Initial Rubin Solar System results: Performance, first discoveries, and expectations for operations

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a new NSF/DOE-funded facility on Cerro Pachón, Chile. It houses the 8.4m Simonyi Survey Telescope and the 3.2 Gigapixel LSSTCam camera. The Observatory is in the final stages of commissioning, expected to enter operations by the end of 2025. Once operational, Rubin will execute the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Enabled by its 9.6 square degree field of view and a cadence covering the sky every 3-4 days to ~24.5 mag, the LSST dataset will dramatically advance numerous area of astronomy, including our understanding of the Solar System by delivering the largest catalog of small bodies to date.

This talk will present the first public Solar System-related results from Rubin's early commissioning efforts. We will discuss the discovery yields, measured performance of the observatory, early comparison to predictions, and talk through the expectations for further data during commissioning's Science Validation surveys. With a steady stream of public solar system discoveries expected to start in late commissioning, small bodies are likely to be one of the first areas of highly impactful early science. We hope this talk will help prepare the Solar System community for those imminent opportunities, and illustrate the transformational capabilities that Rubin is about to bring.