University of Delaware

Department of Physics and Astronomy

federica b. bianco

she/her

Biden School of Public Policy and Administration

Data  Science Institute

federica b. bianco

she/her

this slide deck is live at https://slides.com/federicabianco/swift20-bianco

The best way to view the slides is on the web (to see videos and animations). A flat (PDF) version of this deck would be largely diminished

University of Delaware

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Biden School of Public Policy and Administration

Data  Science Institute

Rubin Observatory

Site: Cerro Pachon, Chile

Funding: US NSF + DOE

LSST Science Drivers

Probing Dark Energy and Dark Matter

Mapping the Milky Way and Local Volume

Building an unprecedented catalog of Solar System Objects

Exploring the Transient Optical Sky

To accomplish this, we need:

1) a large telescope mirror to be sensitive - 8m (6.7m)

2) a large field-of-view for sky-scanning speed - 10 deg2

3) high spatial resolution, high quality images - 0.2''/pixels

4) process images in realtime and offline to produce live alerts and catalogs of all 37B objects 

Objective: to provide a science-ready dataset to transform the 4 key science area

2025

SDSS

LSST-like HSC composite

' requirement: ls.st/srd

*simulation pstn-054.lsst.io

SDSS 2x4 arcmin sq griz

MYSUC (Gawiser 2014) 1 mag shallower than LSST coadds

' requirement: ls.st/srd

*simulation pstn-054.lsst.io

~800 per field

2 visits per night (within ~30 min for Solar System Science)

~800 visits per field over 10 years

2 visits within ~30 min

~8000 visits in DDFs

7 bands

sparse data

 As the nation’s first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU), The Lincoln University paved a path to higher education for African American males previously unavailable to them.

NSF  Data Science Corps Award 2123264

to create an equitable and accessible data science pedagogical program and build data science pedagogy capacity at HBCUs

An international community of practice built on principles of cooperation, equity, and solidarity

Rubin LSST Science Collaborations

8 teams

>2000 members

>2500 affiliations

5 continents

Rubin LSST Science Collaborations

Rubin LSST Science Collaborations

Text

https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.04499 

Rubin LSST Science Collaborations

https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.04499 

Rubin LSST Science Collaborations

PIs:

TVS: R. Street (lead PI) Federica Bianco

SMWLV: W. Clarkson, P. McGee, J. Gizis

SSSC: M. Schamb, D. Trillin

Nurturing the future generations of Rubin scientists with effective, culturally responsive mentoring

Coordinator: Shar Daniels

Participants:

Igor Andreoni, Silvia Piranomonte, Alex Malz

what's in a name?

The first ground-based national US observatory named after a woman, Dr. Vera C. Rubin 

September 2016

February 2020

May 2022 - Telescope Mount Assembly

May 2022

The DOE LSST Camera - 3.2 Gigapixel

3024 science raft amplifier channels

Camera and Cryostat integration completed at SLAC in May 2022,

Shutter and filter auto-changer integrated into camera body

LSSTCam undergoing final stages of testing at SLAC

artist (me) impression of the first image taken by ComCam

ls.st/dates

ls.st/dates

ls.st/dates

ls.st/dates

first data release ~1.5-2y from now

Vera C. Rubin Observatory:

Ushering a New Era of TDA

LSST

data products

Data Products

data right holders only

world public!

10Million alerts per night!

https://github.com/lsst/alert_packet

DSTM-093.lsst.io

LSST

+

SWIFT

LSST will provide optical emission for
transients and variable stars such as:
- GRBs
- TDEs
- AGNs

- Blazars
- compact object mergers; kilonovae
- FBOTS (e.g., Drout+14)
- supernova shock break-out
- SN-CSM interaction; shocked material
- SNIa “blue bump” of shocked companion
- recurrent novae & non-terminal explosions

- central engines

Seem Melissa Graham talk 2019 

https://zenodo.org/records/1444085

multi-cololor 10-year baseline:

precurser time series

detection at scale to r~24

late time persistent observations

Exploring the Transient and Variable Optical Sky

Exploring the Transient and Variable Optical Sky

Exploring the Transient and Variable Optical Sky

Exploring the Transient and Variable Optical Sky

Exploring the Transient and Variable Optical Sky

Exploring the Transient and Variable Optical Sky

LSST Science Book (2009)

Operation Simulator (OpSim)

simulates the catalog of LSST observations + observation properties

Metric Analysi Framwork (MAF)

Python API to interact with OpSims specifying science performance on a science case with a metric

Lynne Jones

Peter Yoachim

~100s simulations

~1000s MAFs

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

85% submissins led by SC members

Rubin LSST survey design

https://www.lsst.org/content/charge-survey-cadence-optimization-committee-scoc

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

Survey Cadence Optimization Committee

Rubin LSST survey design

https://www.lsst.org/content/charge-survey-cadence-optimization-committee-scoc

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

Survey Cadence Optimization Committee

Rubin LSST survey design

https://www.lsst.org/content/charge-survey-cadence-optimization-committee-scoc

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

Survey Cadence Optimization Committee

Rubin LSST survey design

2017

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

2019

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

2023

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

2024

Rubin LSST survey design

Rubin has involved the community to an unprecedented level in survey design this is a uniquely "democratic" process!

