Sample records for kepler science operations

  1. Kepler Science Operations Center Architecture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Middour, Christopher; Klaus, Todd; Jenkins, Jon; Pletcher, David; Cote, Miles; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Wohler, Bill; Girouard, Forrest; Gunter, Jay P.; Uddin, Kamal; hide

    2010-01-01

    We give an overview of the operational concepts and architecture of the Kepler Science Data Pipeline. Designed, developed, operated, and maintained by the Science Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Ames Research Center, the Kepler Science Data Pipeline is central element of the Kepler Ground Data System. The SOC charter is to analyze stellar photometric data from the Kepler spacecraft and report results to the Kepler Science Office for further analysis. We describe how this is accomplished via the Kepler Science Data Pipeline, including the hardware infrastructure, scientific algorithms, and operational procedures. The SOC consists of an office at Ames Research Center, software development and operations departments, and a data center that hosts the computers required to perform data analysis. We discuss the high-performance, parallel computing software modules of the Kepler Science Data Pipeline that perform transit photometry, pixel-level calibration, systematic error-correction, attitude determination, stellar target management, and instrument characterization. We explain how data processing environments are divided to support operational processing and test needs. We explain the operational timelines for data processing and the data constructs that flow into the Kepler Science Data Pipeline.

  2. The Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline Framework Extensions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Klaus, Todd C.; Cote, Miles T.; McCauliff, Sean; Girouard, Forrest R.; Wohler, Bill; Allen, Christopher; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Bryson, Stephen T.; Middour, Christopher; Caldwell, Douglas A.; hide

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) is responsible for several aspects of the Kepler Mission, including managing targets, generating on-board data compression tables, monitoring photometer health and status, processing the science data, and exporting the pipeline products to the mission archive. We describe how the generic pipeline framework software developed for Kepler is extended to achieve these goals, including pipeline configurations for processing science data and other support roles, and custom unit of work generators that control how the Kepler data are partitioned and distributed across the computing cluster. We describe the interface between the Java software that manages the retrieval and storage of the data for a given unit of work and the MATLAB algorithms that process these data. The data for each unit of work are packaged into a single file that contains everything needed by the science algorithms, allowing these files to be used to debug and evolve the algorithms offline.

  3. Photometric analysis in the Kepler Science Operations Center pipeline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Twicken, Joseph D.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Wu, Hayley; Jenkins, Jon M.; Girouard, Forrest; Klaus, Todd C.

    2010-07-01

    We describe the Photometric Analysis (PA) software component and its context in the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) Science Processing Pipeline. The primary tasks of this module are to compute the photometric flux and photocenters (centroids) for over 160,000 long cadence (~thirty minute) and 512 short cadence (~one minute) stellar targets from the calibrated pixels in their respective apertures. We discuss science algorithms for long and short cadence PA: cosmic ray cleaning; background estimation and removal; aperture photometry; and flux-weighted centroiding. We discuss the end-to-end propagation of uncertainties for the science algorithms. Finally, we present examples of photometric apertures, raw flux light curves, and centroid time series from Kepler flight data. PA light curves, centroid time series, and barycentric timestamp corrections are exported to the Multi-mission Archive at Space Telescope [Science Institute] (MAST) and are made available to the general public in accordance with the NASA/Kepler data release policy.

  4. Photometric Analysis in the Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Twicken, Joseph D.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Wu, Hayley; Jenkins, Jon M.; Girouard, Forrest; Klaus, Todd C.

    2010-01-01

    We describe the Photometric Analysis (PA) software component and its context in the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) pipeline. The primary tasks of this module are to compute the photometric flux and photocenters (centroids) for over 160,000 long cadence (thirty minute) and 512 short cadence (one minute) stellar targets from the calibrated pixels in their respective apertures. We discuss the science algorithms for long and short cadence PA: cosmic ray cleaning; background estimation and removal; aperture photometry; and flux-weighted centroiding. We discuss the end-to-end propagation of uncertainties for the science algorithms. Finally, we present examples of photometric apertures, raw flux light curves, and centroid time series from Kepler flight data. PA light curves, centroid time series, and barycentric timestamp corrections are exported to the Multi-mission Archive at Space Telescope [Science Institute] (MAST) and are made available to the general public in accordance with the NASA/Kepler data release policy.

