Related papers: Next Generation LSST Science
Telescope scheduling is the task of determining the best sequence of observations (pointings and filter choices) for a survey system. Because it is computationally intractable to optimize over all possible multi-year sequences of…
The upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in less than three years is certain to bring a revolution in our understanding of many area of astrophysics, with one of the key goals being galaxy evolution. As the first…
The LSST survey was designed to deliver transformative results for four primary objectives: constraining dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way.…
The European Solar Telescope (EST) is a project of a new-generation solar telescope. It has a large aperture of 4~m, which is necessary for achieving high spatial and temporal resolution. The high polarimetric sensitivity of the EST will…
The next decade of survey astronomy has the potential to transform our knowledge of variable stars. Stellar variability underpins our knowledge of the cosmological distance ladder, and provides direct tests of stellar formation and…
The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will transform our knowledge of the outer planets and their satellite systems; however the visibility of unique targets of opportunity with high scientific value will be reduced for northern objects.…
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will generate light curves for approximately 1 billion stars. Our previous work has demonstrated that, by the end of the LSST 10 year mission, large numbers of transiting exoplanetary systems could…
Through a combination of deep wide-field imaging and multi-object spectroscopy, the Next Generation Space Telescope will be able to chart with unprecedented accuracy the evolution of cosmic structures after the `dark ages' (z<5), when…
The new generation of ground-based, large-aperture solar telescopes promises to significantly increase our capabilities to understand the many basic phenomena taking place in the Sun at all atmospheric layers and how they relate to each…
As telescope facilities become increasingly more capable they also become increasingly complex and require additional resources to operate. This is particularly true for the current and future generations of "software defined telescopes"…
The National Academy Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science (CAPS) made a recommendation to study a large/medium-class dedicated space telescope for planetary science, going beyond the Discovery-class dedicated planetary space…
The Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST) is a concept for an 8-meter to 16-meter UVOIR space observatory for launch in the 2025-2030 era. ATLAST will allow astronomers to answer fundamental questions at the forefront…
We report on a plan to construct a 50-m-class single-dish telescope, the Large Submillimeter Telescope (LST). The conceptual design and key science behind the LST are presented, together with its tentative specifications. This telescope is…
Traditional searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) or "technosignatures" focus on dedicated observations of single stars or regions in the sky to detect excess or transient emission from intelligent sources. The newest generation…
The number of small satellites has grown dramatically in the past decade from tens of satellites per year in the mid-2010s to a projection of tens of thousands in orbit by the mid-2020s. This presents both problems and opportunities for…
We present a technique-led review of the progression of precise radio astrometry, from the first demonstrations, half a century ago, until to date and into the future. We cover the developments that have been fundamental to allow high…
We propose a LSST Solar System near-Sun Survey, to be implemented during twilight hours, that extends the seasonal reach of LSST to its maximum as fresh sky is uncovered at about 50 square degrees per night (1500 sq. deg. per lunation) in…
The MUltiplexed Survey Telescope (MUST) is a 6.5-meter telescope under development. Dedicated to highly-multiplexed, wide-field spectroscopic surveys, MUST observes over 20,000 targets simultaneously using 6.2-mm pitch positioning robots…
The development of the observing strategy for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) requires a broad optimization across science cases inside and outside of time-domain astronomy. We introduce a novel metric…
The Photometric LSST Astronomical Time Series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC) is an open data challenge to classify simulated astronomical time-series data in preparation for observations from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST),…