Participants in LAMOST, US (PLUS): A Partnership with the Chinese LAMOST Project in Galactic Astronomy

该项目将支持美国研究人员积极参与中国科学院国家重大科学项目之一的大天区多目标光纤光谱望远镜（LAMOST）项目。LAMOST设施的建设已经完成，望远镜正在进行工程测试。首席研究员在此前NSF的支持下，与该项目的中国领导层建立了密切的合作关系，并一直是负责定义银河系调查的工作组的成员，这是LAMOST运营最初几年的两个主要项目之一。该项目的资金将使美国天文学家和LAMOST之间建立伙伴关系成为可能。这种合作关系将正式参与银河调查，并保证加入PLUS合作的美国研究人员有能力提出并成为LAMOST关键项目的10%的PI，并有抢先体验获得数据。

This project will support US researchers' active involvement in the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) project, one of the National Major Scientific Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Construction of the LAMOST facility is complete, and the telescope is undergoing engineering tests. The principal investigator, with previous NSF support, has established close collaborative ties with the Chinese leadership of the project, and has been a member of the working group tasked with defining the Galactic survey, one of two major projects to be undertaken in LAMOST's initial years of operation. Funding of this project will permit establishment of a partnership between US astronomers and LAMOST. This partnership will formalize participation in the Galactic survey and guarantee the ability of US researchers who join the PLUS collaboration to propose and be PIs on 10% of LAMOST key projects, and to have early access to data.