2024

2024

Rubin ToO program

+80 authors!

Rubin ToO program

Rubin ToO program

The minutes-second-subsecond Universe

• GRB afterglow
• Off-axis GRB
• Kilonovae
• SN-GRB breakout
• SN-GRB pop studies
• Fast Radio Bursts
• relativistic TDEs
• X-ray binary stars
• cataclysmic variable stars
• blazars
• stellar flares
• solar system occultations
• technosignatures

Marshall et al. 2017

Mortersen et al. 2019

Fast transients in LSST Wide Fast Deep

Smith +2019

Ragosta+ et al. 2023

Rubin LSST survey design

~800 per field

10 seasons, with each 6 months

2 visits per night (within ~30 min for Solar System Science)

revisit time => 4.5 nights

This will scatter significantly (weather, moon, ...)

The original survey plan didn't lead to good time domain astronomy (TDA) outcomes:

multi-cololor 10-year baseline:

precurser time series

detection at scale to r~24

late time persistent observations

Rubin LSST survey design

Text

The original survey plan didn't lead to good time domain astronomy (TDA) outcomes:

~800 per field

10 seasons, with each 6 months

2 visits per night (within ~30 min for Solar System Science)

revisit time => 4.5 nights

This will scatter significantly (weather, moon, ...)

Current plan: rolling 8 out of the 10 years

Rubin LSST survey design up to 2018

based on 2017 LSST simulations

Igor Andreoni et al 2022 ApJS 258 5

Eric C. Bellm et al 2022 ApJS 258 13

2017 simulations: between 3 and 32 KN can be identified (~300 detected)

Text

Proposed 3 intranight obs

2 within 1 hour in different filters

1 at 4-8 hours separation w repeat filter

Intorducing Triplets

Intranight color (near instantaneous)

Intranight rate of change (~hour time scales)

Current plan: rolling 8 out of the 10 years

 Presto-Color, Bianco+ 2019

Proposed 3 intranight obs

2 within 1 hour in different filters

1 at 4-8 hours separation w repeat filter

Text

Intranight color (near instantaneous)

Intranight rate of change (~hour time scales)

Ofek+ 2024

Intorducing Triplets

Proposed 3 intranight obs

2 within 1 hour in different filters

1 at 4-8 hours separation w repeat filter

Intorducing Triplets

Current plan: 4% of the survey is currently conducted in triplets

Intranight color (near instantaneous)

Intranight rate of change (~hour time scales)

Ofek+ 2024

newer simulations ->

2023 simulations: 62% improvement

newer simulations ->

4 – 24 hour gaps between epochs will enable kilonova parameter estimation

Kilonovae in LSST Wide Fast Deep

Andreoni+ 2022a

2023 simulations: 62% improvement

newer simulations ->

4 – 24 hour gaps between epochs will enable kilonova parameter estimation

Kilonovae in LSST Wide Fast Deep

Andreoni+ 2022a

Text

2023 simulations: 62% improvement

newer simulations ->

4 – 24 hour gaps between epochs will enable kilonova parameter estimation

Kilonovae in LSST Wide Fast Deep

Andreoni+ 2022a

https://pstn-056.lsst.io/

Proposed reduction to 6 rolling years (3 2-year cycles) to improve intrasurvey uniformity

8y rolling

no rolling

 6y rolling

~7% loss in KN characterization

Proposed reduction to 6 rolling years (3 2-year cycles) to improve intrasurvey uniformity

https://pstn-056.lsst.io/

https://pstn-056.lsst.io/

Shar Daniels

NSF Graduate Student Fellow

University of Delaware

TVS Science Collaboration

 Fast Transient Subgroup

join TVS! no fees no minimum req

Chairs:

Igor Andreoni + Sara Bonito

TVS Science Collaboration

 Fast Transient Subgroup

This is urgent! results must come through in the next ~ 2 months or the strategy may be set for year 1

Shar Daniels

NSF Graduate Student Fellow

University of Delaware