Transient Explorer

What am I looking at?

Every night the Rubin (LSST) and ZTF telescopes image the sky and flag anything that changed since last time: a supernova going off, a star flaring, an asteroid passing through. Each flag is an alert. The Fink broker classifies them, and this site shows what they are and where.

Pages

  • Dashboard: how many alerts and objects arrived in a window, what kinds, where on the sky, and the brightest new supernova candidates.
  • Sky: the map. Most of what follows is about it.
  • Objects: the same objects as a table you can sort, filter by the broker's label or TNS type, and page through; click one for its light curve and images.
  • Tonight: a planner for your telescope. Pick your site and telescope, and it lists the supernovae, novae and new objects seen this week that are above your horizon while it is dark and bright enough to see, sorted by when each is best placed, with finder charts, a CSV export and a printable list.

Search

  • An object id (ZTF26abvkmbu, a Rubin id, or the first few characters), a TNS name (SN 2026abc), coordinates (35.71 -4.75 or 02:22:50 -04:45:00, add r=10' for a radius), a deep-drilling field (COSMOS), a class (SN Ia, EclBin) or any name astronomers use (M31).

On the map: zoom to go deeper

  • Whole sky (wider than 20°): a heatmap of how many objects were seen in each patch of sky.
  • Region (1°–20°): a finer heatmap plus numbered badges. The number is the count of objects, the color is their most common class, and a white ring means something new in the last night.
  • Objects (under 1°): one dot per object. A white ring means it was seen last night, and a white center means it has been detected only once so far. Click a dot for its light curve, classification and images.

Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, or click a badge to zoom into it.

Filters

  • Window: how far back to look, from last night to a year.
  • Active / new: objects detected in the window, or only those first seen in it.
  • Class: most alerts are solar-system objects (asteroids). Pick Non-Solar System to hide them and see what else is out there.
  • Brightness (≤ 20, ≤ 18, ≤ 16): only objects at least that bright. Smaller magnitudes are brighter. An object marked faded was last seen fainter than in the survey's reference image, so it has no brightness of its own and counts only under any mag.
  • History (2+ nights, …): only objects seen on several nights, which filters out one-off artifacts.

Observing from your site

  • Your site: an observatory from the list, or your latitude and longitude (typed, or Use my location). A position is rounded to half a degree, and the site is remembered in this browser only.
  • Object panel: when the object is up tonight, its altitude through the night with the moon, the next 60 nights, and a Finder chart with a link to AAVSO's comparison stars.
  • Objects: Visible from… keeps what is above your limit in tonight's dark window, with when and how high.
  • Sky: Observer… shades what is below your horizon at a time you pick; the counts do not change.

Dark means the sun more than 12° below the horizon (18° if you choose). Positions ignore refraction and precession, a few tenths of a degree: enough to plan, not to point.

Classes

  • SN candidate
  • AGN / nuclear
  • Variable star
  • Solar system
  • Cataloged
  • Unknown
  • Low reliability
  • Other

The data is refreshed nightly. Every view is a link: on the map the URL records the position, zoom, filters and selected object, so Copy link shares exactly what you see.

