Could you please describe your current project in simple terms?

 I lead the supernova group in the Zwicky Transient Facility project, with several dedicated supernova telescopes on Palomar in California. The past 6 years we have been monitoring the sky every night for exploding stars.

Jesper Sollerman. (Image: Rickard Kilström)

What are the expectations and/or challenges for the future?

 From 2025, the new Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile will begin operations, and the forecast is millions of supernovae over the next ten years. It will be a huge challenge to cope with such a tsunami of data.

What part of your research do you find the most exciting?

 I clearly like the discovery aspect. Finding a new supernova that no one else had seen before. I believe I have the world record of number of discovered supernovae, with several thousands over the past years.  And I like when these supernovae behave in ways we did not expect. And I like to find things we were not even looking for!

Do you have any advice for prospect astronomers that are interested in your field of expertise?

Do it! It is fun.

the 1.2 meter Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory. It is used for scanning large portions of the sky, allowing for systematic search for transient events such as supernovae (Palomar/Caltech)