NSF's National Optical-infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory: Pre-Operations of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

大型天文观测望远镜(LSST)不仅是另一个望远镜，而且是测量科学和基于数据的天文学的一种新方法。现有的6米至10米地面望远镜的视场都相对较小，以传统模式运行，即一次执行一个给定的项目几个晚上，之后不同的天文学家追求针对不同科学目标的数据，可能使用不同的仪器。尽管这种方法可以取得很大进展，但有些关键的科学问题需要更像物理实验那样解决，即在有限的时间内使用专用仪器来解决明确定义的目标。这是LSST：一台大型测量望远镜，使用广域相机在十年的时间里重复拍摄可到达的天空，达到非常模糊的极限。LSST数据产品将改变天文学研究的各个领域，从太阳系内部到宇宙的大尺度结构。LSST将绘制太阳系内外的地图，研究银河系和附近星系的恒星群，揭示银盘和晕以及其他局部天体的结构，寻找低红移和高红移的瞬变和可变天体，并调查正常和活动星系的低红移和高红移的性质。转到远场宇宙学话题，LSST将探索超新星围绕一颗恒星红移的特性，揭示强弱透镜、星系和重子振荡的大规模分布，并展示如何结合这些不同的探测器来约束宇宙学模型和暗能量物理。LSST正在智利北部Cerro Pachon的El Penon山峰上建造。LSST将拥有直径8.4米、有效孔径6.7米的独特主三级镜和9.6平方度的成像相机，并将致力于在+15度以南20,000平方度的十年成像调查。每个点将被成像2000次，在从0.35到1.1微米的六个宽频带中进行15秒的曝光，总点源深度为r~27.5数量级。LSST的三个大型反射镜被主动控制，以最大限度地减少失真，望远镜结构特别紧凑和僵硬，以减少图像运动，并使快速穿越天空，最大限度地提高观测占空比。该项目是一个跨部门的公私合作伙伴关系，能源部承担世界领先相机的责任，而NSF作为总体牵头机构将为现场设施、望远镜以及广泛和复杂的数据管理提供支持。私人捐款支持了显著降低项目风险的初步建设工作，包括创新的主三级镜、早期现场工作和相机传感器的开发。LSST将平均每晚产生15太字节的原始数据，并为整个为期十年的约200万亿字节的调查产生一个未压缩的数据集。专门的设施将近乎实时地处理图像数据。图像档案和生成的目录将广泛和免费地提供。复杂的数据管理系统将使各种工作成为可能，从个人用户的简单查询到可能使用整个数据集的计算密集型科学调查。LSST项目处于信息技术革命的前沿，包括在技术、网络基础设施、教育和推广方面的投资。LSST项目拥有现有的最大的科学数据库之一，为数据库体系结构和数据挖掘的研究提供了具有挑战性的机会。教育和公共推广计划与研究计划完全结合在一起，包括非专家的参与经验，与博物馆、学校和行业的合作，以及挑战和鼓励未来创新者的机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is not just another telescope, but a new approach to survey science and data-based astronomy. Existing 6-meter to 10-meter ground-based telescopes all have relatively small fields of view and are operated in the traditional mode where a given project is pursued for a few nights at a time, after which different astronomers pursue data addressing a different scientific goal, possibly with a different instrument. Although this approach can make great advances, there are some crucial scientific problems that need to be tackled more like a physics experiment, whereby a dedicated instrument is used for a finite period of time to address well-defined objectives. This is LSST: a large survey telescope using a wide field camera to image the accessible sky repeatedly to very faint limits over a ten-year period. The LSST data products will change every field of astronomical study, from the inner Solar System to the large scale structure of the Universe. LSST will map the inner and outer Solar System, study stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, reveal the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other local objects, find transient and variable objects at both low and high redshift, and survey the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. Turning to far-field cosmological topics, LSST will explore the properties of supernovae to redshifts around one, uncover strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and show how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy. LSST is being built on the El Penon peak on Cerro Pachon in northern Chile. LSST will have a unique primary-tertiary mirror of 8.4-meter diameter with an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view 9.6 square degrees, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 square degrees south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands at wavelengths from 0.35 to 1.1 micrometers, to a total point-source depth of r ~ 27.5 magnitudes. LSST's three large mirrors are actively controlled to minimize distortion, and the telescope structure is especially compact and stiff to reduce image motion and to enable rapid travel across the sky, maximizing the observing duty cycle. The project is an interagency public-private partnership, with the Department of Energy accepting responsibility for the world-leading camera, while NSF as overall lead agency will support the site facility, the telescope, and the extensive and sophisticated data management. Private donations have supported initial construction work that significantly reduces project risk, including the innovative primary-tertiary mirror, early site work, and development of sensors for the camera. LSST will produce on average 15 terabytes of raw data per night and an uncompressed data set for the full ten-year survey of some 200 petabytes. Dedicated facilities will process the image data in near real time.The image archive and resulting catalogs will be widely and freely available. A sophisticated data management system will enable work ranging from simple queries from individual users to computationally intensive scientific investigations that could use the entire data set. The LSST Project is at the forefront of the information technology revolution and includes investments in technology, cyber-infrastructure, education, and outreach. With one of the largest scientific databases in existence, the LSST project presents challenging opportunities for research into database architecture and data mining. Education and public outreach programs are fully integrated with the research program and include engaging experiences for non-specialists, partnerships with museums, schools, and industry, and opportunities to challenge and encourage tomorrow's innovators.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.