Rubin Observatory Users Committee Report 2025B
The Rubin Users Committee (UC) thanks the Rubin Project members for their continued efforts in serving the users community and preparing for the beginning of the LSST.
Finding 1: SSSC Onboarding and Documentation Feedback Process
The Solar System Science Collaboration (SSSC) has raised persistent concerns about onboarding processes and documentation gaps. The committee encourages the Project to keep working closely with the Science Collaborations and the SSSC in particular to understand exactly what products, notebooks, tutorials, and documentation are currently missing.
While the Project has indicated that many reported issues have been addressed, there remains uncertainty about the appropriate scope and format for user feedback moving forward. The committee recommends that the Project provide explicit guidelines for the types and scope of feedback desired at this operational stage, recognizing that users may identify both systemic issues and specific technical problems that merit attention. Clear communication about expectations will help focus user feedback on areas where it can have the greatest impact while ensuring that critical technical issues are not overlooked.
Finding 2: Pedagogical Use of the RSP
The availability of the RSP and DP1 data present significant opportunities for educational and citizen science applications, but lack clear guidelines for classroom and public engagement use. Instructors report uncertainty about whether students can access the RSP, especially for graduate level classes. Current policies and pedagogical material appear restrictive for large classroom settings such as introductory astronomy courses with hundreds of students, while more specialized senior or graduate level classes and summer schools may need direct access to the RSP. The RSP account approval process requires detailed justification, particularly for users outside physics and astronomy departments, and there is no official guidance on recommended practices despite different approaches having emerged organically, including small-group accounts for summer schools and downloading data for static file access. The appropriate ways to access the RSP and DP1 in the classroom would benefit from clearer definition.
The committee recommends that the Project develop and publish guidelines addressing who can access RSP for educational purposes, what scale of classroom use is supported, and what alternative approaches are recommended when direct RSP access is not feasible. These guidelines would enable broader engagement with Rubin data while respecting resource constraints and ensuring appropriate use of the science platform.
Finding 3: Confusion Regarding The Variety of Communication Channels
Users report significant barriers to asking questions and receiving support, with confusion about appropriate platforms including the Community forum versus various Slack channels and the formality required for different types of inquiries. The Community forum is perceived as “heavyweight” and daunting for simple or “naive” questions, while multiple Slack channels exist with unclear governance and legacy. There is no clear pathway for beginners to ask fundamental questions without fear of asking something “too basic,” yet approximately 80% of user questions could likely be answered by other users rather than requiring Project staff intervention.
The committee suggests establishing a “no stupid questions” channel or forum space specifically designed for informal, beginner-friendly questions and peer-to-peer support that doesn’t require Project staff monitoring. This would reduce barriers to entry for new users who find the current Community forum intimidating and would complement rather than replace the official Community forum, providing different venues for different types of interaction while fostering a more welcoming environment for users at all experience levels.
Finding 4: In-Kind Contributions
The committee heard from the Serbian in-kind team regarding the valuable time series analysis tools and resources they have developed, but users in general are unclear about where these contributions are documented, how to access and utilize these tools, the appropriate platform for user-generated value-added products, and how to advertise community-developed tools to the broader user base. The committee understands that user-generated products are not Project deliverables but should be discoverable and usable by the community. The Project previously provided space on RSP for user-generated data products, but current guidance is unclear.
The committee recommends following up directly with the Serbian team to clarify their specific needs and feedback, establishing clear guidelines for how users can make value-added products available to the community, and creating a mechanism for advertising community-contributed tools and resources. This would both acknowledge the work done by in-kind contributors and ensure that the broader community can benefit from these efforts.
Finding 5: Documentation Timestamps
Users report critical gaps in documentation timestamps that impede effective use of data products. There is no clear way to determine when documentation was last updated or which data release version it corresponds to, making it difficult to assess whether information is current and applicable to the data being used. The committee strongly recommends that the Project add timestamps and version indicators to all documentation pages.
Finding 6: WCS and Astrometry Issues
Multiple users have reported significant problems with World Coordinate System (WCS) and astrometric solutions in DP1 data, with specific examples including cutout images displaying incorrect coordinates when opened in DS9. While the committee recognizes these are known issues, documentation about these problems is not trivial to find which makes it difficult for users to understand the scope and impact of astrometric errors, determine workarounds or corrections, and assess whether their science cases are affected.
The committee urges the Project to prioritize resolution of WCS and astrometry issues in upcoming data releases, provide clear and consolidated documentation of known astrometric problems in DP1, offer guidance on workarounds or corrections where feasible, and communicate the timeline for fixes in future data products.
Finding 7: Users Committee Monthly Tag-up Meetings
The Users Committee can benefit from more opportunities to interact among themselves. These could serve to better understand the user-reported issues and identify new issues as active users. More interaction among UC members could also lead to more effective listening sessions during open-door meetings. The committee thus identifies the need for monthly 30-minute informal tag-ups, led by the UC Chair, in which discussion can take place among the UC members to better serve the community during their mandate.