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The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science will support Rubin Observatory in its operations phase to carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. They will also provide support for scientific research with the data. During operations, NSF funding is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF, and DOE funding is managed by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), under contract by DOE. Rubin Observatory is operated by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC.

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.

The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

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  1. For Scientists
  2. Get started

Get started

Welcome!

This page is a guide for all scientists and students looking to get started with Rubin data analysis.

Guidance for Rubin data rights holders

Confirm that you have Rubin data rights. Review the Rubin data policy. All scientists (and students) employed at (or enrolled in) US/Chilean institutions, and individuals who appear on the international list of data rights holders, have Rubin data rights.

Get an account for the Rubin Science Platform (RSP). It is the web-based service for access and analysis of proprietary LSST data. Accounts are only available to data rights holders. Follow the instructions for new accounts at rsp.lsst.io.

Learn to use the RSP by working through the tutorials. They can be found in the documentation for a recent data release (e.g., for Data Preview 1 tutorials, see dp1.lsst.io). Tutorials are often presented during workshops and seminars, which all are welcome to join.

Do science with proprietary LSST data. Prompt processed images and the annual data releases have a proprietary period of two years (DPOL-301). Learn more about the Rubin data products.

Guidance for everyone

The following guidance applies to everyone, regardless of their data rights status.

Get an account in the Rubin Community Forum. It is the primary venue for user support (helpdesk). Any and all questions or issues should be posted in the Support category, which is monitored by Rubin staff. Learn more about the Rubin Community Forum.

Collaborate with others. Consider joining one of the LSST Science Collaborations, only some of which require data rights. Collaboration and co-authorship between scientists with and without data rights is encouraged, and the Data Policy provides guidance on this.

Learn to use the alerts and brokers. They are publicly accessible (not proprietary), meaning that data rights are not required to do science with them.

Use post-proprietary data. In the future, subsets of the data releases will be publicly available after the two-year proprietary period (details to be determined).

Access the user resources. The documentation, tutorials, workshops, seminars, and Rubin Community Forum are openly accessible to everyone.

Proceed with your science goals. All types of scientific endeavors are equally open to all individuals, and no science is reserved for any group (Rubin Data Policy; DPOL-303).

Rubin Community Forum

Ask questions, get help, report bugs or errors, and join in discussions about Rubin Observatory and its data products, pipelines, and services.

Go to the Rubin Community Forum
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