Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>LSST (<jats:uri xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="http://www.lsst.org">www.lsst.org</jats:uri>) will be a large, wide-field ground-based system designed to obtain repeated images covering the sky visible from Cerro Pachón in northern Chile. The telescope will have an 8.4m (6.5m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 sq.deg. field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera. In a continuous observing campaign, LSST will cover the entire observable sky every three nights to a depth of <jats:italic>V</jats:italic> ∼ 25 per visit (using 30-second exposures and <jats:italic>ugrizy</jats:italic> filter set), with exquisitely accurate astrometry and photometry. Close to a half of the sky will be visited about 800 times during the nominal 10-year survey. The project is in the construction phase with first light expected in 2020 and the beginning of regular survey operations by 2022. We describe how these data will impact AGB star research and discuss how the system could be further optimized by utilizing narrow-band TiO and CN filters.</jats:p>