Cycle I

This wiki-page contains the reports produced by the LST-1 Physics and Publication Board (LPPB) for each proposal submitted for the observing Cycle 1 (2023-2024). Evaluation meeting has been hold remotely on 2023, March 3 and 2023, March 9.
The LPPB includes, for this cycle, the following members: D. Mazin (LST Project Manager), M. Teshima (Principle Investigator), J. Cortina (Co Principal Investigator), A. Berti, A. Moralejo, D. Kerzberg, J. Sitarek, A. Katsuaki, D. Green (PHYS Coordinator), A. Carosi (Deputy PHYS Coordinator) and Coordinators of the LST-1 Physics Working Group: A. Fiasson, A. Donini, D. Sanchez, M.N. Rosillas, T. Terzic, S. Caroff, R. Lopez-Coto, P.Bordas, K. Noda

Editors of this page: D. Green (LST-1 PHYS Coordinator), A. Carosi (LST-1 Deputy PHYS Coordinator)

Introduction

The cycle will officially cover the time period from 2023 April 07 to 2024 April 15 and will account for approximately 500 hours of observation time. The 500 hours is determined from the average number of dark hours in a cycle (roughly 1000 hours) subtracted from the 500 hours of time given to MAGIC for joint observations. Since several of the proposals have MAGIC equivalent proposals (such as Target of Opportunity observations on AGN with LST-1), the ownership and actual non-overlapping observation time is difficult to determine. In such cases, negotiations between MAGIC and LST will take place to determine ownership of data and therefore which proposal the time should be subtracted from.

This first observation cycle will see the overlap of regular data taking with commissioning tasks that will in any case take priority over scientific operations. Despite the fact that some of the proposed sources will be observed in parallel with MAGIC, the scientific goal of the proposals should be achievable using only LST data. A total amount of 15 proposals were submitted divided between the different working groups as follow: 7 EGAL, 5 GAL and 3 TRANS. Due to the time limitations, represents an oversubscription of ~2.0. The full list of proposals is as follow:

List of submitted proposals for cycle I

Proposal Name	PI	WG	MAGIC
Gamma-ray Burst Observations	A. Donini	TRAN	Y (TRAN04)
Target of Opportunity observations of Galactic Transient sources	A. Lòpez-Oramas	TRAN	Y (GAL08)
Target of Opportunity observations on AGN with LST-1	D. Sanchez	EGAL	N
Search for Very High Energy pulsed emission from PSR J2021+3651	A. Mas-Aguilar	GAL	N
Follow-up of Gravitational wave events	M. Seglar-Arroyo	TRAN	N
Tick-Tock: Monitoring of an inspiraling binary SMBH	J. Green	TRAN	N
Studying the large scale, diffuse emission around the Gal Center with LST-1	S. Abe	GAL	N
Monitoring of low-frequency peak BL Lac (LBL)	E. Pons	EGAL	N
Constraining short-term variability of PG 1553+113 in high emission state	E. Prandini	EGAL	N
Newly discovered GeV-emitting SNR G17.8+16.7	Katagiri	GAL	N
Monitoring of misaligned AGNs	M. Nievas Rosillo	EGAL	Y (AGN04)
Large Zenith Angle observation of the hadronic PeVatron candi- date in the Boomerang SNR (G106.3+2.7) with LST-1	F. Cassol	GAL	Y (GAL07)
Observations of distant bright FSRQs in active states	S. Nozaki	EGAL	N
NGC1068 Multi-year Observations	K. Noda	EGAL	N
AGN long-term monitoring and internal ToOs with LST1	D. Miceli	EGAL	Y (AGN12)

Evaluation Criteria

The LPPB produces a scientifically ranked list with scores from 1 to 10 for all the proposals that have been received. The ranking follows the guidelines:

   10: outstanding                 5: Acceptable is there is obs time left
    9: excellent                   4: poor, not worth
    8: very good                   3: out of question
    7: Good                        2: same as #3 and badly written
    6: Acceptable/average          1: same ad #3 and horribly written

Once the ranking has been established, the scheduling of the observations will follow a priority based on the ranked list and the available observing time, according to the following list:

• A guaranteed observation (except for major technical, commissioning, or meteorological troubles);
• B observations will be scheduled if possible (most of B observations are typically performed);
• C filling time depending on free slots;
• D no observing time has been allocated.