  5. Presearch data conditioning in the Kepler Science Operations Center pipeline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Twicken, Joseph D.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Jenkins, Jon M.; Gunter, Jay P.; Girouard, Forrest; Klaus, Todd C.

    2010-07-01

    We describe the Presearch Data Conditioning (PDC) software component and its context in the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) Science Processing Pipeline. The primary tasks of this component are to correct systematic and other errors, remove excess flux due to aperture crowding, and condition the raw flux light curves for over 160,000 long cadence (~thirty minute) and 512 short cadence (~one minute) stellar targets. Long cadence corrected flux light curves are subjected to a transiting planet search in a subsequent pipeline module. We discuss science algorithms for long and short cadence PDC: identification and correction of unexplained (i.e., unrelated to known anomalies) discontinuities; systematic error correction; and removal of excess flux due to aperture crowding. We discuss the propagation of uncertainties from raw to corrected flux. Finally, we present examples from Kepler flight data to illustrate PDC performance. Corrected flux light curves produced by PDC are exported to the Multi-mission Archive at Space Telescope [Science Institute] (MAST) and are made available to the general public in accordance with the NASA/Kepler data release policy.

  6. Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline Framework

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Klaus, Todd C.; McCauliff, Sean; Cote, Miles T.; Girouard, Forrest R.; Wohler, Bill; Allen, Christopher; Middour, Christopher; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Jenkins, Jon M.

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler mission is designed to continuously monitor up to 170,000 stars at a 30 minute cadence for 3.5 years searching for Earth-size planets. The data are processed at the Science Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Ames Research Center. Because of the large volume of data and the memory and CPU-intensive nature of the analysis, significant computing hardware is required. We have developed generic pipeline framework software that is used to distribute and synchronize the processing across a cluster of CPUs and to manage the resulting products. The framework is written in Java and is therefore platform-independent, and scales from a single, standalone workstation (for development and research on small data sets) to a full cluster of homogeneous or heterogeneous hardware with minimal configuration changes. A plug-in architecture provides customized control of the unit of work without the need to modify the framework itself. Distributed transaction services provide for atomic storage of pipeline products for a unit of work across a relational database and the custom Kepler DB. Generic parameter management and data accountability services are provided to record the parameter values, software versions, and other meta-data used for each pipeline execution. A graphical console allows for the configuration, execution, and monitoring of pipelines. An alert and metrics subsystem is used to monitor the health and performance of the pipeline. The framework was developed for the Kepler project based on Kepler requirements, but the framework itself is generic and could be used for a variety of applications where these features are needed.

  7. The Kepler Science Data Processing Pipeline Source Code Road Map

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wohler, Bill; Jenkins, Jon M.; Twicken, Joseph D.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Clarke, Bruce Donald; Middour, Christopher K.; Quintana, Elisa Victoria; Sanderfer, Jesse Thomas; Uddin, Akm Kamal; Sabale, Anima; hide

    2016-01-01

    We give an overview of the operational concepts and architecture of the Kepler Science Processing Pipeline. Designed, developed, operated, and maintained by the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Ames Research Center, the Science Processing Pipeline is a central element of the Kepler Ground Data System. The SOC consists of an office at Ames Research Center, software development and operations departments, and a data center which hosts the computers required to perform data analysis. The SOC's charter is to analyze stellar photometric data from the Kepler spacecraft and report results to the Kepler Science Office for further analysis. We describe how this is accomplished via the Kepler Science Processing Pipeline, including, the software algorithms. We present the high-performance, parallel computing software modules of the pipeline that perform transit photometry, pixel-level calibration, systematic error correction, attitude determination, stellar target management, and instrument characterization.

  8. Lessons Learned from Developing and Operating the Kepler Science Pipeline and Building the TESS Science Pipeline

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.

    2017-01-01

    The experience acquired through development, implementation and operation of the KeplerK2 science pipelines can provide lessons learned for the development of science pipelines for other missions such as NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, and ESA's PLATO mission.

