How to cite Data Preview 1

How to cite Rubin Observatory.

When citing this data release please reference the data release paper: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (2025); The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Data Preview 1 DOI Logo https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/2570536.

For AAS publications please refer to the facility as “Rubin:Simonyi” and for DP1 use “Rubin:Simonyi (LSSTComCam)”. The Minor Planet Center has allocated the telescope code X05.

The instrument itself can be formally cited as

Citation: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (2024); LSST Commissioning Camera DOI Logo https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/2561361

and that page includes additional references describing the camera.

When asked to cite the DP1 dataset as a whole please use:

Citation: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (2025); Legacy Survey of Space and Time Data Preview 1 DOI Logo https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/2570308

If you only use a specific subset, such as only querying the Objects catalog or only using the deep coadd images, you may cite the DOI explicitly assigned to that subset. Each individual page in Data products includes the relevant DOI.

How to refer to single objects from DP1 data

If you are referring to individual sources or objects from the Data Preview 1 catalogs, please use the naming convention described here, which has been registered with the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and was developed following IAU specifications. All designations should begin with “LSST-DP1” (denoting the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, Data Preview 1), followed by a string that specifies which table the object was obtained from. These strings should be “O” (for the Object table), “S” (Source), “DO” (DiaObject), “DS” (DiaSource), or “SSO” (SSObject). Following this table identifier, the (18-digit for all tables except SSObject, for which the ID is 17 digits long) unique numeric identifier from the specified table (i.e., the objectId, sourceId, diaObjectId, diaSourceId, or ssObjectId) should be included. The “fields” of the identifier should be separated by dashes, so that the designation appears like “LSST-DP1-TAB-123456789012345678.” To summarize, here are examples for objects from each table:

  • Object: LSST-DP1-O-609788942606161356 (for objectId 609788942606161356)

  • Source: LSST-DP1-S-600408134082103129 (for sourceId 600408134082103129)

  • DiaObject: LSST-DP1-DO-609788942606140532 (for diaObjectId 609788942606140532)

  • DiaSource: LSST-DP1-DS-600359758253260853 (for diaSourceId 600359758253260853)

  • SSObject: LSST-DP1-SSO-21163611375481943 (for ssObjectId 21163611375481943)

All catalog entries reported in DP1 tables will have at least one of these five types of IDs. Refer to the following list for the identifier in each of the remaining tables that are provided with DP1:

  • ForcedSource: objectId

  • ForcedSourceOnDiaObject: diaObjectId

  • SSSource: diaSourceId or ssObjectId

  • MPCORB: ssObjectId

Reporting data to external systems

When reporting discoveries or followup information from DP1 to external archives and messaging mechanisms (e.g., the IAU Transient Name Service (https://www.wis-tns.org/), please remember to use “LSSTComCam” as the instrument name and “Rubin:Simonyi” (or just “Rubin” if that’s not available) as the observatory/facility/telescope name, and please look for an option to report filters as “LSST” and not “Sloan”, despite the similarity in photometric systems.

If you encounter a service where these metadata options are not yet available, we ask that you bring this to our attention; a post on the “Support” category on https://community.lsst.org/ would be very much appreciated.