We present the first version of the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE) broker light curve classifier. ALeRCE is currently processing the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) alert stream, in preparation for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The ALeRCE light curve classifier uses variability features computed from the ZTF alert stream and colors obtained from AllWISE and ZTF photometry. We apply a balanced random forest algorithm with a two-level scheme where the top level classifies each source as periodic, stochastic, or transient, and the bottom level further resolves each of these hierarchical classes among 15 total classes. This classifier corresponds to the first attempt to classify multiple classes of stochastic variables (including core- and host-dominated active galactic nuclei, blazars, young stellar objects, and cataclysmic variables) in addition to different classes of periodic and transient sources, using real data. We created a labeled set using various public catalogs (such as the Catalina Surveys and Gaia DR2 variable stars catalogs, and the Million Quasars catalog), and we classify all objects with ≥6 g-band or ≥6 r-band detections in ZTF (868,371 sources as of 2020 June 9), providing updated classifications for sources with new alerts every day. For the top level we obtain macro-averaged precision and recall scores of 0.96 and 0.99, respectively, and for the bottom level we obtain macro-averaged precision and recall scores of 0.57 and 0.76, respectively. Updated classifications from the light curve classifier can be found at the ALeRCE Explorer website (http://alerce.online).

We introduce the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events (ALeRCE) broker, an astronomical alert broker designed to provide a rapid and self-consistent classification of large etendue telescope alert streams, such as that provided by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and, in the future, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). ALeRCE is a Chilean-led broker run by an interdisciplinary team of astronomers and engineers working to become intermediaries between survey and follow-up facilities. ALeRCE uses a pipeline that includes the real-time ingestion, aggregation, cross-matching, machine-learning (ML) classification, and visualization of the ZTF alert stream. We use two classifiers: a stamp-based classifier, designed for rapid classification, and a light curve-based classifier, which uses the multiband flux evolution to achieve a more refined classification. We describe in detail our pipeline, data products, tools, and services, which are made public for the community (see https://alerce.science). Since we began operating our real-time ML classification of the ZTF alert stream in early 2019, we have grown a large community of active users around the globe. We describe our results to date, including the real-time processing of 1.5 × 10 8 alerts, the stamp classification of 3.4 × 10 7 objects, the light-curve classification of 1.1 × 10 6 objects, the report of 6162 supernova candidates, and different experiments using LSST-like alert streams. Finally, we discuss the challenges ahead in going from a single stream of alerts such as ZTF to a multistream ecosystem dominated by LSST.

We present a real-time stamp classifier of astronomical events for the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events broker, ALeRCE. The classifier is based on a convolutional neural network, trained on alerts ingested from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Using only the science, reference, and difference images of the first detection as inputs, along with the metadata of the alert as features, the classifier is able to correctly classify alerts from active galactic nuclei, supernovae (SNe), variable stars, asteroids, and bogus classes, with high accuracy (∼94%) in a balanced test set. In order to find and analyze SN candidates selected by our classifier from the ZTF alert stream, we designed and deployed a visualization tool called SN Hunter, where relevant information about each possible SN is displayed for the experts to choose among candidates to report to the Transient Name Server database. From 2019 June 26 to 2021 February 28, we have reported 6846 SN candidates to date (11.8 candidates per day on average), of which 971 have been confirmed spectroscopically. Our ability to report objects using only a single detection means that 70% of the reported SNe occurred within one day after the first detection. ALeRCE has only reported candidates not otherwise detected or selected by other groups, therefore adding new early transients to the bulk of objects available for early follow-up. Our work represents an important milestone toward rapid alert classifications with the next generation of large etendue telescopes, such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

The classic classification scheme for active galactic nuclei (AGNs) was recently challenged by the discovery of the so-called changing-state (changing-look) AGNs. The physical mechanism behind this phenomenon is still a matter of open debate and the samples are too small and of serendipitous nature to provide robust answers. In order to tackle this problem, we need to design methods that are able to detect AGNs right in the act of changing state. Here we present an anomaly-detection technique designed to identify AGN light curves with anomalous behaviors in massive data sets. The main aim of this technique is to identify CSAGN at different stages of the transition, but it can also be used for more general purposes, such as cleaning massive data sets for AGN variability analyses. We used light curves from the Zwicky Transient Facility data release 5 (ZTF DR5), containing a sample of 230,451 AGNs of different classes. The ZTF DR5 light curves were modeled with a Variational Recurrent Autoencoder (VRAE) architecture, that allowed us to obtain a set of attributes from the VRAE latent space that describes the general behavior of our sample. These attributes were then used as features for an Isolation Forest (IF) algorithm that is an anomaly detector for a "one class" kind of problem. We used the VRAE reconstruction errors and the IF anomaly score to select a sample of 8809 anomalies. These anomalies are dominated by bogus candidates, but we were able to identify 75 promising CSAGN candidates.

We present DELIGHT, or Deep Learning Identification of Galaxy Hosts of Transients, a new algorithm designed to automatically and in real time identify the host galaxies of extragalactic transients. The proposed algorithm receives as input compact, multiresolution images centered at the position of a transient candidate and outputs two-dimensional offset vectors that connect the transient with the center of its predicted host. The multiresolution input consists of a set of images with the same number of pixels, but with progressively larger pixel sizes and fields of view. A sample of 16,791 galaxies visually identified by the Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events broker team was used to train a convolutional neural network regression model. We show that this method is able to correctly identify both relatively large (10″ < r < 60″) and small (r ≤ 10″) apparent size host galaxies using much less information (32 kB) than with a large, single-resolution image (920 kB). The proposed method has fewer catastrophic errors in recovering the position and is more complete and has less contamination (<0.86%) recovering the crossmatched redshift than other state-of-the-art methods. The more efficient representation provided by multiresolution input images could allow for the identification of transient host galaxies in real time, if adopted in alert streams from new generation of large -etendue telescopes such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.