The Palomar Transient Factory survey ran from Mar 2009 - Dec 2012. Like its successor, the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF), PTF used the 7.26-square degree CFHT12k mosaic on the Palomar Samuel Oschin 48-inch Schmidt Telescope.
The scientific legacy of PTF includes discovery of supernova 2011fe, the youngest Type Ia ever observed; the identification of new classes of super-luminous supernovae and Calcium-rich transients; discovery of a pre-explosion outburst from a Type IIn supernovae; and discovery of many novae, asteroids, and variable stars.
PTF was a scientific collaboration among the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Las Cumbres Observatory, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, the University of Oxford, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
