Parallel sessions

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s (Rubin’s) Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will be one of the principal components of the UK astronomy programme for the next 15 years. The coming year is crucial for the UK and international astronomy communities, with Rubin first light anticipated (Covid-permitting) in 2021. This will be followed by sustained science validation commissioning observations commencing in 2022, and the survey itself due to begin in 2023. Spring 2021 will also see Rubin release its first Data Preview (DP0), which will provide the community with access to Rubin-like data products and early versions of the tools with which the real survey data will be analysed. On a similar timescale, the STFC-funded LSST:UK Science Consortium will be forming a UK team that will formally join the Rubin Project’s System Integration Test and Commissioning (SITCom) group. This is all set against the backdrop of ongoing UK leadership across many of Rubin’s Science Collaborations, STFC-funded software development, and the expectation that the UK’s data rights position will be settled in the first half of 2021. Indeed, we hope to be in a position to present the outcome of our negotiation with Rubin colleagues at NAM 2021. This session will therefore provide a timely update for the community, with a primary focus on enabling colleagues to engage scientifically and technically ready to test and exploit early data. Talks will disseminate information about early science opportunities, the UK’s role in commissioning, data access via the UK DAC, data products, UK infrastructure including compute resources, and the UK’s engagement in the Rubin Science Collaborations. This will also be an opportunity to identify and develop synergies across the UK community’s scientific interests, for example via talks by early career colleagues who are developing software that will enhance the scientific value of Rubin data products.

Schedule:

Session 1
13:00 Bob Mann “UK involvement in the Rubin LSST” (Invited)
13:25 Graham Smith “Opportunities for UK involvement in Rubin commissioning” (Invited)
13:45 Raphael Shirley “Combining Vera C. Rubin Observatory optical and VISTA VIRCAM near infrared data” (Invited)
14:00 Aaron Watkins “Assessing the LSST Sky Subtraction Algorithm's Potential Impact on Galaxies Science” (Invited)

Session 2
09:00 Tom J Wilson “Enabling Early Rubin Science with Robust Cross-Matches in the Crowded LSST Sky”
09:15 Dan Weatherill “LSST Camera Sensor Characterisation and pre-commissioning (LSST:UK WP 3.9)”
09:30 Aprajita Verma “Prospects for early strong lensing science with the Rubin's Legacy Survey of Space and Time”
09:45 Chris Frohmaier “The Time-Domain Extragalactic Survey (TiDES)”
09:55 Conor Byrne “Detecting Blue Large-Amplitude Pulsators with VRO LSST”
10:05 Cressida Cleland “Photometric variability in the luminosity of low-redshift galaxies”