Call for US Scientists to Join LSST Science Collaborations

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) project announces the opportunity for interested members of the US astronomy and physics communities to participate in shaping the science for the LSST survey, through membership in the LSST Science Collaborations. (International participation is being organized separately.)

The LSST will carry out a six-band multi-epoch optical survey over half the Celestial Sphere using a dedicated 8.4 meter telescope, allowing major advances in areas ranging from the study of near-Earth asteroids to the nature of Dark Energy. The Science Collaborations are autonomous entities that will work closely with the LSST construction project on areas from cadence design to commissioning. Eleven LSST Science Collaborations have formed (see below). LSST was ranked #1 by the Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 Decadal Survey for large ground-based projects. Science operations will begin six years after the start of  construction. Further details and instructions to apply for membership are available here.

LSST Community Science Discussion Forum

Please send your ideas and suggestions to lsst-science@lsstcorp.org

Legacy Documents

• Science Working Group Report [PDF 4.3MB]
• Science with LSST and Other Large Surveys: Community Access and Utilization of Future Archives (September 2004 Meeting Papers and More)

Community Science Involvement Paves Path for Future Programs

Because we intend this facility and its database to serve as a resource for the whole community, we want your input on the planning to date along with ideas for extending the work already done.

Join the mission! First, review the following materials which detail our current plan and findings:

Relative Survey Power: Opening Up Discovery Space

Étendue of current and planned survey telescopes and cameras on a log scale. Some are dedicated 100% to surveys ("Survey"). Others could have higher effective étendue if used 100% in survey mode or if duplicated ("Max"). Above an étendue of 200-300 m² deg² it becomes possible to undertake a single comprehensive multi-band survey of the entire visible sky serving most of the science opportunities, rather than multiple special surveys in series. The LSST will open up a qualitatively new regime in survey science.

• Science Requirements Document (May 13, 2010) [PDF 464KB]

Let us know whether these basic requirements are suitable for the program you would like to carry out. Look particularly at the cadence of observations. We are especially interested in your requirements for data products — what should the LSST pipelines and database provide in order to enable the science that you want to do?

LSST Science Collaborations and their chairs

Supernovae: Richard Kessler(University of Chicago); Michael Wood-Vasey(University of Pittsburgh);

Weak lensing: Bhuvnesh Jain(University of Pennsylvania); David Wittman(University of California Davis);

Stellar Populations: Kevin Covey(Lowell Observatory); Knut Olsen(NOAO);

Active Galactic Nuclei: Niel Brandt(Pennsylvania State University);

Solar System: Michael Brown(CalTech); Lynne Jones(University of Washington);

Galaxies: Harry Ferguson(Space Telescope Science Institute);

Transients/variable stars: Josh Bloom(University of California Berkeley); Lucianne Walkowicz(Princeton University);

Large-scale structure/baryon oscillations: Eric Gawiser(Rutgers University); Hu Zhan(National Astronomical Observatories of China);

Milky Way and Local Volume Structure: Marla Geha(Yale University); Beth Willman(Haverford College);

Strong Lensing: Phil Marshall(University of Oxford);

Informatics and Statistics: Kirk Borne(George Mason University);