Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) Archives - Astrobiology

[TOP] Example observations of (2060) Chiron for survey/telescopes (left) ATLAS, (middle) ZTF, and (right) LCO/LOOK. [BOTTOM] Example observations of 103P/Hartley 2 for survey/telescopes (left) ATLAS, (middle) ZTF, and (right) LCO/LOOK. -- astro-ph.EP

Comets and Asteroids

Multi-year Ground-Based Survey Photometry of Active Comet 103P/Hartley 2 and Centaur (2060) Chiron: A Tale of Two Comets in the Pre-LSST Era

by Keith CowingJuly 5, 2026July 5, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Comets and Centaurs trace the evolution of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) into the inner solar system.

This illustration shows a red dwarf star orbited by a hypothetical exoplanet. Red dwarfs tend to be magnetically active, displaying gigantic arcing prominences and a wealth of dark sunspots. Red dwarfs also erupt with intense flares that could strip a nearby planet’s atmosphere. -- NASA

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics

The Largest Ground-based Catalogue Of M-dwarf Flares

by Keith CowingOctober 30, 2025October 30, 2025

We present the largest ground-based catalogue of M-dwarf flares to date, comprising 1,229 time-resolved events identified in Zwicky Transient Facility Data Release 17.

Asteroid 2001 VC136. A complex candidate, including asteroid 2001 VC136 and a transient was found inside a box measuring 10×10 arcmin and centered at R.A. (J2000)=6.3634206 deg. and Dec.(J2000)= 2.4341476, J.D.=2458760.7977431. See Table 2 for astrometric measurements and Table 9 for data product filenames. The lower-most object (right), not visible on the left, is a spurious detection (non-psf). -- astro-ph.IM

Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report

A Cost-Effective Search for Extraterrestrial Probes in the Solar System

by Keith CowingOctober 22, 2025October 22, 2025

For centuries, astronomers have discussed the possibility of inhabited worlds – from Herschel’s 18th-century observations suggesting Mars may host life, to the systematic search for technosignatures that began in the […]

Multi-night ZTF stacks centered at the nominal ephemeris position of 3I of periods from UT 2024 June 15 to UT 2025 May 9. Each stack is smoothed by a 2′′-wide Gaussian function for clarity. The 3σ uncertainty ellipses (appeared largely as a thin line due to very small semi-minor axis) are plotted in the upper-right corner of each panel. The images are color-inverted. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Interstellar, Status Report

Prediscovery Activity of New Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS: A Dynamically-Old Comet?

by Keith CowingSeptember 12, 2025September 12, 2025

We report on the prediscovery observations and constraints of the new interstellar comet 3I/2025 N1 (ATLAS), made by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), for the inbound leg of the comet […]

The explosion left behind an interstellar gas-and-dust cloud rich in silicon (gray), sulfur (yellow) and argon (purple). Credit: Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Astrochemistry: Supernova Study Reveals The Birthplace Of Silicon And Sulfur

by Keith CowingSeptember 2, 2025September 2, 2025

Massive stars have a layered structure, similar to an onion. The outermost layers predominantly comprise the lightest elements; as the layers move inward, the elements become heavier and heavier until […]

This diagram shows the trajectory of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system. It will make its closest approach to the Sun in October. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

NASA Discovers Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Moving Through Our Star System

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2025July 3, 2025

On July 1, the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, first reported observations of a comet that originated from interstellar space. Arriving from […]

Transit zones for all solar system planets are plotted in heliocentric ecliptic coordinates (left) and in celestial coordinates (right). Each planet’s transit zone is shown as a colored sinusoidal band. Sensors located in the colored regions of sky could detect the corresponding planets as they transit the Sun. Overlaps between colored bands indicate regions where multiple planets could be detected. Note there are 28 regions of overlap between sets of two planet transit zones and 8 regions of overlap for sets of three planets. We adapt code from Wells et al. (2018) and use the updated transit zone geometry (Figure 1) to calculate and plot the full transit zone angles as ϕTZ = 2 arcsin((R⊙ − Rp)/r). -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures

Technosignature Searches With Real-time Alert Brokers

by Keith CowingJune 18, 2025June 18, 2025

We present an exploration of technosignature research that is possible using real-time alert brokers from surveys such as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space […]