Abstract

Contributed Talk - Plenary

Vera C. Rubin Observatory: Preparing for Operations from the Perspective of Gravitational Microlensing

Markus Hundertmark
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory was the top-ranked large ground-based project in the 2010 Astrophysics Decadal Survey, and with its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), it will generate approximately 60 petabytes of data over its 10 years of operation. The LSSTCam, the world's largest camera, is in the engineering test phase, reaching a major milestone in development. The Rubin First Look event in 2025 will highlight the beginning of operations, providing the unprecedented number of up to 10 million nightly alerts that promise to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. In this talk, I will introduce the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, its importance, and the collaborative efforts behind it. We will explore the structure of the scientific collaborations, including contributions from international partners (in-kind contributors), as well as the alert broker teams that manage the public alert streams and other data products that will be available in the coming years. With a focus on galactic gravitational microlensing, I will discuss how the survey strategy has been planned to deliver significant scientific results in different areas. This talk also aims to provide insights into the impact this observatory will have on our knowledge, our research capabilities in astronomy, but also its impact on how to carry out follow-up observations.