UK Involvement in LSST: Phase C (Edinburgh component)

我们建议继续该计划，使英国能够参与维拉·C·鲁宾天文台的遗产时空调查(LSST)，这是下一个十年计划的最雄心勃勃的科学项目之一，也是本世纪20年代和20世纪30年代天文景观的关键部分。鲁宾天文台的西蒙尼勘测望远镜将有一个大的收集区域和广阔的视野，使它的拉伸度比任何现有或计划中的设施大一个数量级。这将使它能够每隔几天测量整个可见天空，从而实现深度叠加的天空测量，并能够发现移动的、可变的和瞬时的物体。它将在一系列科学领域取得进展，从潜在的危险小行星，到银河系的结构，再到最遥远的类星体，以及暗物质和暗能量的性质--所有这些领域，英国天文学家都将做出主要贡献。LSST科学的广度导致了LSST：UK联盟的形成，该联盟由英国所有的天文小组组成。该联盟为LSST制定了一个分四个阶段的计划：英国科学中心(LUSC)，该计划将准备并随后支持英国社区对LSST数据的科学利用。STFC为该方案的前两个阶段提供了资金，目前的提案寻求为第三个阶段(C阶段)提供资金。美国机构正在资助Rubin天文台的建设和Rubin运营的大部分成本，国际合作伙伴通过向Rubin运营提供实物捐助来获得数据权，LUSC C期计划的大部分现在包括英国实物一揽子计划的组成部分。这套方案包括三项主要工作：1.承担每年数据发布处理工作量的25%；2.运营数据访问中心；以及3.开发软件以生成派生数据产品，供国际LSST科学合作使用。这三个重要的工作链，加上一些较小的活动，构成了对Rubin运营的重大贡献，我们希望这将确保整个英国社区的LSST数据权，并为英国赢得Rubin运营财团的国际附属合作伙伴的地位。

We propose a continuation of the programme enabling UK participation in the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), one of the most ambitious science projects planned for the next decade, and a key part of the astronomical landscape in the 2020s and 2030s. The Rubin Observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope will have both a large collecting area and a wide field of view, giving it an etendue more than an order of magnitude larger than any current or planned facility. This will enable it to survey the whole visible sky every few days, leading to both a stacked sky survey of great depth, and the ability to find moving, variable, and transient objects. It will make advances over a large range of science, from Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, through the structure of the Milky Way, to the most distant quasars, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy - all areas where UK astronomers stand poised to make leading contributions.The breadth of LSST science led to the formation, in 2014, of the LSST:UK Consortium, which comprises every astronomy group in the UK. The Consortium defined a four-phase programme for the LSST:UK Science Centre (LUSC), which would prepare for, and, subsequently, support scientific exploitation of LSST data by the UK community. STFC has funded the first two phases of this programme, and the current proposal seeks funding for the third (Phase C). US agencies are funding the construction of the Rubin Observatory and the bulk of the cost of Rubin operations, with international partners earning data rights through in-kind contributions to Rubin operations and most of the LUSC Phase C programme now comprises components of the UK's in-kind package. This package consists of three main strands of work:1. Taking a 25% share of the annual Data Release Processing workload;2. Operating a Data Access Centre; and3. Developing software to generate derived data products for use by the international LSST Science Collaborations.These three significant strands of work, together with a few smaller activities, comprise a substantial contribution to Rubin operations, which we hope will secure LSST data rights for the whole UK community and earn the UK a place as an International Affiliate Partner in the Rubin operations consortium.