Science Collaborations

A large project like Rubin Observatory requires a large number of people to come together to design, build, and test every part of the whole project. That includes preparing for the data that the observatory will collect and science it will do.

History

The Rubin Observatory/LSST Science Collaborations are eight separate groups of scientists from around the world who have come together to study all kinds of different science using Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) – from closer objects in our own Solar System to the Milky Way and more distant stars, and from supernovae or black holes that change over weeks and months to bigger structures like galaxies that take billions of years to evolve. In fact, scientists have been involved in the creation and design of Rubin Observatory since the beginning! The science collaborations first formed in 2006 to help make the science case for why the US Congress and other funders should support the construction of Rubin Observatory (then called the ”Large Synoptic Survey Telescope”). All of their work paid off— the observatory was recommended as a top priority for astronomy and astrophysics in the 2010 Decadal Survey (an official report released every ten years) and received construction and operation funds from National Agencies as well as private foundations.

The science collaborations now

Since then, the science collaborations have evolved into self-organized groups focused around the different areas of science that Rubin Observatory was designed to study. The collaborations are more organized and official than just "a group of scientists working together"—each one has its own membership policies, rules for publications, codes of conduct, and other structures needed to get work done most effectively and work together as a network to leverage each other’s expertise. The Science Collaborations work closely with Rubin Observatory in a mutual partnership, providing feedback on the telescope design and the overall strategy for taking data. In return, the Science Collaborations are kept closely in the loop about everything that happens at the Observatory and can influence Observatory decisions to maximize the survey and observatory to ensure great science.

Scientists can belong to more than one Science Collaboration, and all the collaborations work together to make science with Rubin Observatory the best it can be. The collaborations will continue to play a crucial role in guiding the direction of science with Rubin Observatory throughout the ten-year LSST.