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Cycle 12 Call for Proposals - LWA Radio Observatory

 

September 22, 2023

We invite applications for observing time with the LWA Radio Observatory. This call is for observations starting January 1, 2023. At this time proposers can request observations with LWA-SV (note that Cycle 12 does not include observations with LWA1 and LWA-NA, due to upgrades and commissioning activities).

LWA-SV is a compact array radio telescope operating in the 10-88 MHz band, located in NM. LWA-SV currently consists of 257 dual-polarization active dipole antennas in a 100 m x 110 m elliptical footprint with an outlier dipole antenna located approximately 500-m west of the main array. Each dipole is individually digitized and then formed into 2 beams using a delay- and-sum technique. The beams can be pointed independently; thus LWA-SV can be used similarly to 2 separate radio telescopes. The individual dipole signals can also be recorded. A subset of science targets includes pulsars, astrophysical transients, the Sun, Jupiter, and the ionosphere, but innovative, technically feasible investigations of all kinds are welcomed.

Observations will have a proprietary period of 1 year from the date of observation. Support for operations and continuing development of the LWA is provided by the Air Force Research Laboratory. We invite proposals from all communities wishing to use this new instrument.

A list of projects previously observed and a list of collaborations can be found at: http://leo.phys.unm.edu/∼lwa/obssched.html. For more information on the LWA and its capabilities see:

Details

The proposal cover page exists in Word or PDF format. In addition to the cover page, proposals should contain a maximum of 3 pages of text describing the project, and one additional page with figures if needed. The proposal must address the following: If applicable, the proposal should also describe:

Proposal deadline

The proposals should be submitted to lwa@unm.edu by 11:59 PM MDT November 1, 2023. The proposals will be reviewed by the LWA Time Allocation Committee (TAC) and announcement of time allocations is expected by December 20, 2023.

Proposal Evaluation

The TAC will grade each science team project based on scientific merit and technical feasibility. The TAC consists of the Director, Associate Director, the Chief Scientist, the Head of User Programs, and 5 external members representing the user community. The TAC will rank each proposal by a numerical score, and will then group proposals into three categories:

A: Highest priority project, most likely to be scheduled.
B: Medium priority project, likely to be scheduled at least in part.
C: Standby project, scheduling will depend on instrument availability.

There will be no guarantees for observing time. All observations will be conducted on a “shared-risk” basis. Known issues with the station are documented at http://leo.phys.unm.edu/~lwa/astro/currentissues.html.

Publication policy

All science team project members are expected to abide by the LWA publication policy, and explicitly state their compliance with the policy in the proposal. It is the responsibility of the PI to make sure that all members of his/her team have read and agreed to the policy. The publication policy is posted at: http://leo.phys.unm.edu/∼lwa/project.html

Contact

For questions regarding this call for proposals, please email lwa@unm.edu.

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