Description
Interstellar objects (ISOs) are physical samples of distant planetary systems, forming a Galaxy-spanning population, constantly streaming through the inner Solar system for us to study. In preparation for the imminent completion of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, an ongoing targeted precursor survey on CFHT and the upcoming launch of the NEOSurveyor mission, we present a novel simulation of ISO discoveries in the LSST. We combine the Ōtautahi-Oxford model of the local ISO chemodynamical population, a novel method of efficient orbit sampling and detailed observability criteria to estimate the discovery biases that will be present in the Rubin ISO sample. Our predictions show that the LSST will find 6-51 ISOs over 10 years, and with just a few discoveries we will be able to significantly constrain the size distribution slope. We further find that the discovered sample of ISOs will show a slight bias towards slower-moving objects and distinct biases in certain orbital parameters, however crucially the predicted complex velocity space structure will still be apparent and the discovered sample will be unbiased in composition and age. This means the Rubin ISO sample can be used to test models of planetesimal formation, Galactic evolution, and tidal stream formation.
