From clear skies to advanced science.
Every night, the sky changes. Millions of new signals are captured by astronomical surveys—explosions, movements, cosmic surprises.
Chile, home to the clearest skies on Earth and over half of the world’s astronomical infrastructure, is at the heart of this global exploration. But how do we know what truly matters in this sea of cosmic data? That’s where ALeRCE comes in.
ALeRCE: Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events
ALeRCE (Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events) is a 100% Chilean system that uses artificial intelligence to classify and prioritize astronomical data or events coming from large telescopes, creating an alert that allows studying objects of interest through follow-up telescopes. It is what is known as a broker, and since its inception in 2019 has processed more than 100 million alerts, powering modern astronomy and big data science.
Automatic Detection
ALeRCE uses artificial intelligence to classify astronomical events in seconds, processing sky alerts in real time.
Open Data
The platform offers free access to data for the scientific, educational and citizen community worldwide.
Chilean Innovation
Technology developed 100% in Chile.
Developed through a multi-institutional collaboration, led by the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS) and the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM) of the University of Chile, in addition to the Data Observatory (DO) and the University of Concepción (UdeC). ALeRCE is the only Latin American broker selected to analyze data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which will soon generate more than 10 million alerts every night.
Why It Matters
Fast Data, Faster Discoveries
ALeRCE allows scientists around the world to catch these fleeting phenomena and learn more about the universe’s most energetic processes. This collaboration helps unlock mysteries like the behavior of supernovae and black holes.
Fun fact: The ALeRCE system gets its name (which is the acronym for Automatic Learning for the Rapid Classification of Events) from a very special tree species: the Alerce or Patagonian Cypress.
Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) is a tall, long-lived conifer native to southern Chile and Argentina. They are also known as lahuán (lawal in mapudungún, the Mapuche language), or Patagonian cypress. They can live up to 4000 years and reach up to 60 m in height.
Credit: Nick Hall photography.
Made in Chile, Shared with the World
Global Science, Local Leadership
Developed by a network of Chilean universities and research centers, ALeRCE is part of a growing ecosystem of open science. Its tools and data are used by researchers in over 139 countries, making Chile a central hub for astronomical discovery in the age of Big Data.
Explore the Tools
Try It Yourself
Curious about what’s out there? Explore live data from the sky using tools developed by ALeRCE:
- ZTF Explorer: See what’s lighting up the sky.
- SN Hunter: Track new supernovae as they happen.
Get Involved
Follow the Journey
ALeRCE is more than just a tool—it's a community. Follow us on social media, explore our GitHub, or join a workshop. Together, we’re building the future of astronomy, one alert at a time.
- X/Twitter: @alercebroker
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alercebroker
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alercebroker/
- GitHub: https://github.com/alercebroker
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alercebroker3819
The ALeRCE broker is a Chilean-led broker which is processing the alert stream from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and which aims to become a Community Broker for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), as well as other large etendue survey telescopes. We are using Cloud Infrastructure and Machine Learning models to bring real-time processed products and services to the astronomical community.
ALeRCE is funded by the Millennium Institute for Astrophysics – MAS, the Center for Mathematical Modeling - CMM at Universidad de Chile, and since 2020 the Data Observatory, in collaboration with researchers from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez - UAI, Universidad Austral de Chile - UACH (Informatics), Universidad Católica de Chile - UC (Astronomy), Universidad de Chile - UCH (Astronomy - DAS, Electrical Engineering - DIE), Universidad de Concepción - UdeC (Informatics), Universidad Nacional Andres Bello – UNAB (Astronomy), Universidad de Santiago de Chile - USACH (Statistics), Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana - UTEM (Computer Science), Universidad de Valparaíso - UV (Astronomy), and REUNA in Chile, and international researchers from Caltech and Harvard U. and U. of Washington.