Construction of Vera C. Rubin Observatory under the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) Account

Association Of Universities For Research In Astronomy, Inc., Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is not just another telescope, but a new approach to survey science and data-based astronomy. Existing 6-meter to 10-meter ground-based telescopes all have relatively small fields of view and are operated in the traditional mode where a given project is pursued for a few nights at a time, after which different astronomers pursue data addressing a different scientific goal, possibly with a different instrument. Although this approach can make great advances, there are some crucial scientific problems that need to be tackled more like a physics experiment, whereby a dedicated instrument is used for a finite period of time to address well-defined objectives. This is the LSST: a large survey telescope using a wide field camera to image the accessible sky repeatedly to very faint limits over a ten-year period. The LSST data products will change every field of astronomical study, from the inner Solar System to the large scale structure of the Universe. LSST will map the inner and outer Solar System, study stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, reveal the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other local objects, find transient and variable objects at both low and high redshift, and survey the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. Turning to far-field cosmological topics, LSST will explore the properties of supernovae to redshifts around one, uncover strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and show how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy. LSST will be built on the El Peñón peak on Cerro Pachón in northern Chile. LSST will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view 9.6 square degrees, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 square degrees south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands at wavelengths from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5 magnitudes. LSST's three large mirrors are actively controlled to minimize distortion, and the telescope structure is especially compact and stiff to reduce image motion and to enable rapid travel across the sky, maximizing the observing duty cycle. The project is an interagency public-private partnership, with the Department of Energy accepting responsibility for the world-leading camera, while NSF as overall lead agency will support the site facility, the telescope, and the extensive and sophisticated data management. Private donations have supported initial construction work that significantly reduces project risk, including the innovative primary-tertiary mirror, early site work, and development of sensors for the camera. LSST will produce on average 15 terabytes of raw data per night and an uncompressed data set for the full ten-year survey of some 200 petabytes. Dedicated facilities will process the image data in near real time. The image archive and resulting catalogs will be widely and freely available. A sophisticated data management system will enable work ranging from simple queries from individual users to computationally intensive scientific investigations that could use the entire data set. The LSST Project is at the forefront of the information technology revolution and includes investments in technology, cyber-infrastructure, education, and outreach. With one of the largest scientific databases in existence, the LSST project presents challenging opportunities for research into database architecture and data mining. Education and public outreach programs are fully integrated with the research program and include engaging experiences for non-specialists, partnerships with museums, schools, and industry, and opportunities to challenge and encourage tomorrow's innovators.