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K.H. Cook (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Optical Astronomy Observatory), A. Saha, F. Pierfedrici, R. Allsman (National Optical Astronomy Observatory), F. Delgado (Cerro Tololo Inter-Americal Observatory), P.A. Pinto (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona)
With its unprecedented combination of collecting area and field of view, the LSST will image large areas of the sky frequently and to great depth. The cadence of these observations, the order in which different fields of view are observed in each color and the frequency with which they are revisited, will determine just how much sky will be covered, to what depth, and with what temporal sampling. This in turn will determine how useful LSST data will be to different investigations. The development of observing cadences is thus an important part of the LSST design process. A great many scientific programs require multiple, short exposures. As a result, detailed simulations of a decade of LSST operation demonstrate cadences which will satisfy a wide variety of scientific requirements simultaneously. They also demonstrate that there is surprisingly little conflict among the cadence demands of projects as diverse as whole-sky weak lens surveys, near-Earth asteroid, outer solar system, and supernova searches, and catching transients and characterizing variability on a wide variety of timescales. This shows that the LSST need not be “over-engineered” for any given project to be useful for doing many at the same time.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.