RTN-011: Rubin Observatory Plans for an Early Science Program

Guy, Leanne P.; Bechtol, Keith; Bellm, Eric C.; Blum, Robert D.; Dubois-Felsmann, Gregory P.; Graham, Melissa L.; Ivezić, Željko; Lupton, Robert H.; Marshall, Phil; Slater, Colin T.; Strauss, Michael A.

doi:10.71929/rubin/2584021

Title: RTN-011: Rubin Observatory Plans for an Early Science Program

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Abstract

This document outlines Rubin Observatory's plans for a dedicated \emph{Early Science Program} to enable high-impact science prior to the first annual data release of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Components of the Early Science Program include releasing science-grade commissioning data products via a series of ``Data Previews,'' ramping up of the transient alert stream during commissioning, implementing a program of incremental template generation to augment alert production in the early phases of the survey, and the first LSST Data Release, DR1, based on the first 6 months of data from the LSST. A detailed breakdown of which data products can be expected when is provided. The Rubin Operations team is working closely with the science community to optimize the Early Science Program for the time-domain and solar system science achievable in the first year of operations. This is a living document; both it and the Early Science Program will continue to evolve over the course of commissioning and pre-operations in response to the state of the as-built system and to community guidance.

Authors:

;

Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Vera C. Rubin Observatory Project Office; Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dept. of Astronomy, University of Washington
Vera C. Rubin Observatory, NSF NOIRLab
Caltech/IPAC, California Institute of Technology
Dept. of Astronomy, University of Washington; Institute for Data-intensive Research in Astrophysics and Cosmology, University of Washington
Vera C. Rubin Observatory Project Office; Dept. of Astronomy, University of Washington
Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Publication Date:: Fri May 30 04:00:00 UTC 2025

Other Number(s):: Vera C. Rubin Observatory Technical Note RTN-011

DOE Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

Research Org.:: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Sponsoring Org.:: U.S. National Science Foundation; U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science

Subject:: 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

OSTI Identifier:: 2584021

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/2584021

Citation Formats


                    Guy, Leanne P., Bechtol, Keith, Bellm, Eric C., Blum, Robert D., Dubois-Felsmann, Gregory P., Graham, Melissa L., Ivezić, Željko, Lupton, Robert H., Marshall, Phil, Slater, Colin T., and Strauss, Michael A. RTN-011: Rubin Observatory Plans for an Early Science Program.  United States: N. p., 2025. 
        Web.  doi:10.71929/rubin/2584021.

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                    Guy, Leanne P., Bechtol, Keith, Bellm, Eric C., Blum, Robert D., Dubois-Felsmann, Gregory P., Graham, Melissa L., Ivezić, Željko, Lupton, Robert H., Marshall, Phil, Slater, Colin T., & Strauss, Michael A. RTN-011: Rubin Observatory Plans for an Early Science Program.  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/2584021

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                    Guy, Leanne P., Bechtol, Keith, Bellm, Eric C., Blum, Robert D., Dubois-Felsmann, Gregory P., Graham, Melissa L., Ivezić, Željko, Lupton, Robert H., Marshall, Phil, Slater, Colin T., and Strauss, Michael A. 2025.  
"RTN-011: Rubin Observatory Plans for an Early Science Program".  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/2584021.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/2584021. Pub date:Fri May 30 04:00:00 UTC 2025

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@article{osti_2584021,

  title        = {RTN-011: Rubin Observatory Plans for an Early Science Program},

  author       = {Guy, Leanne P. and Bechtol, Keith and Bellm, Eric C. and Blum, Robert D. and Dubois-Felsmann, Gregory P. and Graham, Melissa L. and Ivezić, Željko and Lupton, Robert H. and Marshall, Phil and Slater, Colin T. and Strauss, Michael A.},

  abstractNote = {This document outlines Rubin Observatory's plans for a dedicated \emph{Early Science Program} to enable high-impact science prior to the first annual data release of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Components of the Early Science Program include releasing science-grade commissioning data products via a series of ``Data Previews,'' ramping up of the transient alert stream during commissioning, implementing a program of incremental template generation to augment alert production in the early phases of the survey, and the first LSST Data Release, DR1, based on the first 6 months of data from the LSST. A detailed breakdown of which data products can be expected when is provided. The Rubin Operations team is working closely with the science community to optimize the Early Science Program for the time-domain and solar system science achievable in the first year of operations. This is a living document; both it and the Early Science Program will continue to evolve over the course of commissioning and pre-operations in response to the state of the as-built system and to community guidance.},

  doi          = {10.71929/rubin/2584021},

  journal      = {},

  number       = ,

  volume       = ,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Fri May 30 04:00:00 UTC 2025},

  month        = {Fri May 30 04:00:00 UTC 2025}

}

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/2584021

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