Rubin Digest 23 April 2024

23 April 2024

Project and Science News

Don’t forget to register for the Rubin Community Workshop at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, CA on July 22-26. Payment is required to secure your spot, and in-person registration will be capped at 250 in-person attendees. The SLAC guest house is also filling up fast, so consider booking your lodging soon as well (link available after payment). Details and the registration link are on the meeting website.

The fifth in a series of Rubin science releases showcasing Rubin’s upcoming contributions to various areas of astronomy and astrophysics is now available. Read (in English or Spanish) and share “Rubin Observatory Will Reveal Dark Matter’s Ghostly Disruptions of Stellar Streams” at rubinobservatory.org.

In the first week of April, groups from across the Rubin Project took part in an operations rehearsal, taking both real (from the AuxTel) and synthetic (imSim simulations read out from the ComCam DAQ) data and transferring it to the US Data Facility, demonstrating three full 24-hour operations cycles with the two parallel data streams from the summit. The team was able to generate a full suite of science data products from the two data streams, including alerts from difference imaging, and demonstrated the ability to monitor science performance in near real-time, identify anomalies, and work together to resolve the issues during a 24-hour cycle. The lessons learned about data processing campaigns, data visualization, and real-time decision-making are being folded into additional rehearsal exercises in the next months leading up to the first night sky images. Photos are available in the Gallery.

The LSST Camera team at SLAC hosted two mid-April events following the official announcement of the completion of the LSST Camera. Media were invited to view the camera and interview team members on April 11-12. Then, on April 13, SLAC held a friends and family event featuring tours, refreshments, and activities for kids. Photos from these events are available in the Gallery. 

On Cerro Pachón, the summit team placed the 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror (M1M3) cell with the glass mirror under the coating chamber for a final verification of the distance between the mirror surface and the magnetrons that will deposit the layer of protected silver. They then removed the blue protective coating from the M1M3 in preparation for washing and coating the mirror. This is the first time the glass underneath the coating has been visible since fabrication of the mirror was completed at Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab at the University of Arizona in 2015 —a photo is available in the Gallery. Any remaining residue from the protective coating will be stripped away with a low-concentration acid wash, followed by a full de-ionized water wash and air dry immediately before the mirror goes under the coating chamber.

Operations Updates: 

The Rubin Operations Team participated in an annual U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)/U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Operations Review on April 16-18. Presentations from the various departments were well-received, and the review committee complimented the team on the substantial progress made since last year’s review. Forward-looking recommendations focused on preparing staff for the transition to full operations and to set expectations with the community on what factors will drive the decision to begin the LSST once the operations phase begins. The committee’s final report will be sent to Rubin Ops leadership in the coming weeks. A group photo is available in the Gallery.

The Rubin Users Committee welcomes new members Anupreeta More, Darryl Seligman, Vincenzo Petrecca, and Vicki Sarajedini, who will serve with eight returning members (listed on the Rubin Users Committee webpage). Rubin thanks the four departing members for their two years of service: Francisco Javier Sanchez Lopez, Markus Rabus, Qingling Ni, and V. Ashley Villar. 

The Euclid/Rubin Derived Data Product (DDP) Implementation Working Group, formed in December 2023, is now meeting regularly. This group was tasked with defining a roadmap for the creation of DDPs, defined in this white paper. More information and a survey link to offer feedback (deadline April 29th) are available on community.lsst.org. 

LSST Discovery Alliance News:

The 2nd Annual LSST-DA Catalyst Symposium will be held October 21-23, hosted by Northwestern University/CIERA in Evanston, Illinois, USA. The goal of the meeting is to bring the Catalyst Fellowship community together to highlight the work of LSST-DA’s Catalyst Fellows, to enable collaboration, and to strengthen the relationships within our network. The website for this meeting will launch in the early summer. Information and applications for childcare support are available on the LSST-DA website and participants are encouraged to apply for this limited funding soon.

LSST Discovery Alliance is hiring a Director of Finance and Administration to work closely with the CEO on the internal operations of LSST-DA. The position can be remote, anywhere in the continental U.S. More information is available in this job posting. 

Personnel Announcements & Opportunities

Please spread the word about a new Rubin position opening for Senior Software Engineer (EPO Technical Lead). Visit the Rubin hiring page to see all open positions with Rubin. 

Info for Project Members

Nominate someone for Rubin’s staff awards program to recognize outstanding performance! More information and the nomination form are available on the Staff Awards page on the Project website (login required).

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. 

The link to Rubin’s anonymous “suggestion box” will be changing soon, until a new link is announced please contact our Workplace Culture Advocates with your suggestions. 

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 supported by LSST Discovery Alliance): 

2024

May 6-8	AURA Management Council for Rubin Observatory (AMCR) Meeting, Tucson, AZ
June 10-14	LSST@LATAM, La Serena, Chile
June 16-21	SPIE Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation Meeting, Yokohama, Japan
July 8-12	DESC Collaboration Meeting, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
July 22-26	Rubin Community Workshop (formerly PCW), SLAC Menlo Park, CA
September 16-20	LSST@Europe6, La Palma, Spain*
November 10-14	Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems (ADASS), Malta

Upcoming Deadlines:

2024

June 21

Registration deadline for the Rubin Community Workshop 2024 (if the 250 limit is not reached earlier)