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
1,251–1,300 of 255,900 · All objects seen in the 7 nights
ObjectClassLast magPeakFirst seenLast seenNightsAlertsRel.RA, DecPartner
ZTF ZTF18aafsgva Unknownfaded r—2018-11-092026-09-26110.97129.0309, 18.1928
ZTF ZTF18aaftnnr AGNfaded r18.912019-02-262026-09-267201.00125.8661, 17.0028
ZTF ZTF18aafuacm QSOfaded r19.382018-05-252026-09-2644601.00130.7950, 14.2880
ZTF ZTF18aafubsl QSOfaded r18.802018-05-252026-09-2666931.00126.1724, 13.0649
ZTF ZTF18aafueoj QSOfaded r19.022019-01-262026-09-2632401.00127.7968, 12.5189
ZTF ZTF18aafulno Star19.60 r19.602019-01-292026-09-26220.99125.5551, 16.0076
ZTF ZTF18aafumxr Seyfert1faded r18.352018-03-132026-09-26871711.00125.6162, 15.7918
ZTF ZTF18aafveno Unknown18.36 r18.072017-12-172026-09-26611031.00128.2529, 16.4137
ZTF ZTF18aafvfku QSOfaded r19.662018-11-182026-09-2644671.00128.6592, 16.7294
ZTF ZTF18aafvxfj Unknown19.21 r18.612018-02-052026-09-26781.00127.7305, 12.3338
ZTF ZTF18aafvyab QSOfaded r18.992018-11-032026-09-2662851.00127.7645, 12.6300
ZTF ZTF18aafwgob QSO18.38 r18.002018-11-172026-09-26701041.00129.3038, 14.9882
ZTF ZTF18aafwolm QSO18.80 r18.432018-11-082026-09-26821481.00125.9879, 18.2511
ZTF ZTF18aafwrhe QSO18.70 r18.512019-02-272026-09-2615181.00126.8852, 12.1706
ZTF ZTF18aafyavq QSOfaded r18.902018-11-172026-09-26721131.00126.3130, 17.8109
ZTF ZTF18aafyvbf AGNfaded r19.272018-09-142026-09-2661751.00126.6548, 15.4508
ZTF ZTF18aafzapk Unknownfaded r18.992018-11-062026-09-26330.38127.3744, 16.0484
ZTF ZTF18aahnfkg Starfaded r—2018-04-092026-09-2626280.98130.0137, 13.0472
ZTF ZTF18aahnljx Variable*18.28 r17.812018-02-242026-09-2651681.00126.3969, 18.1756
ZTF ZTF18aajwubs Unknown16.48 r16.452018-04-092026-09-2646521.00128.4697, 14.0097
ZTF ZTF18abxblam Unknown18.23 r17.792018-09-172026-09-2645601.00126.7827, 17.4751
ZTF ZTF18acafzvi BLLacfaded r19.162018-09-182026-09-2653871.00127.8877, 17.7751
ZTF ZTF18acdvqrq UnknownAT 2017hbpfaded r18.712018-05-252026-09-26841941.00132.1557, 14.4869
ZTF ZTF18acmsvix EclBin15.99 r15.472018-03-092026-09-26381.00132.7702, 11.7657
ZTF ZTF18acpazyz Starfaded r18.272018-11-082026-09-2620231.00127.7349, 18.0293
ZTF ZTF18acpttai Star15.26 r15.262018-11-082026-09-26110.98128.6096, 14.1560
ZTF ZTF18acqesvt Unknown18.75 r18.512017-12-152026-09-2633351.00130.9040, 14.4049
ZTF ZTF18adaykys Unknown18.70 r18.042018-09-262026-09-26221.00131.4537, 15.0865
ZTF ZTF18adbgnbv QSOfaded r18.972018-11-082026-09-26801331.00126.2730, 17.8143
ZTF ZTF18adsirgs QSOfaded r18.872018-11-092026-09-26491.00131.2198, 13.7217
ZTF ZTF19aaiaxpn RSCVnV*faded r—2018-03-092026-09-26550.94132.8554, 12.0491
ZTF ZTF19aceftqa Seyfert118.93 r18.642018-01-132026-09-26801411.00126.4553, 17.5636
ZTF ZTF19acjnzde EclBin15.87 r15.862017-12-152026-09-2610121.00125.5211, 12.8063
ZTF ZTF19acxortu Unknownfaded r17.562019-04-152026-09-26441.00130.5730, 11.8481
ZTF ZTF20aautkkx QSO18.99 r18.772018-11-172026-09-2658811.00132.5289, 12.5667
ZTF ZTF20abyolwl Starfaded r—2020-01-022026-09-2611111.00126.1780, 16.8527
ZTF ZTF20acnhxka QSOfaded r—2020-09-212026-09-2634481.00128.0230, 16.2074
ZTF ZTF21aadigop Seyfert119.12 r19.122020-11-152026-09-2614161.00126.8862, 14.3944
ZTF ZTF21aagirni Unknownfaded r17.042018-11-142026-09-2635411.00125.4917, 12.7829
ZTF ZTF23aabjpvy Unknown19.62 r19.622022-03-012026-09-26221.00127.9991, 17.0028
ZTF ZTF23abhywds Unknownfaded r16.292018-04-092026-09-2639461.00125.9973, 13.8310
ZTF ZTF26abxsvfu Solar System MPC12.61 r12.612026-09-262026-09-26111.00130.5331, 11.9576
ZTF ZTF26abxsvgi Solar System candidate17.63 r17.632026-09-262026-09-26110.97127.6504, 12.4868
ZTF ZTF26abxsvgj Solar System MPC18.53 r18.532026-09-262026-09-26111.00127.5469, 13.0075
ZTF ZTF26abxsvgk Unknown18.83 r18.832026-09-262026-09-26111.00128.0713, 13.0429
ZTF ZTF26abxsvgl Solar System MPC19.32 r19.322026-09-262026-09-26111.00127.4519, 12.6840
ZTF ZTF26abxsvgv Solar System MPC19.07 r19.072026-09-262026-09-26111.00126.9345, 18.7444
ZTF ZTF26abxsvho Solar System MPC19.29 r19.292026-09-262026-09-26111.00126.4391, 12.9463
ZTF ZTF26abxsvig Solar System MPC18.44 r18.442026-09-262026-09-26111.00129.7730, 11.7716
ZTF ZTF26abxsvld Unknown17.36 r17.362026-09-262026-09-26111.00127.0237, 11.6490