Adapting the LSST stack for other cameras¶
The aim of this documentation is to explain how to adapt the LSST software stack to process data from other telescope+detector combinations – hereafter referred to as a “camera”.
The documentation takes the form of a tutorial based on the author’s trial-and-error experience of adapting the LSST stack to a wide field camera. As such, while it will lead you through the steps needed to set up your own camera, you will have to adjust a wide range of parameters to suit your camera before it will produce reliable results. Also note that any description of the stack’s packages are based on the author’s own limited understanding which is, in turn, based on (currently) very limited official documentation for the LSST stack.
Accompanying this tutorial is a github repository, obs_necam (pronounced “any cam”), which contains templates of the scripts and files needed to adapt the LSST stack to an alternate camera. I recommend you refer to the contents of that repository while following this guide; indeed, feel free to fork and edit obs_necam as you progress.
Important Note August 2019: This tutorial is based on the Generation 2 (“Gen 2”) stack. Currently, the stack is undergoing some major changes while transitioning to the next generation, Gen 3. While some of this tutorial will remain relevant for Gen 3, large parts will change. As such, while reading through this tutorial will introduce you to the broad concepts of developing your own obs package, we strongly recommend, if you can, that you hold off developing your own obs package until the stack has transitioned to Gen 3 with v.19 (due early 2020).
Finally, it is important to note that this documentation is in no way affiliated with nor endorsed by the LSST organisation.