Rubin Digest 11 June 2024

12 June 2024

Project and Science News

Registration for the Rubin Community Workshop at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, CA on July 22-26 is still open (until June 21 or when in-person capacity is reached). Posters are also being accepted until June 14th, details about all aspects of the meeting can be found on the meeting website. 

Rubin is celebrating Pride Month in June! Watch the #inclusion channel on Rubin Slack for LGBTQIA+ opportunities and events offered to the Rubin Community, and follow Rubin social media accounts to engage with upcoming Pride posts.

On the summit, the Rubin Commissioning Camera (ComCam) was removed from the Telescope Mount Assembly (TMA) during the last week of May and moved to the maintenance floor on the third level of the Observatory. All utilities except Dynalene cooling have now been reconnected and the computers used to operate ComCam and the attached refrigeration Pathfinder unit have had their operating systems updated. Once the Dynalene system is reconnected in the coming days, ComCam will be cooled down and the readout electronics boards (REBs) turned back on in order to check all of the sensors. ComCam will remain on the third level until the coated Secondary Mirror (M2) is installed on the TMA in July. 

The Transients and Variable Stars (TVS) Software Task Force announces a second “Intermediate Python for Astronomical Software Development” workshop (aka InterPython), supported by the LSST Discovery Alliance, July 1-4, 2024. Registration is open until June 17th. More information is available at this link. 

See spectacular new drone images of Rubin Observatory taken by Olivier Bonin, who traveled to Chile to document the arrival of the LSST Camera from SLAC in mid-May, in the Gallery. 

Operations Updates

Registration is open for this year's virtual Rubin Data Academy, to be held the week of June 17. The academy will cover data access and analysis with a variety of hands-on tutorials. 

Planning is underway for Rubin participation at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa, August 6-15, 2024. Rubin staff and scientists will attend and participate in breakout sessions and focus meetings, and there will be a Rubin booth in the exhibit hall. Details on how to engage with Rubin at the meeting will be shared as they develop. 

Lsst Discovery Alliance News

LSST-DA is pleased to introduce Dan Peluso, who joined the LSST-DA team on May 20, 2024 as the Director of Strategic Engagement. He brings considerable expertise in astronomy, education, and science communications, and will focus on ensuring effective collaboration with and support for LSST-DA’s mission and initiatives from the Alliance’s key participants.

Personnel Announcements & Opportunities

Fernanda Urrutia began work with the Rubin Education and Public Outreach (EPO) team on June 1st as Chilean EPO Liaison, based in La Serena. Fernanda will guide the EPO team’s work to increase Rubin’s reach and engagement with the Chilean public, educators, and Rubin community scientists.

Richard Dubois and Martin Nordby both recently celebrated their well-deserved retirement from SLAC. Richard led the development of Rubin’s US Data Facility (USDF) at SLAC, and Martin contributed to the design and building of the LSST Camera, serving as LSST Camera Project Lead from 2023-24. We thank both of them for their invaluable efforts on behalf of Rubin, and we wish them both the best in retirement. 

Visit the Rubin hiring page to see all open positions with Rubin. 

Info for Project Members

Nominate someone deserving for a future staff award 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 (login required) 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

June 10-14	LSST@LATAM, La Serena, Chile
June 16-21	SPIE Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation Meeting, Yokohama, Japan
June 17-18 or June 20-21	DP0 Rubin Data Academy, virtual
July 1-4	TVS “Intermediate Python for Astronomical Software Development” workshop, virtual*
July 8-12	DESC Collaboration Meeting, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
July 22-25	Catching Supermassive Black Holes with Rubin-LSST, Turin, Italy
July 22-26	Rubin Community Workshop (formerly PCW), SLAC Menlo Park, CA
September 16-20	LSST@Europe6, La Palma, Spain*
November 6-8	AURA Management Council for Rubin Observatory (AMCR) Meeting, La Serena, Chile
November 10-14	Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems (ADASS), Malta

Upcoming Deadlines

2024

June 14	Registration deadline for DP0 Rubin Data Academy
June 21	Registration deadline for the Rubin Community Workshop 2024 (if the 250 limit is not reached earlier)