Made by jgriz

Objects

Objects
Survey
Bucket
Clear
1,101–1,150 of 255,900 · All objects seen in the 7 nights
ObjectClassLast magPeakFirst seenLast seenNightsAlertsRel.RA, DecPartner
ZTF ZTF18aaexcsz QSOfaded r—2018-11-022026-09-2650681.00134.6748, 20.9494
ZTF ZTF18aaexdyo Star16.86 r16.862017-12-182026-09-26111.00132.0842, 19.0374
ZTF ZTF18aaexkzu QSO18.22 r17.972018-11-122026-09-26871361.00131.9453, 23.1541
ZTF ZTF18aaeybfq Unknownfaded r18.952019-10-272026-09-26241.00134.3665, 20.8011
ZTF ZTF18aafanfm QSOfaded r19.462018-09-142026-09-2611111.00131.1056, 25.7454
ZTF ZTF18aafbsbp QSO19.05 r18.682020-10-202026-09-26731151.00131.2058, 20.1491
ZTF ZTF18aafdeav QSOfaded r18.622018-05-242026-09-26771161.00132.4851, 21.7813
ZTF ZTF18aafdhoa Seyfert1faded r18.012018-04-132026-09-2629331.00133.4961, 21.4676
ZTF ZTF18aafdqaq AGB*18.23 r18.192018-11-022026-09-2654591.00132.3546, 20.9820
ZTF ZTF18aafqtrb Unknownfaded r—2018-11-172026-09-26110.03133.8181, 19.4200
ZTF ZTF18aaheolg Star16.14 r15.512018-04-062026-09-2654671.00131.8315, 21.2165
ZTF ZTF18aahetll EclBinfaded r17.252018-04-062026-09-26721251.00132.0228, 25.5826
ZTF ZTF18aahours EclBin14.73 r14.732018-04-092026-09-26330.64129.9775, 19.8220
ZTF ZTF18acefvzu QSOfaded r18.422018-11-062026-09-26841511.00134.8589, 19.8451
ZTF ZTF18acidhhy Star15.98 r15.952018-11-022026-09-2640481.00132.0141, 20.7582
ZTF ZTF18acpajkz Unknownfaded r18.412018-11-172026-09-26751451.00134.3642, 20.0174
ZTF ZTF18acssumz Unknown17.80 r17.792017-12-172026-09-2625251.00136.3359, 21.3526
ZTF ZTF18adbgmek Star19.07 r18.792018-12-292026-09-26231.00131.2775, 24.1981
ZTF ZTF19aaoxlva Solar System MPC17.37 r17.372019-04-072026-09-26111.00133.4941, 24.7367
ZTF ZTF19acjhxdk Unknown19.02 r19.022017-12-172026-09-26111.00133.3005, 20.9369
ZTF ZTF19adcblot blue19.23 r18.722019-12-292026-09-26871621.00129.9392, 23.8435
ZTF ZTF20aakqiac Solar System MPC18.57 r18.572020-01-292026-09-26111.00132.4058, 20.9698
ZTF ZTF20aakwobt EclBinfaded r17.522017-12-152026-09-2654641.00130.5601, 19.9722
ZTF ZTF20aamakcw PulsV*faded r—2018-02-242026-09-2611130.95132.0295, 23.1241
ZTF ZTF20aarcpil Unknownfaded r16.862018-04-022026-09-2661901.00132.9677, 24.6296
ZTF ZTF20adiiilg QSO19.22 r19.222020-02-192026-09-26111.00136.3747, 20.8155
ZTF ZTF21aadifgk QSO19.05 r18.802020-02-172026-09-26701091.00133.5202, 19.5616
ZTF ZTF22aacfxhj QSO19.25 r19.252022-02-132026-09-26351.00133.3990, 18.9130
ZTF ZTF22abjiwhc QSO19.51 r19.372021-10-172026-09-2658821.00132.0576, 23.0989
ZTF ZTF22abqgxse Solar System MPC19.51 r19.512022-10-252026-09-26111.00136.4333, 19.6463
ZTF ZTF23abmrjvk Unknown19.38 r19.382023-06-102026-09-2657911.00130.9157, 25.5905
ZTF ZTF26abxsvdz Solar System MPC18.66 r18.662026-09-262026-09-26111.00132.6544, 19.7890
ZTF ZTF26abxsvfk Solar System MPC18.82 r18.822026-09-262026-09-26111.00130.9354, 23.0141
ZTF ZTF26abxsvhj Solar System MPC18.63 r18.632026-09-262026-09-26111.00134.3382, 19.9224
ZTF ZTF26abxsvhk Solar System MPC18.92 r18.922026-09-262026-09-26111.00134.3298, 19.9049
ZTF ZTF26abxsvjc Solar System MPC18.95 r18.952026-09-262026-09-26110.98136.7028, 21.6252
ZTF ZTF26abxsvjh Solar System MPC18.93 r18.932026-09-262026-09-26111.00135.0125, 20.1228
ZTF ZTF26abxsvji Solar System MPC19.43 r19.432026-09-262026-09-26111.00135.0627, 20.4211
ZTF ZTF26abxsvjl Solar System MPC17.43 r17.432026-09-262026-09-26111.00131.1082, 19.9877
ZTF ZTF26abxsvjm Solar System MPC18.60 r18.602026-09-262026-09-26111.00131.3709, 20.1226
ZTF ZTF26abxsvka Solar System MPC18.37 r18.372026-09-262026-09-26111.00130.8591, 24.8985
ZTF ZTF26abxsvla Solar System MPC18.49 r18.492026-09-262026-09-26111.00133.3055, 20.0034
ZTF ZTF26abxsvlc Solar System MPC18.92 r18.922026-09-262026-09-26111.00132.8221, 19.8759
ZTF ZTF26abxsvlg Solar System MPC19.39 r19.392026-09-262026-09-26111.00136.0284, 21.3114
ZTF ZTF26abxsvln Solar System MPC18.80 r18.802026-09-262026-09-26111.00137.0431, 19.5509
ZTF ZTF26abxsvlo Solar System MPC18.91 r18.912026-09-262026-09-26111.00137.2856, 19.2086
ZTF ZTF26abxsvlp Solar System MPC19.06 r19.062026-09-262026-09-26111.00137.0729, 19.4385
ZTF ZTF26abxsvlq Solar System MPC18.79 r18.792026-09-262026-09-26111.00136.7685, 19.0417
ZTF ZTF26abxsvlr Solar System MPC15.44 r15.442026-09-262026-09-26111.00129.8710, 23.1055
ZTF ZTF26abxsvls Solar System MPC17.74 r17.742026-09-262026-09-26111.00129.8393, 22.8558