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This is the first LSST:UK Newsletter, so we should explain why it is appearing and why now. When we started the lusc-announce email list, we said that it would be a low-traffic list, and a number of people have told me that they appreciate that we have stuck to that, so that they know that any message they receive on the list will be significant. As we approach survey operations, there will more information to share with the community, and we have decided to aggregate the non-time-critical material into regular newsletters, rather than increase the frequency of emails on the lusc-announce list. Now seems a good time for the first newsletter because many people will be wondering what impact Covid-19 will have on the Rubin Observatory and on LSST:UK. As discussed below, we do not have the full answer on that yet, but we have some information now and will pass on more as the situation becomes clearer.
Newsletters will be circulated as PDF attachments to emails to the lusc-announce lists, with a table of contents presented in the main body of the email. A version will also be available on the LSST:UK Confluence Wiki site, since it is expected that many newsletter items will link to longer documents available on the wiki. Our intention is to produce newsletters each month with the hope that a regular schedule will encourage members of the LSST:UK community to plan ahead and provide updates on their work within the Science Collaborations and the STFC-funded LSST:UK Science Centre programme. Those with ideas for future newsletter items should contact the LSST:UK Project Managers (George Beckett and Terry Sloan: add email).
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Re-naming LSST
As most of you will know, the LSST has been renamed in honour of Vera Rubin. A press release from the announcement is available at https://www.lsst.org/news/vro-press-release while an official usage guide can be found at https://project.lsst.org/documents/name-use-guide, which includes the following summary statement: “For the first ten years of operation, Vera C. Rubin Observatory will perform the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time, using the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera and the Simonyi Survey Telescope”. So, the acronym LSST lives on in the name of the survey, while the telescope has been named in recognition of the early funding provided by Charles Simonyi.
Since our involvement is with the survey, rather than the observatory, per se, it seems fine for us to remain as LSST:UK. However, in case we decide, or are asked, to change our name in due course, we have reserved the rubin.ac.uk domain, which currently redirects to the www.lsst.ac.uk website.
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Impact of Covid-19 on the Rubin Observatory and LSST:UK
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