Standard Call for Semester 2021-S1
Semester Information
| Semester start of observing | 2021-03-15 01:00 UT |
|---|---|
| Semester end of observing | 2021-09-14 13:00 UT |
The Large Millimeter Telescope Alfonso Serrano (LMT) invites the user-communities of its partners to submit scientific proposals requesting observing time on the 50-meter diameter LMT. The deadline to receive proposals is midnight central daylight time (24:00 CDT) on the 21st December 2020. The provisional schedule for the next observing season (2021-S1) is the 15th March 2021 - 14th September 2021. The precise date to begin scientific observations, however, may be subject to change given the uncertainty in the impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic on future LMT operations.
Principal Investigators that are affiliated with national institutions and universities within the eligible LMT user-communities (Mexico, USA and Spain) will be able to submit proposals and share LMT observing time in the following proportions:
- 70% Mexico (queue code MX): all members of the Mexican national research community (of which 2.5% will be shared with the Spanish national research community - queue code SP);
- 15% University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMASS), USA (queue code UM): all members of the UMASS and Five Colleges research community;
- 15% USA (queue code US): all members of the US national research community.
The telescope time associated with each scheduled project will be allocated (charged) to a particular observing queue of the LMT user-communities according to the affiliation of the Principal Investigator. The affiliation of co-investigators, including those external to the eligible LMT user-communities, does not impact the time allocated (charged) to each user-community.
All proposals will be subject to a technical assessment prior to a scientific review conducted by a Time Allocation Committee constituted by members of the eligible user-communities, and supported by independent external expert evaluations. Each user-community will provide a unified prioritized list of proposals covering all scientific areas, based primarily on their anticipated scientific impact, that will be merged into the LMT observing schedule.
The full and proportionate allocation of observing time for the prioritized scientific projects from each user-community will be flexibly scheduled during the observing season to maximize the efficiency of the overall scientific program and the telescope operation.
The LMT telescope operators and staff scientists will conduct the necessary observations on behalf of those prioritized projects that are scheduled. Standard calibrated data-products for all instruments, using customized data-reduction pipelines, will be delivered to all Principal Investigators that receive observing time.
The primary objective of science observations with the LMT is to generate published scientific results that illustrate the competitiveness and uniqueness of the telescope.
--- Available Scientific Instruments ---
In the observing period 2021-S1 the LMT will offer the opportunity to conduct spectroscopic observations with the following instruments: SEQUOIA, RSR, B4R and MSIP1mm. Descriptions of these available scientific instruments and their data acquisition systems are provided in the following LMT webpage - http://lmtgtm.org/telescope/instrumentation/general-information/
The SEQUOIA, RSR and MSIP1mm instruments and data reduction software are fully supported by the LMT and hence no collaboration with members of their instrument teams is required.
In contrast, the 2mm B4R instrument has been developed and funded independently with no participation from the LMT partners. The B4R team in Japan will provide the technical support and assistance during the preparation of proposals, scientific observations and the data-analysis for all scheduled projects. Therefore the use of the B4R instrument requires a scientific collaboration with the B4R team. Principal Investigators requesting to use the B4R instrument should first contact Ryohei Kawabe (ryo.kawabe@nao.ac.jp) to discuss their scientific interest and collaboration before submitting a proposal.
A VLBI capability with the LMT is also offered in the 2021-S1 observing period. However the participation of the LMT in coordinated observations with existing VLBI networks involves a highly non-standard LMT observing-mode. Given the special circumstances to enable the LMT participation in VLBI networks we require that the Principal Investigator of a potential VLBI proposal first must have submitted a simple letter of interest to conduct VLBI observations with the LMT to the LMT Help Desk gtmlmt@inaoep.mx before Friday 27th November 2020. The LMT project will contact these individual P.I.´s and discuss the particular requirements and necessary agreements between the respective parties before submitting LMT proposals that involve coordination with existing VLBI networks.
The LMT cannot offer continuum observations in the 2021-S1 observing period.
The provisional schedule for conducting scientific observations with the 50-meter LMT will provide an operational period from 15th March to 14th September 2021, during which scientific observations will be restricted to a night-time shifts. During this observing season (2021-S1), the LMT is expecting to complete a number of necessary engineering projects that will require the temporary suspension of night-time scientific observations. Furthermore the anticipated installation and commissioning activities of new scientific instruments, as well as the more unpredictable weather conditions during the "rainy season", will also impact the scheduling of the higher-frequency instruments. It is expected that a maximum of 600 hours of observing time for on-source scientific observations will be available in the 2021-S1 observing season.