The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope: Construction Progress and Scientific Opportunities

Abstract

The mission of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is to meet a broad range of science goals with a single 10-year, time-domain survey. Over the course of the survey, LSST will deliver a more than 800-frame movie of 18,000 square degrees of the sky in six optical bandpasses. LSST’s observing strategy will invest ~90% of its time in this wide-fast-deep survey, with a typical single visit depth of r = 24.7 mag. The remaining ~10% of the observing time will be used to obtain improved coverage of parameter space through Deep Drilling Fields or observations of “special” regions such as the ecliptic, Galactic plane, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. LSST was designed around four key science pillars: taking an inventory of our Solar System, exploring the transient and variable optical sky, mapping the Milky Way and its neighborhood, and delving into the nature of dark matter and dark energy. LSST will be a super discovery machine for an enormous number and diversity of objects across these fields (including Near Earth Objects, distant supernovae, and ultra-faint galaxies) - discoveries that will transform our view of the universe for decades to come. I will give an overview of the LSST Project and science goals, give updates on the construction progress towards first-light, and highlight ways for the scientific community to get involved now.