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Key Numbers

Rubin Observatory System & LSST Survey Key Numbers

This page lists Key Numbers that describe the Rubin Observatory system and LSST survey.

More details are available in the  LSST Knowledge Base Confluence page (rendered here), the LSST Overview Paper and Science Requirements Document.

 

Telescope System:

  • Etendue ( AΩ ) : 319 meter2degrees2
  • Field of View : 3.5 degrees (9.6 square degrees)
  • Primary mirror diameter : 8.4 m
  • Mean effective aperture : 6.423 m (area weighted over FOV)
  • Final f-ratio : f/1.234
  • Camera weight : 6,746 lbs (3,060 kg)
  • Mirror (M1+M3 glass mirror only) weight : 35,900 pounds (16,284 kg)

Imaging System:

  • Pixel count : 3.2 Gpixels
  • Focal plane : 189 4kx4k science CCD chips
  • Pixel pitch : 0.2 arcsec/pixel
  • Pixel size : 10 microns
  • Filling factor : >90%
  • Minimum exposure time : 1 sec

Throughput:

  • 5-sigma point source depth (AB mag): single exposure and coadded images idealized for stationary sources after 10 years,  
  • u : 23.8, 25.6
  • g : 24.5, 26.9
  • r : 24.03, 26.9
  • i : 23.41 , 26.4
  • z : 22.74, 25.6
  • y : 22.96, 24.8

See also the tech note on Calculating Rubin Observatory limiting magnitudes and SNR, and for more recent estimates from operations simulations, Table 2 of Bianco et al. (2022).

spectral response/throughputs 

The Rubin Observatory bandpasses. The vertical axis shows the total throughput. The computation includes the atmospheric transmission (assuming an airmass of 1.2, dotted line), optics, and the detector sensitivity. For more details, please see the LSST overview paper.

Site Stats:

  • Median Atmospheric PSF with outer scale of 30m: 0.67” (Tokovinin)
  • Site: El Penon, Cerro Pachon, Chile
  • Site coordinates:  latitude -30:14:40.68  longitude -70:44:57.90
  • Altitude: 2647m
  • Site observatory code: TBD
  • Photometric time: 53% of night time (estimated)

Observation Properties:

  • Standard visit exposures (expected) : 2 x 15 sec.
  • Median (Mean) visit time : 39s (42.2s)
  • Photometric accuracy : 10 mmag
  • Astrometric accuracy : 50 mas
  • Astrometric precision : 10 mas

Dataset properties:

  • Nightly data size: 20TB/night
  • Final database size (DR11) : 15 PB
  • Real-time alert latency : 60 seconds

Data Releases:

  • Survey duration : 10 years
  • Number of Data Releases : 11
  • Number of objects (full survey, DR11):
  • 20B galaxies
  • 17B resolved stars
  • 6M orbits of solar system bodies
  • Average number of alerts per night: about 10 million

Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Agreement No. 1258333, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).  The DOE-funded effort to build the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.   




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