- Observing and data processing status: Amy Kimball and Mark Lacy
- Action item from last meeting: SSG member (Greg Sivakoff) will submit help desk ticket (select VLASS as topic), and NRAO (Amy/Mark) will track tile definitions and survey status document.
- UPDATE: Dillon dong has a new metadata file on Github that addresses this! The SSG has suggested that NRAO update their document.
- Events:
- VLASS Splinter Session at the 242nd AAS
- Summary:
- 20 people in-person, about 30 online
- Nice opportunity to get people together in the same room
- Data analysis demonstrations/tutorials given by several speakers (see links at the bottom the splinter session webpage here)
- LSST representative was in attendance
- Additional feedback from the community?
- Action Item: Post the recordings of the splinter session online (Steve is working on this)
- Any upcoming events to highlight?
- AGN Science with Rubin (July 2023)
- Updates from working groups (please send by email/Slack or add here directly):
- Extragalactic - Kate Alexander, Heinz Andernach
- New version of paper on “Hunting for DRAGNs with the VLA Sky Survey” on the arXiv!
- Galactic - Laurant Loinard, Adam Ginsburg
- Transients - Gregg Hallinan, Greg Sivakoff
- Polarization - Bryan Gaensler, Jennifer West
- Commensal - Wendy Peters, Chenoa Tremblay
- COSMIC:
- We are operating fully now along with VLASS. We have all 27 antennas only when they are operational.
- The COSMIC system description paper, referencing VLASS, is almost complete and we hope to submit before the end of the month.
- Data Products - Dillon Dong, Erik Rosolowsky
- New Github tools posted by Dillon Dong!
- Science communication - Brian Kent, Eric Murphy
- AAS Photos - VLASS and Exhibit
- Brian Kent’s machine learning resources on Github presented at the VLASS splinter session
- EPO - Jacob Noel-Storr, Summer Ash
- Other topics?
- Science presentation:
- Community Impact of VLASS and Lessons Learned from the Splinter Session at AAS 242 - Mark Lacy
- Word is getting out about the survey!
- ~100 papers per year, AGN/transient science have been the most productive
- Semi-automated Quality Assurance
- 80% of Quick Look images pass w/o human inspection
- 2 data analysts only needed now per image (was 5 in the past)
- Question (Chenoa): what is the origin of most issues in VLASS data?
- Mark: RFI
- Discussion on opportunities for VLASS + commensal collaboration on troubleshooting (Chenoa):
- VCSS, COSMIC separate from WIDAR, possible opportunity to identify other observing issues (e.g. weather) - use VLASS Slack or contact Paul Demorest
- FYI - ea23 had issues last weekend!
- VLASS SE imaging to re-start in Fall 2023
- Revisit SE imaging prioritization google form?
- VLASS source counts
- Be cautious at high-resolution that source counts aren’t affected by surface brightness sensitivity effects - see Amy Kimball’s thesis
- Additional discussion topics:
- VLASS Epoch 4!
- Science pitch write-up by Mark Lacy: here
- Overleaf draft of SSG's white paper on VLASS Epoch 4 - Kristina Nyland
- Action item from last meeting: Kristina will incorporate text from science pitch/Dillon’s presentation into white paper draft for next meeting - OVERDUE; KN will complete this ASAP
- White paper plan: have working group chairs lead and organize input on their respective topics
- New opportunities for commensality? (Chenoa)
- Process other data products through COSMIC (REALFAST, VLITE-FAST)
- There will be a dedicated VLASS Epoch 4 white paper section on commensal observing/plug-in opportunities for new instruments
- How to engage the community and solicit broader feedback? (Juergen)
- NRAO eNews article (needs to be sent before the fall to allow enough time for input)
- Other ideas:
- Social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. - individual SSG members would need to spearhead this; NRAO EPO does not solicit science content on social media)
- Zoom webinar on new VLASS opportunities?
- ?????
- Action Item: follow-up on this at next meeting
- SE Image prioritization
- Input on request form?
- Future meetings:
- Monday, July 10, at 1pm EST / 11am MST / 17:00 UTC
- Wanted: SSG co-chair to help run meetings from July-October
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Reference material:
- Terms of reference document: pdf
- VLASS Slack workspace and SSG channel (contact Bryan Gaensler)
- Confluence page
- Next meeting: Monday, May 22nd at 1pm EST / 11am MST / 18:00 UTC