The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST): Status and Science Opportunities

Michael Strauss

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) was the highest-ranked ground-based telescope in the 2010 Decadal Survey, and will define much of the direction of the astronomical community in the 2020's. The massive wide-deep-fast survey of the sky it will carry out will follow in the tradition of previous surveys of the sky, including the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Like SDSS, LSST is designed to address specific science goals, but its most exciting discoveries are likely to be in areas that we cannot yet anticipate. Indeed, the history of astronomy is replete with such examples: when a new window to the heavens is opened, we inevitably discover completely new phenomena. 

In this talk, Strauss will set some of this context, describe the design and science of LSST, and discuss a precursor survey on the Subaru telescope that will set some of the scientific context of LSST.