About Rubin/LSST Data

Much of the metadata from the mountain in the Engineering Facility Database (EFD) is proprietary and will be accessible through the Rubin Observatory DACs. A subset of this information will be public as obtained, e.g., weather logs, all-sky camera and seeing, and observing patterns. Metadata appropriate to a data release becoming public will also become public.

The entire set of raw images and calibration files used to produce processed images are proprietary and will be accessible to Rubin DRH scientists through the Rubin Observatory DACs.

The real-time alert stream is public. The contents of the alerts database that records and stores all issued alerts is public; however, access to the LSST alert database at the Rubin Observatory DACs will be restricted to Rubin DRH scientists.

The complete alert stream will not be distributed directly to individual investigators, but rather will be delivered to a selected set of community brokers. The Rubin/LSST will select at least one community broker that will make the alert stream, in whole or in part, openly accessible. Rubin DRH sceintists will be able to access a subset of the alert stream through the Alert Filtering Service, as well as using the community brokers. Alert distribution and policies for alert brokers are discussed in LDM-612.

The image differencing source (DIASource), forced photometry (DIAForcedSource), and object (DIAObject and SSObject) records produced in Prompt Processing are public. Access to these catalogs held at the Rubin Observatory DACs will be restricted to Rubin DRH scientists, but the information in the Prompt Products Database (PPDB) tables listed here in DPOL-504 can be shared by broker teams or others with access rights to the Rubin Observatory DACs. Observations of previously known and newly identified Solar System objects (calibrated astrometry and photometry) will be reported to the Minor Planet Center (MPC) within 24 hours. Data reported to the MPC are public.

The raw images, processed single visit images, difference images, and template images are proprietary, except for the alert postage stamps distributed in the alert stream and recorded in the alert database. The products of Prompt Processing correspond to a subset of the products of Data Release processing, which occurs annually. For this reason, the products of Prompt Processing do not become public two years after the date of their initial release, but rather two years after their inclusion in the associated Data Release.

The single-visit images, difference images, stacked images, and associated source and object catalogs that are reprocessed and released on an annual or semi-annual (e.g. commissioning data) basis are proprietary, and will be accessible through the Rubin Observatory DACs.

Most LSST data products are subject to a proprietary period of 2 years. After 2 years, all the LSST data in a Data Release become public. However, non-data right holders cannot access the data products via DACs.

The LSST Data Management team’s Software Stack (Python and C++ software to process images and manipulate other types of data, as well as the source code for the RSP) is open source (public) and available online.

Release of commissioning data to Rubin DRH scientists will be as resources permit and at the discretion of the Rubin Observatory Operations team. Commissioning data will be proprietary and subject to the same policies as LSST data during operations.

All commissioning data used for science will be released to all Rubin DRH scientists prior to any publication by anyone. Members of the commissioning team may not submit science papers to a journal and/or the arXiv based on commissioning data prior to the release of those data to Rubin DRH scientists, but they may undergo the Rubin Observatory Publication Board process (this board is part of the construction project, not operations) in advance of the release of those data