This page is intended to provide support for UK researchers planning applications for science exploitation grants to analyse Rubin LSST data. It will be continually updated - the most recent update was on XX/OCT/2024 - and any grant applicants not finding here information that they need for their applications are welcome to contact the LSST:UK Project Leader (Bob Mann ) or Project Scientist (Graham Smith ).
Background information
A collection of general background information about the Rubin LSST can be found at https://www.lsst.org/scientists. Information about the survey strategy can be found at https://survey-strategy.lsst.io/ and there is a webpage of key numbers for the LSST system and survey, while updated versions of some of those numbers (e.g., expected point source limiting depths in the six bands) can be found in Table 2 of the Bianco et al (2022) cadence optimisation paper.
A set of slides providing further background information about the Rubin LSST and about UK involvement in it can be found linked from Getting started with the Rubin Observatory and LSST:UK.
The Rubin Observatory maintain a citable document on Zenodo to support grant applicants. It includes a summary description of LSST data products, releases, tools for supporting analysis, etc. The most detailed reference for the Rubin data products is the Data Product Definition Document (DPDD).
UK involvement in the Rubin LSST
LSST data products (except the alert stream) are proprietary and international (i.e., non-US/Chilean) researchers can only obtain LSST data rights through in-kind contributions made to the Rubin Observatory or for the benefit of the LSST community in the US. STFC is funding the LSST:UK Science Centre (LUSC) programme to earn data rights for UK researchers: a key point to mention in any exploitation grant application to STFC is that the LUSC programme does not fund any science exploitation, which must, therefore, be supported through exploitation grants sought by data rights holders and completely separate from the LUSC programme.
STFC and the US funding agencies have not yet signed the UK’s LSST Data Rights Agreement, but the in-kind contributions made through the LUSC programme have an agreed value equivalent to data rights for 300 PIs and 1200 Junior Associates; the definitions of these terms come the Rubin Data Policy, but, in the UK terms, faculty and those senior fellows who can led grant applications are PIs and everyone else is a Junior Associate. This should be sufficient for everyone in the UK who needs data rights to have them, and UK data rights calls are held twice-yearly, so applicants can assume that anyone funded on their grant to analyse LSST data will be able to obtain the necessary data rights.
Rubin LSST Schedule
The Rubin Observatory is currently providing schedule updates in a variety of ways:
Construction Project Status webpage: update on milestones, made automatically by project systems on a monthly basis, but with some latency
Releases of Rubin Observatory Plans for an Early Science Program (RTN-011): this is the definitive reference for the Data Previews and Data Release 1, but is only updated periodically.
Presentations - e.g. at the LSST@Europe6 conference, presentations from which are also available (in citable form) from Zenodo
The Construction Project Status page presents a timeline for key events in early operations w.r.t. the date of System First Light (currently 16-May-2025), as follows:
Data Preview 1: 2-3 months after System First Light - i.e., mid-2025
LSST Survey Start: 4-7 months after System First Light - i.e., late 2025
Data Preview 2: 9-12 months after System First Light - i.e., mid-2026
Data Release 1: 12-14 months after LSST Survey Start - i.e., late 2026
Data Release 2 is expected six months after Data Release 1 (i.e., mid-2027), and subsequent data releases are expected annually thereafter.