The image to the right shows the 3.5m secondary mirror of the Simonyi Survey Telescope in the process of being attached to its support cell, prior to its installation as the first piece of glass to reach its final resting place in the dome. Further details of the M2 installation process are provided in a news item on the Rubin website.

Another recent news item on that site is a summary of the 2024 Rubin Community Workshop (RCW), the first annual workshop in the new, user/science-focussed format. Included in that summary is a link to a recording of a very interesting virtual summit tour streamed live as part of the RCW, while videos of almost 50 RCW sessions are available as a YouTube playlist.

Early August saw the summit covered in snow after a severe winter storm - only the second in almost 30 years to register winds above 100 kph on Cerro Pachón - but the summit facility suffered only minor damage and work resumed shortly after the storm had passed.

Next month’s Newsletter will include details of the next UK Data Rights call, which will take place during October. Details of the call will also be circulated on the lusc-announce list, so please encourage any colleagues likely to want to apply for data rights this autumn to sign up to the lusc-announce list before the end of September.

@Bob Mann

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Graham Smith of the University of Birmingham will be the new Project Scientist, taking over from @Stephen Smartt on 1 September 2024. @Graham Smith was selected from a field of five excellent candidates in a rigorous process undertaken by the Selection Panel.

Graham (pictured right) brings significant involvement in LSST/Rubin to the Project Scientist position, both in specific roles and through broader engagement with the project. His current position as Strong Lensing Science Collaboration Co-chair ends in September and he will continue as the LSST:UK Commissioning Scientist .

@Mike Watson

Graham said: “I am excited to become the LSST:UK Project Scientist as first light approaches, and we eagerly anticipate getting our hands on real Rubin/LSST data! I look forward to supporting everyone, especially students and postdocs, to make the most of this wonderful scientific opportunity.

“I would also like to thank the Board for placing their faith in me, and to say a huge thank you to @Stephen Smartt for everything he has done for us as Project Scientist."

We wish Graham every success in his new role.

MNRAS has recently published an article by Brian Bichang’a and collaborators (including @Sugata Kaviraj and @Aaron Watkins ) on the topic of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in dwarf galaxies.

While the incidence of AGN and their impact on galaxy evolution have been extensively studied in massive galaxies, much less is known about the role of AGN in the evolution of dwarfs. The paper, The properties of AGN in dwarf galaxies identified via SED fitting, explores the incidence of AGN in 508 dwarfs, probes the correlation between AGN activity and factors such as environment, morphology and the presence of interactions and explores whether there is strong evidence for AGN-driven quenching of star formation in dwarf galaxies. Crucially, the deep optical and near-to-mid infrared data used in this study is similar to what will be available using LSST and ancillary surveys. This study therefore offers a preview of dwarf AGN studies that will become possible using LSST in the near future.  

The study finds that around a third of dwarfs show signs of AGN activity. The AGN reside at similar distances to nodes, filaments, and nearby massive galaxies as the general dwarf population, which indicates that AGN triggering in the dwarf regime is not strongly correlated with local environment. The fraction of AGN hosts with early-type morphology, and those that are interacting, are also indistinguishable from the general dwarf population, suggesting that interactions do not play a significant role in inducing AGN activity in this sample. Finally, the star formation activity in dwarf AGN is only slightly lower than that in the general population, suggesting that the presence of these radiatively efficient AGN does not lead to significant, prompt quenching of star formation in these systems. 

Distribution of the fraction of the bolometric luminosity that is contributed by the AGN (f_AGN) in our final sample of 508 dwarf galaxies, which exhibits a bimodality around log f_AGN ∼ −2.8. The red histogram denotes galaxies that are defined to be AGN. These are galaxies that have log f_AGN > −2.8 and in which including the AGN in the SED fitting improves the quality of the fit (i.e. the χ² value of the best-fitting model with an AGN template included is smaller than its counterpart without an AGN). The grey histogram corresponds to galaxies that are classified as non-AGN. These are systems that either have log f_AGN < −2.8 or where log f_AGN > −2.8 but including the AGN does not result in a better fit (see the text in Section 4.1 of the paper for more details) 

@Sugata Kaviraj

UK spotlight on Rubin

Fantasy Football – sign up now

Step back in time at the RAS

Recent coverage in some UK-based outlets is helping to raise awareness of the future impact of the Rubin Observatory.

BBC Sky At Night magazine published an article online and in print, The biggest camera in world is part of a new observatory set to study the mysterious dark universe.

The University of Oxford astronomer and popular YouTuber Dr. Becky (Smethurst) also gave the lowdown on Rubin Observatory in her latest video.

@Eleanor O'Kane

Last season, a few members of the LSST:UK Science Centre (LUSC) team ran a Fantasy Premier League league and, as it was a lot of fun, we would like to open up this season’s league to the whole LSST:UK community.

There was a broad range of levels of seriousness/skill/luck within even the handful of players who took part last season, from the impressively-knowledgeable (e.g. eventual winner: @Chris Frohmaier) to the absolute novice, so everyone is welcome and should find someone at a similar level with whom to enjoy a friendly rivalry over the coming months.

In order to give people who are new to Fantasy Premier League time to set up a squad, we plan to launch the league in Gameweek 5 (21 & 22 September), so please have your squad ready by Friday 20 September. Once you have, you’ll need to go to this URL and enter the code 0ib5xp to join the LSST:UK league.

Fantasy football may not be to everyone’s taste, so please let me know if there are other social activities that we can set up within the LSST:UK community and advertise through the Newsletter.

@Bob Mann

The Royal Astronomical Society is opening its doors to the public on 21 September 2024 as part of the annual Open House Festival.

This year, the RAS is celebrating its 150th year of being headquartered at Burlington House on London’s Piccadilly. Free tours, which must be booked, will highlight the historic building’s architecture and trace the history of astronomy and the RAS itself. A special collection of books, manuscripts and artefacts will be on display in the double-height, galleried library. There will also be fun activities for young astronomers.

For more details and to book a tour, visit the Open House Festival website.

@Eleanor O'Kane