Rubin Observatory Digest for 30 May 2023

31 May 2023

Project & Science News

Registration is open for the Rubin Operations Project and Community Workshop 2023 (PCW). The in-person meeting will take place at the Marriott University Park in Tucson, AZ the week of August 7, 2023, with some sessions available online. Please note: in-person participation is limited to 300 attendees so please register ASAP. Registration will close on July 14th or earlier if we reach capacity. For more information and a registration link, visit the meeting website.

Registration is open for LSST@Europe5: Towards LSST science, together! The meeting will be held in Poreč, Croatia, September 25–29, and will be conducted in hybrid format to enable access for remote participants and to a wider community. Please see the meeting website for details and a link to register.

Rubin is gearing up to recognize Pride Month in June! Watch for a LGBTQIA+ focused TED talk discussion (these happen on the 2nd Monday of each month) on June 12th. Follow the #inclusion channel on Rubin Slack for details and discussions.

Rubin participated in an Equity and Inclusion (EIC) meeting hosted by AURA in Hilo, HI, on May 8-12. Staff presented on recent Rubin activities and initiatives, including the Kindness Day celebration on February 17th, and gave updates from the Rubin Workplace Culture Advocates. The next EIC meeting is tentatively scheduled for November in Chile.

The AURA Management Council for Rubin Observatory (AMCR) held a meeting in Washington, DC, on May 18-19. Topics of focus included the LSST Camera status and remaining work, systems integration and commissioning, Rubin data facilities, planning for first light, commissioning in-kind contributions, and the transition to Operations. Recommendations issued by the AMCR at the meeting will be addressed in the coming weeks.

Testing of the Primary/Tertiary mirror (M1M3) cell assembly is underway on the summit, with the team focusing on cell performance in parallel with balancing the Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA). Although the total mass of the cell assembly was well known, early testing showed that the center of gravity needed to be adjusted. A concerted effort by the team to add mass to the cell has resulted in improved balance, and cell performance is good. See a photo of the TMA with the cell tipped 40 degrees in the Gallery.

During an operating run of the Rubin Auxiliary Telescope (AuxTel) on May 23rd, data from 25 images taken by the telescope were successfully sent from the summit to the US Data Facility (USDF) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and processed through the LSST Science Pipelines automatically and in real time with Prompt Processing.

LSSTC News:

LSSTC is excited to announce the call for proposals for the second round of the LINCC Frameworks Incubator program. The LINCC Frameworks team is working on robust open-source software tools to support analysis of LSST data at scale, and a key part of this effort is the formation of collaborations with the LSST science community. The Incubator program, which starts in the third quarter of 2023 with June 15th as the deadline for short, stage-one proposals, will provide dedicated funding and collaborations with software engineers to proposal teams who pitch compelling projects to be carried out in collaboration with the LINCC Frameworks team. Incubator projects should be aimed at solving computational challenges to develop open-source software that will enable a near-term science project using simulations and precursor data, and that serves as a starting point towards eventual LSST data analysis. Details can be found on the LSSTC website.

Operations Updates:

Reminder: All Data Preview 0 (DP0) delegates are invited to a DP0 Virtual Summer School, scheduled for June 12-16, 2023. This Summer School has been designed as an accelerated learning experience to enable DP0 delegates to do Rubin-related research, focusing on the DP0.2 dataset. More information and a link to register are available at this link.

Personnel Announcements & Opportunities:

Juan Carlos (JC) Lazarte joined the Camera team on May 10th. JC’s initial role will be as a mechanical engineer focused on the logistics of shipping the LSST Camera from SLAC to the summit.

Reminder: Rubin has positions available for Early-stage career Observing Specialists and mid-stage career Observing Specialists. Applications received by June 16th will be considered for the first round of interviews. Other open positions with Rubin Observatory can be found on the Rubin hiring page.

Info for Project Members:

If you’d like to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Victor or Zeljko, please fill out this form to indicate your preferred date and time.

There is also an anonymous “suggestion box” for anyone to offer feedback at this link.

Rubin Observatory swag items, including t-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, and more, are available for purchase in our not-for-profit online store.

Upcoming Meetings with Rubin Observatory Involvement

(those with an asterisk* are LSSTC supported)

2023

Upcoming Deadlines:

2023