Rubin Alert
Throughput

Speculative

Estimates the nightly transient-alert count and data-rate budget for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Pure arithmetic from Rubin system design parameters: visits per night × alerts per visit × bytes per alert. Default values from Ivezic et al. 2019 and Bellm et al. 2019.

Speculative — commissioning as of 2026 Rubin LSST is not yet in full science operations. All figures are pre-survey design estimates (Ivezic et al. 2019; Bellm et al. 2019). Measured alert rates and packet sizes may differ substantially from design values.
Survey parameters
1,000 visits
Telescope visits (15-s exposures) per night. Rubin design: ~1,000/night (Ivezic et al. 2019).
10,000 alerts
Transient alerts per visit. Rubin alert design: ~10,000/visit (Bellm et al. 2019).
182 nights
Clear science nights per year at Cerro Pachón. Design estimate: ~182 nights (Ivezic et al. 2019).
82.0 KB
Mean bytes per alert packet. Design value: ~82 KB (Bellm et al. 2019, PASP 131, 995004).
Results
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alerts / night
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nightly data rate (GB)
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alerts / year
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annual data rate (TB)
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What this tool computes

      
Pure arithmetic from survey design parameters:

      
alerts_per_night = visits_per_night × alerts_per_visit

      
alerts_per_year = alerts_per_night × nights_per_year

      
nightly_data_rate_GB = alerts_per_night × avg_alert_bytes / 10⁹

      
yearly_data_rate_TB = nightly_data_rate_GB × nights_per_year / 10³

      
Design parameters (Rubin LSST)

      
    
        
  • Visits/night ~1,000 (15-second WFD exposures, Ivezic et al. 2019)
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  • Alerts/visit ~10,000 (Rubin alert design, Bellm et al. 2019)
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  • Clear nights/year ~182 (Cerro Pachón site characterisation, Ivezic et al. 2019)
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  • Alert packet size ~82 KB (Bellm et al. 2019, PASP 131, 995004)
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Register note

      
Rubin LSST is in commissioning as of 2026-07-04. Alert throughput figures are pre-survey design estimates, not measured science-quality statistics. Treat as order-of-magnitude forecast. Measured values will be published once full science operations begin.

      
Citations

      
    
        
  • Ivezic et al. 2019, ApJ 873, 111 (arXiv:0805.2366) — LSST science design overview
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  • Bellm et al. 2019, PASP 131, 995004 (arXiv:1902.02134) — LSST alert system design (~10⁴ alerts/visit, ~82 KB/alert)
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  • LSST Science Book 2009 (arXiv:0912.0201) — survey design parameters
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Tool v1.2.0 · mandate me.omegacentauri/rubin_alert_throughput · register: speculative · OCG artifact v0.4.0