<p>The ZTF is operating on most clear nights on an automated queue of pointings. When they discover transients, they inform <a href="https://wis-tns.weizmann.ac.il/search?&amp;name=&amp;name_like=0&amp;isTNS_AT=all&amp;public=all&amp;unclassified_at=0&amp;classified_sne=0&amp;ra=&amp;decl=&amp;radius=&amp;coords_unit=arcsec&amp;groupid%5B%5D=48&amp;classifier_groupid%5B%5D=null" rel="nofollow noreferrer">TNS</a> which may trigger other observatories to point at the same object, just as ZTF may respond to transient events from other observatories. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-08T22:56:53.203Z
Cool, thank you!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-08T22:52:37.293Z
2019-05-08T22:52:37.293Z
eshaya
<p>A <em>really enjoyable interview</em> with Mansi Kasliwal &amp; Samaya Nissanke ("From discovery to making precision measurements") is available as a short audio podcast in the BBC News article <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48137011" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Gravitational waves hunt now in overdrive</a> describes the very recent gravitational wave events and the way optical searches for the source were initiated by pressing a "go button" on a cell phone!</p>

<p>It's a excerpt from the BBC's Science in Action episode <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csym1m" rel="nofollow noreferrer">What is behind the Indian Ocean Cyclones?</a></p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48137011" rel="nofollow noreferrer">article</a> is quite a good read as well, and talks about the <a href="https://www.ztf.caltech.edu/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)</a>, based on the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Schmidt telescope with several upgrades including a state of the art silicon CCD array replacing the 14 inch square photographic plates it originally used, faster slewing and AI-based recognition of candidate objects.</p>

<p>The huge aperture allows for almost 50 square degree field to be checked down to +20 magnitude every five minutes. That's about one steradian in 5 hours. According to the podcast, it can run as fast as 4000 square degrees per hour, about 1.2 sr/h presumably with a brighter limiting magnitude.</p>

<p><strong>Question:</strong> Does the ZTF only start surveying when triggered by a cellphone or other alert, or does it continue to search for new objects and events on some nominal routine whenever there is good visibility?</p>

<observational-astronomy><observatory>
Does the Zwicky Transient Facility only run when triggered by a cell phone?
uhoh
# Does the Zwicky Transient Facility only run when triggered by a cell phone?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-04)

A *really enjoyable interview* with Mansi Kasliwal & Samaya Nissanke ("From discovery to making precision measurements") is available as a short audio podcast in the BBC News article [Gravitational waves hunt now in overdrive](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48137011) describes the very recent gravitational wave events and the way optical searches for the source were initiated by pressing a "go button" on a cell phone!

It's a excerpt from the BBC's Science in Action episode [What is behind the Indian Ocean Cyclones?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csym1m)

The [article](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48137011) is quite a good read as well, and talks about the [Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)](https://www.ztf.caltech.edu/), based on the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Schmidt telescope with several upgrades including a state of the art silicon CCD array replacing the 14 inch square photographic plates it originally used, faster slewing and AI-based recognition of candidate objects.

The huge aperture allows for almost 50 square degree field to be checked down to +20 magnitude every five minutes. That's about one steradian in 5 hours. According to the podcast, it can run as fast as 4000 square degrees per hour, about 1.2 sr/h presumably with a brighter limiting magnitude.

**Question:** Does the ZTF only start surveying when triggered by a cellphone or other alert, or does it continue to search for new objects and events on some nominal routine whenever there is good visibility?

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, observatory


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-05-08. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The ZTF is operating on most clear nights on an automated queue of pointings. When they discover transients, they inform [TNS](https://wis-tns.weizmann.ac.il/search?&name=&name_like=0&isTNS_AT=all&public=all&unclassified_at=0&classified_sne=0&ra=&decl=&radius=&coords_unit=arcsec&groupid%5B%5D=48&classifier_groupid%5B%5D=null) which may trigger other observatories to point at the same object, just as ZTF may respond to transient events from other observatories.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Cool, thank you!  

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