July 2, 2018 – LSST@Europe3 drew approximately 150 participants to Lyon, France, on June 11-15, for presentations, tours, and informal opportunities for networking between members of the LSST Project and the European science community. Zeljko Ivezic, LSST Project Scientist and co-chair of the meeting’s Scientific Organizing Committee, enthusiastically noted the high level of participation from younger scientists at this meeting, an indication that excitement for LSST is building among those just beginning their science careers.
LSST@Europe3 featured formal plenary talks as well as informal science collaboration workshops and data sprints, in which participants explored processes for querying large astronomical data sets. Highlights of the meeting included the development of new science cases for LSST, reports on the detailed preparations for LSST science that are underway in Europe, and new suggestions for modifications of the LSST observing strategy.
Participants also had the opportunity to become more familiar with LSST's Science Platform during a tutorial of the LSST software stack, and to contribute to discussions about synergies between LSST and other data-driven projects like Gaia, Euclid, and 4MOST.
Tours of the nearby IN2P3 Computing Center (CC-IN2P3) and the Advanced Materials Laboratory (LMA) facilities were also offered during the week. CC-IN2P3 will process 50% of LSST’s raw data in preparation for annual data releases, and will host a copy of both raw and reduced data (images and catalogs) for the lifetime of the LSST Survey. LMA, which has been involved with LSST since 2007, is developing an optical bench to measure the spectral response of the LSST camera filters.
LSST@Europe3 was the third in a series of meetings intended to promote European participation with the LSST Project; the next meeting will take place in Rome, Italy, in 2020.