Rubin Observatory Digest for 08 July 2025

3 July 2025

Project and Science News

On June 23, 2025, Rubin Observatory held its highly anticipated First Look event, marked by a press conference in Washington, D.C., and a global livestream. Zeljko Ivezic, Director of Rubin Observatory Construction, unveiled the first breathtaking images captured with the LSST Camera, showcasing Rubin's unique capabilities. Representatives from numerous media outlets attended the press conference in person or via Zoom, and Rubin stories appeared in publications around the world in the days before and following the event. A recording of the press conference presentation is available on YouTube.

More than 350 First Look watch parties, organized at locations all over the world, brought together Rubin staff, scientists, students, and enthusiasts to celebrate this historic moment. The gatherings broadcast the press conference livestream, and many also featured Rubin science talks or panel discussions from local attendees. These coordinated events ensured that First Look was not just a media event but a shared experience across continents. Watch party photos are still being collected and will be shared soon. 

A suite of new resources was released as part of Rubin First Look, all designed to share the excitement and science behind Rubin's first imagery. Highlights include:

• First Look images and videos collection
• Additional context and descriptions for each image, which can be accessed by clicking on each product featured on rubinobservatory.org
• The First Look press release
• The SkyViewer interactive image exploration tool
• SkyViewer guided tour of the “Cosmic Treasure Chest”
• Sonification of the “Cosmic Treasure Chest” image in SkyViewer
• The OrbitViewer interactive Solar System exploration tool
• Education materials for classrooms

These products will be featured individually on Rubin’s social media in the coming days and weeks.

Preparations are ongoing for the upcoming Rubin Community Workshop, in Tucson, AZ, July 28 - August 1. Get the latest information and details on the Rubin Community Workshop meeting website.

Recent technical updates from the Commissioning team are available on community.lsst.org in the News category with the commissioning-updates tag, and on the LSST-DA Slack workspace in the #commissioning-updates channel. Highlights are also posted on Rubin social media accounts. 

Operations Updates

Rubin Data Preview 1 (DP1) was released on June 30, 2025, one week following the Rubin First Look event. DP1 contains data from the Rubin Commissioning Camera (ComCam) on-sky commissioning campaign conducted from October-December 2024, and includes approximately 2000 exposures in 7 fields. Details, links to more information, and discussions about DP1 can be found on the Rubin Community Forum. 

With the release of DP1, Rubin has launched its first Citizen Science project in partnership with the Zooniverse. In its first 24 hours, Rubin Comet Catchers has engaged 300 participants who have already made 60,000 classifications. Congratulations to all those involved from the Education and Public Outreach team and the Community Science team, and be on the lookout for additional projects launching in the coming weeks!

Personnel Announcements & Opportunities:

Miguel Fernández joined the Rubin team in Chile on June 16th as a mechanical technician. Miguel has been working on the summit since 2019 with Spanish contractor Asturfeito, supporting construction of the Telescope Mount Assembly, and has now formally joined the Rubin team.

Jinwen Zou joined the Data Management team on June 17th as a senior database administrator at Rubin’s US Data Facility, located at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. In this role, Jinwen will support Rubin's numerous and varied database requirements, with a focus on running databases smoothly and performantly.

Open positions with Rubin can be found on the Rubin hiring page.

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, Zeljko, Bob, or Phil, 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 use this form (login required) to make 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): 

2025

July 14-18	Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) Science Collaboration meeting, Durham, UK
July 18 (virtual) / July 21-25 (La Serena & Hybrid)	Construction Readiness Review #2 & Operations Readiness Review 1 (CCR2/ORR1)
July 21-25	Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC) meeting, Urbana-Champaign, IL & virtual
July 28-August 1	Rubin Community Workshop 2025, Tucson, AZ
September 14-19	LSST@Europe7, Poznan, Poland