Rubin Digest 02 July 2024

5 July 2024

Project and Science News

In-person registration has closed for the Rubin Community Workshop at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, CA on July 22-26, with more than 200 people signed up. Registration for virtual participation is still available on the meeting website, as well as a detailed meeting agenda.

The first LSST@LATAM meeting, sponsored by the University of La Serena, was held June 10-14. The meeting brought together approximately 100 Rubin staff, researchers and students from across Latin America in-person, as well as additional attendees online. Participants were provided updates on Rubin construction and operations; learned about the Rubin EPO program and Citizen Science opportunities; heard from each of the Rubin Science collaborations; and enjoyed several contributed talks. Additionally, attendees were treated to a day-long visit to Rubin Observatory. Despite an earthquake, and a significant rain event that resulted in the University closing and the conference going virtual, the meeting was a great success. Special thanks to the entire organizing committee, including Holger Drass and Fernanda Urrutia representing Rubin. See a group photo in the Gallery.

Quite a few members of the Rubin team attended the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation meeting in Yokohama, Japan, June 16-21, and presented on various aspects of the Rubin system. Photos, including a Rubin group photo, are available in the Gallery. 

The System Integration, Test, and Commissioning (SITCOM) team coordinated the fourth Operations Rehearsal for Commissioning (OR4) on the nights of June 25-27, directly involving well over 40 people. Over these three nights the observing team on Cerro Pachón, with support from scientists across the project, used real Auxiliary Telescope (AuxTel) and simulated Commissioning Camera (ComCam) images to practice taking and processing data. The data were also transferred to the US Data Facility (USDF) in California for further analysis, including broadcasting alerts for changes detected in the brightness or position of objects. The rehearsal also included taking calibration data for the cameras and studying their sensitivity, and carrying out a simulated Science Validation survey in preparation for commissioning the Data Management system. A new aspect of OR4 was that the summit team worked with the Active Optics group to demonstrate the ability to use deliberately de-focussed images to understand the Rubin optics, in preparation for aligning the Simonyi Survey Telescope using ComCam. In addition to data-taking, the group practiced and refined planning and management for observing in Chile and data processing across the broader collaboration. Photos from the event are available in the Gallery.

Rubin in the Media

Rubin was the feature of an Astronomy article published online June 25th, “‘It’s going to be awesome’: How the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will survey space and time.” The article features interviews with several Rubin team members, and can be found at this link.

A video produced by WEKA titled, “The Impossibles: Vera C. Rubin Observatory,” describes the features that make Rubin Observatory unique and valuable with an emphasis on Rubin’s data management system. The video is narrated by Leanne Guy, Data Management Project Scientist for Rubin.

Operations Updates

The Rubin Formal Education team; with assistance from NOIRLab’s Communications, Education, and Engagement group, facilitated a weeklong workshop called “Summer Stars,” in Tucson, AZ, for high school and college educators on June 17-21. In addition to collaborating on workshop activities at Rubin headquarters on the first and last day of the workshop, the teacher group also spent three nights on nearby Kitt Peak touring telescopes, shadowing astronomers at work, and engaging in group discussions. Photos taken during the event are available in the Gallery. 

Congratulations to Rubin Community Science Team member Gloria Fonseca Alvarez, one of the recipients of an IAU ODE prize for 2024. Gloria’s work cited began before she joined Rubin, but is aligned with some of her work on the Rubin Community Science Team. The awards will be presented at the IAU General Assembly in South Africa in August.

Personnel Announcements & Opportunities

Camille Parisel joined the Rubin Construction team on July 1st as a Software Engineer. Based at IN2P3 in France, Camille will be responsible for development and maintenance of filter exchange system software on the LSST Camera. 

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

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
November 11-15	XIX Chilean Astronomical Society (SOCHIAS) Annual Meeting, Arica, Chile