data. Partners in our global network welcome undergraduate students every summer under the flagship of various summer research programs. Students conduct not only a wide variety of research reflected by the breadth of science activities in ZTF, but they also learn how to be part of international collaborations. At Caltech, we also participate in various outreach activities focusing on high school students. We also engage in public outreach via projects on Zooniverse. By the end of ZTF phase II we plan to launch a new web tool/mobile app designed to let the general public learn more about the dynamic sky.

ZTF summer school ZARTH mobile game

Student Opportunities
Features