On top of that, all proposals have been evaluated in advance from a technical and analysis point of view by M. Will (CTA-N LST Project Manager) and A. Moralejo & R.Lopez-Coto (Software Coordinators) respectively. The 2 reports can accessed at the following links:
https://www.lst1.iac.es/wiki/index.php/File:LST_Analyis_Review.pdf
https://www.lst1.iac.es/wiki/index.php/File:LST_Technical_Review.pdf

Evaluation Process

The LST Proposal evaluation meeting was held remotely on two non-consecutive days: March 3rd, 2023 and March 9th, 2023. ​​The meeting started with a presentation by the LST Physics Coordinator, summarizing the evaluation procedure and scoring, and how to write the final evaluation reports. Each proposal was assigned two lead reviewers which led the discussion on the proposal.

During the meeting, the evaluation of each proposal proceeded in three phases:

• Introduction to the proposal (< 5 minutes)
  • The two reporters introduced the proposal with the aid of 1-2 slides; pro/contra will be given.
  • The other reviewers were invited to comment on any missing information.
  • The assessments in the technical or software reports are highlighted, if any.
• Discussion among the LPPB (~15 minutes)
  • The LPPB members will discuss pros and cons of the proposal.
  • Possible adjustments to the proposal are suggested, including a reduction of number of sources or in extreme cases a reduction in the amount of observation time
• Vote (~2 minutes)
  • All LPPB members qualify to give their vote via the included evaluation forms

The LPPB members in conflict (as PI or coI of the proposal) did not vote. The typical number of LPPB members grading a proposal was between 12 and 15.

Outcome

On Friday, March 9th, the ranked list was sorted and a few controversial proposals (either with higher variance or highly discussed and possibly with clarifications by the PWG conveners) were reexamined. Two proposals were rediscussed and only one re-voted. The LPPB restricted the right to change the requested observation only for extreme circumstances. For all the proposals, the LPPB members made a preliminary assignment by taking into account the available time, the conflicts arising among different proposals, and the scientific ranking.

The outcome of the whole evaluation consists of the following documents:

• The scientifically ranked list of proposals.
• The evaluation report for each proposal, containing the proposal ID, Grade, PI, and Title, and detailed evaluation by LPPB.

The evaluation of Cycle 1 LST Mono Proposals can be found at the following link:

https://www.lst1.iac.es/wiki/index.php/File:LST_Proposal_Report_-_Cycle_1.pdf

Proposals and Instructions for Observers

GAL01: Large Zenith Angle observation of the hadronic PeVatron candidate in the Boomerang SNR (G106.3+2.7) with LST-1
GAL02: Target of Opportunity observations of Galactic Transient sources
GAL03: Studying the large scale, diffuse emission around the Gal Center with the LST1
GAL04: Newly discovered GeV-emitting SNR G17.8+16.7
GAL05: Search for Very High Energy pulsed emission from PSR J2021+3651
EGAL01: Constraining short-term variability of PG 1553+113 in high emission state
EGAL02: Observations of distant bright FSRQs in active states
EGAL03: AGN long-term monitoring and internal ToOs with LST1
EGAL04: Monitoring of low-frequency peak BL Lac (LBL)
EGAL05: NGC 1068 Multi-year Observations
EGAL06: Monitoring of misaligned AGNs
EGAL07: Target of Opportunity observations on AGN with LST-1
TRAN01: Follow-up of gravitational wave events
TRAN02: Gamma-ray burst observations
TRAN03: Tick-Tock: Monitoring of an inspiraling binary SMBH