  9. Data Validation in the Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wu, Hayley; Twicken, Joseph D.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Clarke, Bruce D.; Li, Jie; Quintana, Elisa V.; Allen, Christopher; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Jenkins, Jon M.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; hide

    2010-01-01

    We present an overview of the Data Validation (DV) software component and its context within the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) pipeline and overall Kepler Science mission. The SOC pipeline performs a transiting planet search on the corrected light curves for over 150,000 targets across the focal plane array. We discuss the DV strategy for automated validation of Threshold Crossing Events (TCEs) generated in the transiting planet search. For each TCE, a transiting planet model is fitted to the target light curve. A multiple planet search is conducted by repeating the transiting planet search on the residual light curve after the model flux has been removed; if an additional detection occurs, a planet model is fitted to the new TCE. A suite of automated tests are performed after all planet candidates have been identified. We describe a centroid motion test to determine the significance of the motion of the target photocenter during transit and to estimate the coordinates of the transit source within the photometric aperture; a series of eclipsing binary discrimination tests on the parameters of the planet model fits to all transits and the sequences of odd and even transits; and a statistical bootstrap to assess the likelihood that the TCE would have been generated purely by chance given the target light curve with all transits removed. Keywords: photometry, data validation, Kepler, Earth-size planets

  10. Presearch Data Conditioning in the Kepler Science Operations Center Pipeline

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Twicken, Joseph D.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Jenkins, Jon M.; Gunter, Jay P.; Girouard, Forrest; Klaus, Todd C.

    2010-01-01

    We describe the Presearch Data Conditioning (PDC) software component and its context in the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) pipeline. The primary tasks of this component are to correct systematic and other errors, remove excess flux due to aperture crowding, and condition the raw flux light curves for over 160,000 long cadence (thirty minute) and 512 short cadence (one minute) targets across the focal plane array. Long cadence corrected flux light curves are subjected to a transiting planet search in a subsequent pipeline module. We discuss the science algorithms for long and short cadence PDC: identification and correction of unexplained (i.e., unrelated to known anomalies) discontinuities; systematic error correction; and excess flux removal. We discuss the propagation of uncertainties from raw to corrected flux. Finally, we present examples of raw and corrected flux time series for flight data to illustrate PDC performance. Corrected flux light curves produced by PDC are exported to the Multi-mission Archive at Space Telescope [Science Institute] (MAST) and will be made available to the general public in accordance with the NASA/Kepler data release policy.

  11. Photometer Performance Assessment in Kepler Science Data Processing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Li, Jie; Allen, Christopher; Bryson, Stephen T.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Clarke, Bruce D.; Gunter, Jay P.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Klaus, Todd C.; Quintana, Elisa V.; hide

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes the algorithms of the Photometer Performance Assessment (PPA) software component in the science data processing pipeline of the Kepler mission. The PPA performs two tasks: One is to analyze the health and performance of the Kepler photometer based on the long cadence science data down-linked via Ka band approximately every 30 days. The second is to determine the attitude of the Kepler spacecraft with high precision at each long cadence. The PPA component is demonstrated to work effectively with the Kepler flight data.

  12. Kepler Archive Manual

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thompson, Susan E.; Fraquelli, Dorothy; Van Cleve, Jeffrey E.; Caldwell, Douglas A.

    2016-01-01

    A description of Kepler, its design, performance and operational constraints may be found in the Kepler Instrument Handbook (KIH, Van Cleve Caldwell 2016). A description of Kepler calibration and data processing is described in the Kepler Data Processing Handbook (KDPH, Jenkins et al. 2016; Fanelli et al. 2011). Science users should also consult the special ApJ Letters devoted to early Kepler results and mission design (April 2010, ApJL, Vol. 713 L79-L207). Additional technical details regarding the data processing and data qualities can be found in the Kepler Data Characteristics Handbook (KDCH, Christiansen et al. 2013) and the Data Release Notes (DRN). This archive manual specifically documents the file formats, as they exist for the last data release of Kepler, Data Release 25(KSCI-19065-002). The earlier versions of the archive manual and data release notes act as documentation for the earlier versions of the data files.

