rubinann24016 — Announcement
Rubin Digest 15 October 2024
16 October 2024
Project and Science News
Rubin officially has a complete telescope on Cerro Pachón after the Primary/Tertiary Mirror (M1M3) Cell Assembly was installed by the summit team last week. With the Secondary Mirror (M2) and the 144-megapixel Commissioning Camera in place on the telescope mount, it won’t be long before Rubin takes its first on-sky observations. Read the details about this major achievement on rubinobservatory.org.
Shortly after the M1M3 installation, Rubin announced the naming of its state-of-the-art telescope as the Simonyi Survey Telescope. This celebratory event at the Rubin Observatory Summit Facility on Cerro Pachón in Chile was attended by the Simonyi family, Rubin Observatory leadership, representatives of NSF and DOE, and other guests. Read more about it in this press release issued on October 11th.
Preparing for the M1M3 installation took many months of integration and weeks of intense preparation, including load testing for the critical transport to level 8 and the important task of carefully cleaning the telescope mount. The teams led by Roberto Tighe, Freddy Munoz, Juan Fabrega, Andy Clements, Felipe Daruich and David Jimenez (to name a few) have spent months getting the M1M3 system integrated. Preparing the Facility for the mirror transit from Level 3 to Level 8 was critical, including system checks of the lift to take the 70-ton load on the journey. Many other team members worked hard to remove dirt, grease, and particles like metal shavings or wayward nuts and bolts, especially from areas above the glass and areas that would be blocked once the M1M3 was in place. This step is a major milestone and many individuals from different teams on the summit pitched in — their work is greatly appreciated. Photos are available in the Gallery.
System Integration, Test and Commissioning (SIT-COM) team members Johnny Estevez and Chris Stubbs have been characterizing the twilight sky brightness in the six LSST Camera filter bands at the Rubin site on Cerro Pachón. They’ve been taking observations just outside Rubin Auxiliary Telescope, using an amateur telescope mount, a photodiode, and a filter wheel. With this simple setup, they can map the sky brightness in altitude, azimuth coordinates. Their work will serve as a reference for planning observations with Rubin’s Commissioning Camera, specially to take twilight flat images. Photos are available in the Gallery.
The Survey Cadence Optimization Committee (SCOC) has released its Phase 3 recommendation for the LSST Survey Strategy. Notably, it presents updated Galaxy and Local Volume, Deep Drilling Fields, and filter balance recommendations; defines the details of the Target of Opportunity program; and explores new options for improving the rolling strategy. Additionally, there are updated system transmission curves and assumptions on Year 1 system performance in the LSST survey strategy simulations. Read more and find a link to the recommendation on community.lsst.org.
Rubin’s plans for First Look — the media/public release of Rubin’s first images in mid 2025 — continue to evolve. If you or your organization are making your own plans around this exciting event, we want to hear from you! Coordinating and sharing resources will increase the impact of all our activities. Please fill out this form to let us know you’d like to connect.
We’re very sad to report the sudden passing of our friend and colleague Ian Shipsey, who among many other lifetime achievements pioneered the Department of Energy’s involvement in the LSST Camera, and served as a principal investigator for LSST at the Science and Technology Facilities Council in the UK. All of us who worked with him will miss him. A tribute to his legacy can be found on this University of Oxford website.
Operations Updates
Members of the Rubin Operations and NOIRLab leadership teams participated in a NOIRLab Management Oversight Council (NMOC) meeting in Chile in early October, which included a tour of the Rubin summit facility on October 10th. A group photo is available in the Gallery.
If you plan to work with Rubin Data in the future, we encourage you to sign up for an account on the Rubin Science Platform now. This will allow you to get familiar with the interface, work out any issues, and get your data rights verified by the project so you can be sure to get data immediately when Data Preview 1 (DP1) is released. Rubin Data Rights holders can sign up for an account any time by following the instructions here.
How will Rubin Observatory identify millions of changes in the sky every night during Operations? Watch and share a new explainer video produced by the Rubin Education and Public Outreach team called “Spot the Difference — How Rubin Reveals Cosmic Changes,” now available in English and Spanish on Rubin’s YouTube channel.
Rubin in the Media:
A story about the “Comet of the Century,” which was visible in the Chilean sky last month, aired recently on Teletrece – Canal 13 TV. The segment featured an interview and images taken by Rubin team member and astrophotographer Hernan Stockebrand. Watch the video in Spanish on YouTube.
Personnel Announcements & Opportunities:
Kate Napier joined the Rubin team as an Observing Specialist on September 11th. Kate will be relocating to Chile on October 16th to join the observing team on the summit.
Rubin has a new opening for a Senior Administrative Assistant. More information about this and other open positions with Rubin can be found on the Rubin hiring page.
Info for Project Members:
A new Rubin Observatory Project-team-only Slack space to support commissioning has been established. For information about this new resource, see this post on community.lsst.org.
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
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October 25-November 1 |
Joint Status and Construction Completeness #1 Review, La Serena, Chile |
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November 6-8 |
AURA Management Council for Rubin Observatory (AMCR) Meeting, La Serena, Chile |
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November 10-14 |
Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems (ADASS), Malta |
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November 11-15 |
XIX Chilean Astronomical Society (SOCHIAS) Annual Meeting, Arica, Chile |
2025
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January 12-16 |
American Astronomical Society (AAS 245) Winter Meeting, National Harbor, MD |
