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What is ZTF?

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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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