  13. The Kepler DB: a database management system for arrays, sparse arrays, and binary data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McCauliff, Sean; Cote, Miles T.; Girouard, Forrest R.; Middour, Christopher; Klaus, Todd C.; Wohler, Bill

    2010-07-01

    The Kepler Science Operations Center stores pixel values on approximately six million pixels collected every 30 minutes, as well as data products that are generated as a result of running the Kepler science processing pipeline. The Kepler Database management system (Kepler DB)was created to act as the repository of this information. After one year of flight usage, Kepler DB is managing 3 TiB of data and is expected to grow to over 10 TiB over the course of the mission. Kepler DB is a non-relational, transactional database where data are represented as one-dimensional arrays, sparse arrays or binary large objects. We will discuss Kepler DB's APIs, implementation, usage and deployment at the Kepler Science Operations Center.

  14. The Kepler DB, a Database Management System for Arrays, Sparse Arrays and Binary Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    McCauliff, Sean; Cote, Miles T.; Girouard, Forrest R.; Middour, Christopher; Klaus, Todd C.; Wohler, Bill

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler Science Operations Center stores pixel values on approximately six million pixels collected every 30-minutes, as well as data products that are generated as a result of running the Kepler science processing pipeline. The Kepler Database (Kepler DB) management system was created to act as the repository of this information. After one year of ight usage, Kepler DB is managing 3 TiB of data and is expected to grow to over 10 TiB over the course of the mission. Kepler DB is a non-relational, transactional database where data are represented as one dimensional arrays, sparse arrays or binary large objects. We will discuss Kepler DB's APIs, implementation, usage and deployment at the Kepler Science Operations Center.

  15. Performance of Transit Model Fitting in Processing Four Years of Kepler Science Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Jie; Burke, Christopher J.; Jenkins, Jon Michael; Quintana, Elisa V.; Rowe, Jason; Seader, Shawn; Tenenbaum, Peter; Twicken, Joseph D.

    2014-06-01

    We present transit model fitting performance of the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) Pipeline in processing four years of science data, which were collected by the Kepler spacecraft from May 13, 2009 to May 12, 2013. Threshold Crossing Events (TCEs), which represent transiting planet detections, are generated by the Transiting Planet Search (TPS) component of the pipeline and subsequently processed in the Data Validation (DV) component. The transit model is used in DV to fit TCEs and derive parameters that are used in various diagnostic tests to validate planetary candidates. The standard transit model includes five fit parameters: transit epoch time (i.e. central time of first transit), orbital period, impact parameter, ratio of planet radius to star radius and ratio of semi-major axis to star radius. In the latest Kepler SOC pipeline codebase, the light curve of the target for which a TCE is generated is initially fitted by a trapezoidal model with four parameters: transit epoch time, depth, duration and ingress time. The trapezoidal model fit, implemented with repeated Levenberg-Marquardt minimization, provides a quick and high fidelity assessment of the transit signal. The fit parameters of the trapezoidal model with the minimum chi-square metric are converted to set initial values of the fit parameters of the standard transit model. Additional parameters, such as the equilibrium temperature and effective stellar flux of the planet candidate, are derived from the fit parameters of the standard transit model to characterize pipeline candidates for the search of Earth-size planets in the Habitable Zone. The uncertainties of all derived parameters are updated in the latest codebase to take into account for the propagated errors of the fit parameters as well as the uncertainties in stellar parameters. The results of the transit model fitting of the TCEs identified by the Kepler SOC Pipeline, including fitted and derived parameters, fit goodness metrics and

  16. Status of the TESS Science Processing Operations Center

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.; Twicken, Joseph D.; Campbell, Jennifer; Tenebaum, Peter; Sanderfer, Dwight; Davies, Misty D.; Smith, Jeffrey C.; Morris, Rob; Mansouri-Samani, Masoud; Girouardi, Forrest; hide

    2017-01-01

    The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) science pipeline is being developed by the Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) at NASA Ames Research Center based on the highly successful Kepler Mission science pipeline. Like the Kepler pipeline, the TESS science pipeline will provide calibrated pixels, simple and systematic error-corrected aperture photometry, and centroid locations for all 200,000+ target stars, observed over the 2-year mission, along with associated uncertainties. The pixel and light curve products are modeled on the Kepler archive products and will be archived to the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). In addition to the nominal science data, the 30-minute Full Frame Images (FFIs) simultaneously collected by TESS will also be calibrated by the SPOC and archived at MAST. The TESS pipeline will search through all light curves for evidence of transits that occur when a planet crosses the disk of its host star. The Data Validation pipeline will generate a suite of diagnostic metrics for each transit-like signature discovered, and extract planetary parameters by fitting a limb-darkened transit model to each potential planetary signature. The results of the transit search will be modeled on the Kepler transit search products (tabulated numerical results, time series products, and pdf reports) all of which will be archived to MAST.

