The record of supernovae is around 16,000 exploding stars

Dec. 18 () –

The ZTF (Zwicky Transient Facility) collaboration has produced a video showing a map of the sky with the nearly 16,000 classified supernovae reported from 2012 to Transient Name Survey (TNS).

This is the platform of the IAU (International Astronomical Union) which astronomers around the world use to keep track of supernovae and other transient discoveries

ZTF is a large camera mounted on the 48-inch telescope at the Palomar Observatory in Californiamanaged and operated by Caltech. ZTF has a very wide field of view and scans the entire sky every three days looking for cosmic flares, flashes and anything else that changes in the universe. With partners around the world. ZTF will produce a unique study of cosmic transients which will allow astronomers to expand our knowledge of the dynamic universe.

Zwicky Transient Facility has announced more than 70% of detections and approximately 50% of the classifications (of these transients and currently maintains the largest supernova survey in the world. Supernovae detected by ZTF are indicated with filled markers and supernovae detected by others are indicated with open markers.

The pie chart above left shows the contribution of major supernova classification projects to the total number of publicly classified supernovae in the TNS, which is now almost 16,000. Astronomers can announce a supernova candidate to the TNS, but the event needs to be classified to confirm its type and physical properties. The ZTF has carried out approximately 50% of all classifications.

The bottom left graph shows the total number of publicly reported classified supernovae since 2012 (yellow line) and the number of supernovae detected by ZTF (red line).

To detect transients, astronomers need advanced cameras that capture flashes of cosmic light, but additional instruments called spectrographs are needed to confirm the nature and type of the event.