Rubin Observatory Digest for 11 July 2023

12 July 2023

Project & Science News

The agenda for the Rubin Operations Project and Community Workshop 2023 (PCW) is now available on the meeting website (Login Required). The PCW is scheduled for the week of August 7, 2023, at the Marriott University Park in Tucson, AZ.

The Rubin Science Advisory Committee (SAC) is soliciting nominations (including self-nominations) for new members. Nominations from international partners, including the French and UK communities, are especially encouraged. SAC membership is for a term of two years, with the possibility of renewal. More information and a link to the nomination form can be found on community.lsst.org.

The SAC extends thanks to members who are finishing their terms. Rachel Bean, David Kirkby, Meg Schwamb, Stephen Smartt, Lucianne Walkowicz, and Risa Wechsler have all contributed enormously to the activities of the SAC, strengthening Rubin Observatory in many ways.

The Rubin Data Management (DM) team has succeeded in enabling default crosstalk correction for LATISS, the instrument mounted on the Rubin Auxiliary Telescope (AuxTel) as both an imager and spectrograph. This correction provides the cosmetic benefit of removing saturation bleed trails (like the ones in this image), and also subtracts the crosstalk objects that are created by the peaks of unsaturated bright stars. These crosstalk objects can look similar to real objects in shape, leading to a large number of false detections if they are not removed. Enabling crosstalk correction for LATISS provides proof-of-concept that the team will be able to measure crosstalk coefficients from real on-sky data.

Work on the Secondary Mirror (M2) system has been a recent focus in the integration hall (3rd floor) of the summit facility. Last week the M2 baffle was assembled and test-fit on the M2 cell (see a video here). The M2 baffle, which was fabricated in the Tucson Instrument Shop, is one of the tools employed to reduce stray light on the optical components of the telescope. The 4.5-meter baffle is a light (155 kg) aluminum structure that requires careful handling. The July 4th test fit onto the cell was substantially successful, and after a few minor interface modifications, the summit team will complete the software and hardware verifications. Next month, the M2 cell is scheduled to be installed on the telescope mount for the first time.

Regina Matter, LSST Camera administrator, was featured in a recent SLAC website profile. Read about Regina’s decade of experiences and valuable contributions to the LSST Camera Project at this link.

LSSTC Updates

LSSTC is excited to launch a funded initiative in Inclusive Collaboration. This program will direct up to $100,000 USD towards work on the development, documentation, and dissemination of policies and best practices related to Inclusive Collaboration. Students and postdocs are eligible to apply, as well as professional staff and faculty. See the Call for Proposals for full details and a link to the proposal form; proposals are due July 28, 2023.

Personnel Announcements & Opportunities:

Eric Christensen has joined the Rubin Observing team as Observing Specialist Manager. Eric comes from the Catalina Sky Survey program at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Lab where he has been the PI of the project and Survey Operations Manager for nearly 10 years. Before that, Eric was a Systems Support Associate at Gemini South Observatory. Eric will be attending the Rubin 2023 PCW and then moving to La Serena with his family in August to join the Observing Team.

Trys McCann joined the Data Management (DM) team as LSST Science Pipelines Scientist on June 20th. Based at Princeton University, Trys will be helping the DM team advance the development of the LSST Science Pipelines.

Sebastian Aranda joined the Telescope & Site team as Front-End Web Developer on July 3rd. Sebastian will be based in Chile and will be responsible for software development including web, control and back-end systems.

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-profitonline store.

Upcoming Meetings with Rubin Observatory Involvement

(those with an asterisk* are LSSTC supported):

2023

Upcoming Deadlines:

2023