The Palomar Transient Factory: System Overview, Performance and First
  Results
  The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) is a fully-automated, wide-field survey
aimed at a systematic exploration of the optical transient sky. The transient
survey is performed using a new 8.1 square degree camera installed on the
48-inch Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Observatory; colors and light curves
for detected transients are obtained with the automated Palomar 60-inch
telescope. PTF uses eighty percent of the 1.2-m and fifty percent of the 1.5-m
telescope time. With an exposure of 60-s the survey reaches a depth of
approximately 21.3 in g' and 20.6 in R (5 sigma, median seeing). Four major
experiments are planned for the five-year project: 1) a 5-day cadence supernova
search; 2) a rapid transient search with cadences between 90 seconds and 1 day;
3) a search for eclipsing binaries and transiting planets in Orion; and 4) a
3-pi sr deep H-alpha survey. PTF provides automatic, realtime transient
classification and follow up, as well as a database including every source
detected in each frame. This paper summarizes the PTF project, including
several months of on-sky performance tests of the new survey camera, the
observing plans and the data reduction strategy. We conclude by detailing the
first 51 PTF optical transient detections, found in commissioning data.
