Special Seminar

Speaker: Michael Wood-Vasey (U. Pittsburgh, Board Chair, LSST Discovery Alliance)
Title: Exploring the Changing Sky: The Vera Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time
Date (JST): Thu, Mar 21, 2024, 16:00 - 17:00
Place: Seminar Room A
Abstract: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is an 8.4-m telescope with a 10 square degree field of view camera that will observe the visible southern sky every 3 days as part of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The LSST movie of the sky will open new vistas in transient and variable science.

Robust image subtraction and event classification are key parts of fully exploiting the science for transient and variable objects. I will first discuss technical improvements in image subtraction that will help realize the full potential of LSST, particularly for my own scientific interest, Type Ia supernovae cosmology. Then I will discuss the Pitt-Google Broker, which is one of the LSST Community Alert Brokers that will distribute information about transient and variable events worldwide.

I will end with an introduction to the LSST Discovery Alliance, which aims to facilitate critical resources and funding to help all researchers prepare for and analyze the data from LSST. Through bold programs that foster innovation, inclusion, and interdisciplinary collaboration, we are working together to propel a revolution in humankind's understanding of the Universe while transforming the way we do science.