LSST CORPORATION Patricia Eliason LSSTC Executive Officer Belgrade, Serbia 2016

Build a Discovery Machine Deep, Wide, Fast Deep – the dimmest survey of the sky at optical wavelengths Wide – the entire Southern sky every three days Fast – repeated 15s exposures For 10 years – the largest survey of the sky to such limits Explore new frontiers in searching for anything that Moves - near earth objects, the solar system Gets brighter or fainter - supernovae, stars that blow up or vary in light Is very faint – out to the edges of the observable universe and providing clues to dark matter and dark energy

The LSST Corporation (LSSTC) Founded in 2003 as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 Arizona, U.S. corporation to initiate the LSST project in order to advance the science of astronomy and physics More than 35 universities, institutions, corporations, and individuals started designing and building the LSST as a public-private partnership LSSTC was instrumental in getting the project started, stewarding over $60 million of mostly private funds during the early design and development phases Fabrication and completion of the M1/M3 mirror removed the primary risk feared by the federal agencies June 20163

“A Treasure Trove of Discovery” LSST was ranked as the highest priority large ground-based project for the U.S. in 2010 and is the largest and most significant ground-based astronomy project that will be completed in the U.S. in this decade The science efforts of the LSSTC community and design/development efforts of the project team demonstrated the overall support and feasibility of the project LSSTC’s $60M effort leveraged $640M in federal funding NSF committed $473M for the construction of the telescope and facilities DOE committed $168M for the construction of the camera Construction started in 2014 June 20164

Where does LSSTC go from here? The LSST construction budget is fully subscribed and is on schedule for 2022 operations But none of that money can be used to support science And the NSF operations budget does not have capacity to cover the additional operations and research needs of LSST LSSTC’s role as a private entity in the LSST Operations partnership is significant

LSSTC’s Role Advance science, research and education by: Partnering with the NSF and DOE in LSST Operations Providing 25% of operations funding Representing International Contributors Engaging international participation Establishing ourselves as the focus for non-federal development for Enabling LSST Science Securing and stewarding private funding to enable the full science potential of the LSST database through the coordination and preparation of our Member Institutions, Science Collaborations, the broader national and international physics & astronomy community June 20166

Immediate challenges for LSSTC Meet the 25% goal for partnering in LSST operations Increase international participation in operations At present we have signed 20 MOAs and are on track for about 70% of needed funding – that’s fantastic! But, we want more international participants to engage in LSST’s Big Data / Big Science opportunity Raise the needed funds for the enabling science efforts throughout the 10-year survey Funding target - $100M over 20 years

International Participation LSST International Contributor (IC) is a classification for an institute or consortium that agrees to share in the annual operating costs of the LSST in exchange for data rights for a specified list of their Principal Investigators (PI) during LSST operations and commissioning The terms and conditions for each International Contributor are specified in an individually negotiated Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between LSSTC and the affiliate organization Each IC will contribute an annual cash contribution of $20,000 USD (in 2013 USD, inflated to the year of payment) for each identified PI per year for ten years, starting at commissioning June 20168

Why Participate? The goal of early participation is to facilitate your preparation to use LSST survey data efficiently and effectively as soon as it becomes available You gain access to project know-how and the opportunity to become familiar with LSST plans, detailed designs, and most specifically the data products, database structures, and methods of querying the databases You can join any of the LSST Science Collaborations and get connected to the LSST science community and get a jump on the two year proprietary period June 20169

Formal Proposal for Operations Funding LSST construction is fully funded and well underway, it is essential for us to finalize our plans for the operations phase of the program A formal proposal for operations funding will be submitted by AURA, SLAC, and LSSTC to the U.S. federal agencies in summer 2017 This proposal must provide a detailed budget for all activities related to operations, as well as the formal commitments and contributions to the operations funding we expect to receive from international contributors It is extremely important for us at the LSSTC to work with you and your institution quickly to achieve a formal signing of a MOA to enable your participation in the scientific utilization of the LSST data June

Commissioning and Early Ops Ops Proposal Due Now is the time to finalize MOUs with LSSTC, so that all international contributions can be accounted for in the Operations Proposal

Calendar Year LSST is starting to resource load its operations plan. The plan and budget will be reviewed this Fall, the full proposal will be reviewed in early LSST, the federal agencies, and the operations partners need to know where the money will come from. Now is the time to finalize MOAs with LSSTC, so that all international contributions can be accounted for in the Operations Proposal.

Last Chance Opportunity A last-chance opportunity to join the LSST science team The deadline to execute an MOA at the current PI rate of $200,000 (US Dollars) for the full 10-year survey is the end of this calendar year In order to meet that cutoff date, the LSSTC requests all MOAs be submitted by October 1, 2016, to allow us time to finalize the agreements in advance of the December 31, 2016 cutoff June

Preparing for Big Data and Inspiring Big Science LSST epitomizes the new era of big data in physics and astronomy, but developing new methods and tools to process and analyze the data in innovative ways will be the key to enabling science LSSTC is committed to raise funds that will enable a robust program of science and educational initiatives for the worldwide community through LSST’s 10-year survey and beyond LSSTC strives to be the national organization that will act as the unifying focus for LSST science preparation, development, implementation, and world-wide advocacy June

Summary LSSTC is a partner in LSST operations and is responsible for 25% of funding and representing international participation LSSTC supports enabling science initiatives needed for the community to make full use of LSST data LSSTC is working to obtain additional private support for science and research activities with LSST throughout the 10 year survey

Our goal is to ensure that LSST is the most scientifically productive ground-based observatory in the world! Join our team and become part of this collective effort to prepare the next generation of forefront astronomers, astrophysicists, mathematicians, and computer and data scientists for their journey of cosmic discovery June