Addressed/propagated Jason Kalirai's SAC review comments #617

whitepaper/MagellanicClouds/MCs_Exoplanets.tex

@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ \subsection{Exoplanets in the LMC and SMC}
 \credit{lundmb},
 \credit{migueldvb}
 
+% SAC Review by Jason Kalirai: I was confused about the part of this section related to finding transiting exoplanets in LMC stars. First, it would be nice to show some of the analysis in the paper itself, hopefully backed up by simulations of LSST's performance. Second, if the motivation is to tackle this in the Clouds due to their low metallicity, why not simply propose for such an experiment in a more nearby metal-poor system (with or without LSST).
+
 While exoplanets are discussed in greater depth in \autoref{sec:planets}, it is
 also worth noting here the unique circumstance of exoplanets in the
 Magellanic Clouds. To date, all detected exoplanets have been found around
@@ -85,7 +87,7 @@ \subsubsection{Metrics}
 % \item[Q1:] {\it Does the science case place any constraints on the
 % tradeoff between the sky coverage and coadded depth? For example, should
 % the sky coverage be maximized (to $\sim$30,000 deg$^2$, as e.g., in
-% Pan-STARRS) or the number of detected galaxies (the current baseline 
+% Pan-STARRS) or the number of detected galaxies (the current baseline
 % of 18,000 deg$^2$)?}
 %
 % \item[A1:] ...

whitepaper/MagellanicClouds/MCs_ProperMotion.tex

@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ \subsection{The Proper Motion of the LMC and SMC}
 \credit{dnidever},
 \credit{knutago}
 
+% SAC Review from Jason Kalirai: This opening paragraph is missing the science hook. There is a clear explanation for how/why LSST proper motions are going to be better than anything before, but the text doesn't actually say what we will learn from such measurements. Is it the case that the resulting constraints on the orbit or past accretion history break some current uncertainty in models of the MC evolution?
+
 In the last decade work with $HST$ has been able to measure the bulk
 tangential (in the plane of the sky) velocities ($\sim$300 km/s) of
 the Magellanic Clouds (Kallivayalil et al.\ 2016a,b,2013) and even the
@@ -29,19 +31,19 @@ \subsection{The Proper Motion of the LMC and SMC}
 for mapping extended stellar structures. The LSST 10-year survey
 proper motion precision will be $\sim$0.3--0.4 mas/yr at LMC
 main-sequence turnoff at r$\approx$22.5--23.  This will allow for
-accurate measurement of proper motions of {\em individual stars} at the
+accurate measurement of proper motions of individual stars at the
 $\sim$5$\sigma$ level.
 
+% SAC Review from Jason Kalirai: it's not clear why individual stars are needed. Shouldn't the proper motion precision being referenced here be for the population as a whole?
+
 Besides measuring kinematics, the LSST proper motions can be used to
 produce clean samples of Magellanic stars.
-%  clean samples of background
-% galaxies (no proper motions) and this is commonly done with $HST$ data
-% of
-%
 In addition, LSST proper motions can be used to improve star/galaxy
 separation which is quite significant for faint, blue Magellanic
 main-sequence stars.
 
+
+
 % streaming motions
 
 % can we do individual LMC stars with LSST, or small groups?
@@ -130,7 +132,7 @@ \subsubsection{Metrics}
 % \item[Q1:] {\it Does the science case place any constraints on the
 % tradeoff between the sky coverage and coadded depth? For example, should
 % the sky coverage be maximized (to $\sim$30,000 deg$^2$, as e.g., in
-% Pan-STARRS) or the number of detected galaxies (the current baseline 
+% Pan-STARRS) or the number of detected galaxies (the current baseline
 % of 18,000 deg$^2$)?}
 %
 % \item[A1:] ...

whitepaper/magclouds.tex

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ \section{Introduction}
 of their keywords, highlighting their importance for a wide variety of
 astronomical studies.
 
+
 An LSST survey that did not include coverage of the Magellanic Clouds
 and their periphery would be tragically incomplete.  LSST has a unique
 role to play in surveys of the Clouds.  First, its large $A\Omega$
@@ -41,13 +42,24 @@ \section{Introduction}
 identify and classify their extensive variable source populations with
 unprecedented time and areal coverage, discovering, for example,
 extragalactic planets, rare variables and transients, and light echoes
-from explosive events that occurred thousands of years ago (REFS).
+from explosive events that occurred thousands of years ago.
 Finally, the large number of observing opportunities that the LSST
 10-year survey will provide will enable us to produce a static imaging
 mosaic of the main bodies of the Clouds with extraordinary image
 quality, an invaluable legacy product of LSST.
 
-We have several important scientific questions:
+We have several important scientific questions that can be grouped into two themes, as follows.
+
+\noindent{\bf Galaxy Formation and Evolution}
+
+The study of the formation and
+evolution of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC,
+respectively), especially their interaction with each other and the
+Milky Way. The Magellanic Clouds (MCs) are a unique local laboratory
+for studying the formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies in
+exquisite detail.  LSST's large FOV will be able to map out the
+three-dimensional structure, metallicity and kinematics in great
+detail. Within this theme we have three main science questions:
 \begin{enumerate}
 
 \item What are the stellar and dark matter mass profiles of the
@@ -64,6 +76,18 @@ \section{Introduction}
 begun to unravel the three dimensional internal dynamics of the
 Clouds.
 
+\end{enumerate}
+
+\noindent{\bf Stellar Astrophysics and Exoplanets}
+
+The MCs have been
+used for decades to study stellar astrophysics, microlensing and other
+processes.  The fact that the objects are effectively all at a single
+known distance makes it much easier to study them than in, for
+example, the Milky Way, while the MCs' especial proximity allows us to explore deeper into the luminosity function of the stellar populations. LSST will extend these MC studies to fainter
+magnitudes, higher cadence, and larger area. Within this theme we have three main science questions:
+\begin{enumerate}
+
 \item How do exoplanet statistics in the Magellanic Clouds compare to
 those in the Milky Way?  The calculations in the next section show that
 LSST can measure transits of Jupiter-like planets, an intriguing
@@ -80,24 +104,6 @@ \section{Introduction}
 \end{enumerate}
 
 
-These questions can be grouped into main overarching science themes:
-\begin{enumerate}
-\item {\bf Galaxy formation evolution}: The study of the formation and
-evolution of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC,
-respectively), especially their interaction with each other and the
-Milky Way. The Magellanic Clouds (MCs) are a unique local laboratory
-for studying the formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies in
-exquisite detail.  LSST's large FOV will be able to map out the
-three-dimensional structure, metallicity and kinematics in great
-detail.
-\item {\bf Stellar astrophysics \& Exoplanets}:  The MCs have been
-used for decades to study stellar astrophysics, microlensing and other
-processes.  The fact that the objects are effectively all at a single
-known distance makes it much easier to study them than in, for
-example, the Milky Way.  LSST will extend these studies to fainter
-magnitudes, higher cadence, and larger area.
-\end{enumerate}
-
 Many different types of objects and measurements with their own
 cadence ``requirements'' will fall into these two broad categories
 (with some overlap).