Mapping the Periphery and Variability of the Magellanic Clouds

Abstract

We propose a combination of a modified Wide-Fast-Deep survey, a mini-survey of the South Celestial Pole, and a Deep Drilling-style survey to produce a 3-D map of the Magellanic System and to provide a detailed census of the transient and variable populations in the Clouds. We support modifying the Wide-Fast-Deep survey to cover the declination range $-72.25°<{\rm Dec}<12.4°$ and the Galactic latitude range $|b|>15°$, as proposed in a separate white paper. We additionally propose a mini-survey covering the 950$°^2$ with ${\rm Dec} < -72.25$ in $ugriz$ to the standard LSST single-exposure depth and with 40 visits per filter per field. Finally, we propose a mini-survey covering $\sim100 °^2$ of the main bodies of the Clouds with twelve total pointings, 2000 total visits per field, and shorter exposure time.

11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Call for White Papers on LSST Cadence Optimization