Using the instrument, astronomers have already made many important observations, including the detection of over a thousand supernovae. To date, ZTF has observed new supernovae, binary stars and even two black holes caught in the act of "eating" nearby stars. As stars wander near black holes, the strong gravitational fields can rip apart the star and the material will then spiral down into the black hole. Some of them orbit in relatively close proximity to the Earth and are called Near Earth Objects, or NEOs. Most solar system objects orbit more or less in the same plane as the Earth does.

Source: CNN February 15, 2019 23:26 UTC