Vera C. Rubin Observatory Data Preview 2 (DP2)#
Early DP2 release date: Monday July 27 2026
Full DP2 release date: expected Oct-Dec 2026
Important
Early Data Preview 2 (EDP2) has limited image data products (deep coadd images only), but has all catalogs, including measurements made on the processed visit and difference images. See RTN-011 for the full DP2 timeline.
Data Preview 2 contains image and catalog products from the Rubin Science Pipelines v30 processing of early observations obtained with LSSTCam from April 2025 to January 2026. Coadded images and catalogs cover ~3000 square degrees; single-epoch images and catalogs cover ~15,000 square degrees.
Dataset Citation: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (2026); Legacy Survey of Space and Time Data Preview 2 
https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/3382528 [BibTeX].
To be used when citing the DP2 dataset and this documentation (the link is self-referential).
Paper Citation: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (2026); The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Data Preview 2 https://doi.org/10.71929/rubin/3377440 [BibTeX].
Data Policy: Only Rubin data rights holders may have an account in the Rubin Science Platform (RSP) and access to Data Preview 2. All scientists and students in the US and Chile, plus named members of international in-kind teams, have Rubin data rights. Learn more about the Rubin data policy.
Overview#
General information about the observations that comprise the dataset.
Data products#
Descriptions and schema for the images and catalogs.
Data processing#
Summaries of the data processing steps that generated the data products.
Data access#
Services and tools for data access.
Tutorials#
Tutorials demonstrating how to access and analyze the data products.
Citing DP2#
How to cite Rubin Observatory and Data Preview 2.