Solar System Science Collaboration (SSSC) April 2024 Update

An update on SSSC activities and progress over the past several months and other Rubin Observatory-related news. A more detailed version will be sent out to the SSSC collaboration

SSSC Public membership list - The updated public membership list is now on the website.

SSSC Sprint 2024 - We’re currently finalizing dates for the LSST Solar System Readiness Sprint 2024 to be hosted in the UK. We expect to announce the dates for late September in the coming weeks.

SSSC In-Kind Advisory Committee - The SSSC In-kind Advisory Committee has started to review the plans and progress of international in-kind deliverables to the SSSC. We expect about 1-2 hours of effort per month divided mainly between slack discussions, emails, and reviewing documents, and in some cases software. We need people who have experience with software development but also those who are experts at the science cases for these software products. You can join the advisory committee by subscribing to its listserv.

Technosignatures Think Tank - The Technosignatures Think Tank is going to be spinning up its activities over the next few months. If you are interested in exploring the synergies between LSST Solar System data and Technosignature searches, please sign up for the think tank by subscribing to its listserv.

SSSC Recommended Updates to the Rubin Solar System Data Schema 2024 - Thank you to everyone who has made suggestions and given feedback on our document draft. In your inbox should be an email from election runner service to vote on officially approving the final draft of the collaboration’s document outlining the recommended updates to the Rubin Solar System Data Schema.

Rubin TOO Requests - Sara Greenstreet and Tim Lister have been leading the preparation of proposed Target of Opportunity (TOO) request for the Survey Cadence Optimization Committee (SCOC) to consider. Discussions are continuing as the document is finalized in the NEOs and ISOs working group. The working group will be asked to vote on adopting the final version before the April 14 submission date. You can join the NEOs and ISOs working group by subscribing to its listserv.

Monthly Chairs drop-in (half) Sessions - We are holding monthly drop-in sessions the first Monday in every month at 11:30am-12pm Pacific Time. If you have questions or topics you want to raise or discuss with the SSSC chairs, do stop by.

Rubin Community Workshop - The Rubin Community Workshop (the new name of the Project Community Workshop) 2024 will be held July 22-26, 2024 at SLAC in Menlo Park, CA. The conference will be hybrid. The registration fee for in-person attendance will be US$225… There will be no fee for virtual participation but registration is required.

LSST Latin America (LSST@LATAM) meeting - It will take place June 10-14 at the Universidad de la Serena, Chile with in-person and remote participation.

LSST@Europe6 meeting - The next LSST@Europe meeting will be held on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, September 16-20, 2024. Early registration is until June 1st, but the conference is limited to 200 in-person attendees.

Child care grants for attending LSST related meetings - LSST Discovery Alliance is providing grants to support the costs of childcare related to participation in Rubin LSST conferences and meetings, thanks to the generous support of the Heising-Simons Foundation. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the funding is fully allocated. Further details can be found here.

Volunteer to be part of a Rubin highlight - the Rubin Education and Publication Outreach team are developing a series of mini-press releases/news bits about science enabled by Rubin Observatory and LSST. If you’re interested in taking part, use the signup form emailed out to the collaboration.

Meg and Colin

SSSC Co-Chairs