  17. Kepler: NASA's First Mission Capable of Finding Earth-Size Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Borucki, William J.

    2009-01-01

    Kepler, a NASA Discovery mission, is a spaceborne telescope designed to search a nearby region of our galaxy for Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of stars like our sun. The habitable zone is that region around a start where the temperature permits water to be liquid on the surface of a planet. Liquid water is considered essential forth existence of life. Mission Phases: Six mission phases have been defined to describe the different periods of activity during Kepler's mission. These are: launch; commissioning; early science operations, science operations: and decommissioning

  18. The Kepler End-to-End Data Pipeline: From Photons to Far Away Worlds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cooke, Brian; Thompson, Richard; Standley, Shaun

    2012-01-01

    The Kepler mission is described in overview and the Kepler technique for discovering exoplanets is discussed. The design and implementation of the Kepler spacecraft, tracing the data path from photons entering the telescope aperture through raw observation data transmitted to the ground operations team is described. The technical challenges of operating a large aperture photometer with an unprecedented 95 million pixel detector are addressed as well as the onboard technique for processing and reducing the large volume of data produced by the Kepler photometer. The technique and challenge of day-to-day mission operations that result in a very high percentage of time on target is discussed. This includes the day to day process for monitoring and managing the health of the spacecraft, the annual process for maintaining sun on the solar arrays while still keeping the telescope pointed at the fixed science target, the process for safely but rapidly returning to science operations after a spacecraft initiated safing event and the long term anomaly resolution process.The ground data processing pipeline, from the point that science data is received on the ground to the presentation of preliminary planetary candidates and supporting data to the science team for further evaluation is discussed. Ground management, control, exchange and storage of Kepler's large and growing data set is discussed as well as the process and techniques for removing noise sources and applying calibrations to intermediate data products.

  19. Extragalactic Science With Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fanelli, Michael N.; Marcum, P.

    2012-01-01

    Although designed as an exoplanet and stellar astrophysics experiment, the Kepler mission provides a unique capability to explore the essentially unknown photometric stability of galactic systems at millimag levels using Kepler's blend of high precision and continuous monitoring. Time series observations of galaxies are sensitive to both quasi-continuous variability, driven by accretion activity from embedded active nuclei, and random, episodic events, such as supernovae. In general, galaxies lacking active nuclei are not expected to be variable with the timescales and amplitudes observed in stellar sources and are free of source motions that affect stars (e.g., parallax). These sources can serve as a population of quiescent, non-variable sources, which may be used to quantify the photometric stability and noise characteristics of the Kepler photometer. A factor limiting galaxy monitoring in the Kepler FOV is the overall lack of detailed quantitative information for the galaxy population. Despite these limitations, a significant number of galaxies are being observed, forming the Kepler Galaxy Archive. Observed sources total approximately 100, 250, and 700 in Cycles 1-3 (Cycle 3 began in June 2011). In this poster we interpret the properties of a set of 20 galaxies monitored during quarters 4 through 8, their associated light curves, photometric and astrometric precision and potential variability. We describe data analysis issues relevant to extended sources and available software tools. In addition, we detail ongoing surveys that are providing new photometric and morphological information for galaxies over the entire field. These new datasets will both aid the interpretation of the time series, and improve source selection, e.g., help identify candidate AGNs and starburst systems, for further monitoring.

  20. The Kepler Full Frame Images

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dotson, Jessie L.; Batalha, Natalie; Bryson, Stephen T.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Clarke, Bruce D.

    2010-01-01

    NASA's exoplanet discovery mission Kepler provides uninterrupted 1-min and 30-min optical photometry of a 100 square degree field over a 3.5 yr nominal mission. Downlink bandwidth is filled at these short cadences by selecting only detector pixels specific to 105 preselected stellar targets. The majority of the Kepler field, comprising 4 x 10(exp 6) m_v < 20 sources, is sampled at much lower 1-month cadence in the form of a full-frame image. The Full Frame Images (FFIs) are calibrated by the Science Operations Center at NASA Ames Research Center. The Kepler Team employ these images for astrometric and photometric reference but make the images available to the astrophysics community through the Multimission Archive at STScI (MAST). The full-frame images provide a resource for potential Kepler Guest Observers to select targets and plan observing proposals, while also providing a freely-available long-cadence legacy of photometric variation across a swathe of the Galactic disk.

