ZTF Survey

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF; is a large time-domain survey. We scan the entire northern sky from Palomar Observatory every two nights!

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Turning 78 today with no thoughts of retiring! Happy birthday, Palomar Observatory!!! Just like every other night, tonight we will open the dome and point the @ztfsurvey camera towards the dark skies. Undoubtedly, the universe will treat you to a lovely fireworks show!

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Wait? What is shining so brightly atop Palomar mountain under the strong rays of the California sun? It's the newly painted dome that houses the 48" telescope with the robotic @ztfsurvey camera, our tireless explorer of the transient universe! Great work, team!

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

The next issue of the @ztfsurvey newsletter comes with an upgraded look and feel. Lots of science news, a call for our summer school, updates about our survey, data, and the newly launched Babamul broker. Read here https://t.co/MUa0wT2BFb

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

The @ztfsurvey partnership is strengthening our European network. We are thrilled to welcome a key new partner-a collaboration led by the German Center for Astrophysics (DZA). The DZA expertise & infrastructure will advance our science & survey operations. https://t.co/P37lgcQc4J

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Our @ztfsurvey telescope is just 48 inch but it excels at capturing fast-moving objects in the sky. And these days there is one such object that everyone is talking about - @NASA Artemis II. Here is the Integrity capsule on its course to the moon, observed on April 3rd.

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Special thanks to Sam Rose (Caltech), Gautam Vashisht (NASA JPL), Diana Roderick and Isaac Wilson (Palomar Observatory) who stopped looking at the stars for a moment to capture a stellar moment in our human history.

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Do you see the bright stationary dot in the video? That's Artemis II, observed for one hour by the 200-inch telescope at the Palomar Observatory on Apr 2. Artemis II is actually zooming by in the sky (stars appear as streaks) as it fires its engine to reach a high-Earth orbit.

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

A petite woman with grand ideas about the future of the Palomar Observatory! Read this article about Mansi Kasliwal , our @ztfsurvey PI and a professor of astronomy at @Caltech who was selected as the next director of the iconic observatory near San Diego https://t.co/Hdxc8iGd9c

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Excellent PhD and postdoc opportunities with DZA (German Center for Astrophysics) in Germany in the field of multi-messenger astronomy and astrophysics. DZA is a major partner in @ztfsurvey. Learn more https://t.co/c8eDblgSim

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

From @VRubinObs to Babamul and then to astronomers around the world. We flipped the switch to our @Caltech -led Babamul broker as an explosion of alerts about cosmic explosions & varying or moving objects in the sky has started flowing from @VRubinObs. https://t.co/YVzRt6B3Zy

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Our partners @Stockholm_Uni stumbled upon a very weird "typical" supernova in @ztfsurvey data. This cosmic weirdo not only didn't faint steadily, but also lacked its usual hydrogen/helium surroundings. Check our latest science vlog for more https://t.co/mAO9bF5W7F

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

A massive star in the Andromeda galaxy quietly disappeared! Our former @ztfsurvey @Caltech PhD, Kishalay De, now at @Columbia discovered its sneaky move in archival data from NEOWISE. Did it turn into a black hole without exploding? https://t.co/hkyOeLUQem

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Ready for discoveries! Our @ztfsurvey public data release is now available via @caltechipac IRSA platform, and it adds a full year of ZTF observations up to Oct 2025. We are now close to 70M single-exposure images and 5.3 B lightcurves! https://t.co/SAgBBJOBcm

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

"I would like to thank my long-term collaborators and the engineering crew and members of the Palomar Transient Factory and the Zwicky Transient Facility for their immense contribution to the projects," - says Shri

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Congratulations to our @ztfsurvey architect and visionary Shri Kulkarni, who was awarded a gold medal from the @RoyalAstroSoc for 2026. This is RAS's highest honor, dating back 200 years , with former awardees including A. Einstein, Hubble, and S Hawking! https://t.co/F4HK9nw70p

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

First discovered by @ztfsurvey and featured at the #AAS247 press event, AT2024wpp is a rare & fast cosmic explosion that shed light on how these transients originate. The study is led by our collaborator Dan Perley. Watch from 23.55s https://t.co/8TO8ZpAVCG

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Anna is at the forefront of investigating FLBOTs - rare, fast-evolving, extremely bright cosmic explosions whose origin and underlying physics are just beginning to be understood. She and her collaborator Dan Perley (LJMU) announce one such rare event at the #AAS247.

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Congratulation to Anna Ho, an assistant prof @Cornell who received the Pierce Prize in Astronomy at the #AAS247. Anna advanced her academic career as a student, postdoctoral researcher, and now professor, studying rare explosions with @ztfsurvey.

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

Triggered by LIGO/Virgo, ZTF scanned the night sky looking for an optical transient. It found one and the unfolding story is more gripping than a Hollywood movie....

[Caltech @Caltech]

Astronomers are reporting evidence for a possible second kilonova event, but the case is not closed. In fact, this situation is much more complex.

https://t.co/K8t8GkSRM3

[ZTF Survey @ztfsurvey]

The next issue of the @ztfsurvey newsletter is out! In addition to the usual science news and stories from our students, do not miss the open call for proposals. Anyone interested in observing with ZTF can apply!
https://t.co/dfELc3SaC2