  1. The Kepler Data Processing Handbook: A Field Guide to Prospecting for Habitable Worlds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.

    2017-01-01

    The Kepler telescope hurtled into orbit in March 2009, initiating NASA's first mission to discover Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars. Kepler simultaneously collected data for approximately 165,000 target stars at a time over its four-year mission, identifying over 4700 planet candidates, over 2300 confirmed or validated planets, and over 2100 eclipsing binaries. While Kepler was designed to discover exoplanets, the long-term, ultrahigh photometric precision measurements it achieved made it a premier observational facility for stellar astrophysics, especially in the field of asteroseismology, and for variable stars, such as RR Lyrae. The Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) was developed at NASA Ames Research Center to process the data acquired by Kepler from pixel-level calibrations all the way to identifying transiting planet signatures and subjecting them to a suite of diagnostic tests to establish or break confidence in their planetary nature. Detecting small, rocky planets transiting Sun-like stars presents a variety of daunting challenges, including achieving an unprecedented photometric precision of 20 ppm on 6.5-hour timescales, and supporting the science operations, management, processing, and repeated reprocessing of the accumulating data stream. A newly revised and expanded version of the Kepler Data Processing Handbook (KDPH) has been released to support the legacy archival products. The KDPH details the theory, design and performance of the algorithms supporting each data processing step. This paper presents an overview of the KDPH and features illustrations of several key algorithms in the Kepler Science Data Processing Pipeline. Kepler was selected as the 10th mission of the Discovery Program. Funding for this mission is provided by NASA, Science Mission Directorate.

  2. Kepler Discovery

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-02

    William Borucki, Kepler Science Principal Investigator from NASA's Ames Research Center, second from left, speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at NASA Headquarters in Washington as Douglas Hudgins, left, Jack Lissauer and Debra Fischer, far right, look on. Scientists using NASA's Kepler, a space telescope, recently discovered six planets made of a mix of rock and gases orbiting a single sun-like star, known as Kepler-11, which is located approximately 2,000 light years from Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  3. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    William Borucki, principal investigator for Kepler Science at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  4. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    Jon Morse, Director, Astrophysics Division, at NASA Headquarters, left, talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Morse was joined at the briefing by William Borucki, principal investigator for Kepler Science at Ames Research Center, second left, Jim Fanson, Kepler Project Manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Debra Fischer, professor of Astronomy at San Francisco State University, right. Kepler is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  5. Kepler: A Search for Terrestrial Planets. K2 Handbook

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Bryson, Steve

    2017-01-01

    The Kepler spacecraft was repurposed for the K2 mission a year after the failure of the second of Kepler's four reaction wheels in 2013 May. The purpose of this document, the K2 Handbook (K2H), is to describe features of K2 operations, performance, data analysis, and archive products which are common to most K2 campaigns, but different in degree or kind from the corresponding features of the Kepler mission.The K2 Handbook is meant to be read with the following companion documents, which are all publicly available:1. Kepler Instrument Handbook (KSCI-19033) provides information about the design, performance and operational constraints of the instrument and an overview of the types of pixel data that are available.2. Kepler Data Processing Handbook (KSCI-19081) describes how pixels downloaded from the spacecraft are converted by the Kepler Data Processing Pipeline into the data products available at the MAST archive3. Kepler Archive Manual (KDMC-100008) describes the format and content of the data products and how to search for them.4. Kepler Data Characteristics Handbook (KSCI-19040) describes recurring non-astrophysical features of the Kepler data due to instrument signatures, spacecraft events or solar activity and explains how these characteristics are handled by the Kepler pipeline.5. The Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog describes the provenance of the positions and Kepler magnitudes used for target management and aperature photometry.6. K2 Data Release Notes (DRN) are on-line documents available on the K2 science website which describe the data inventory, instrumental signatures and events peculiar to individual observing campaigns.

  6. The Kepler Mission: From Concept to Operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koch, David G.

    2011-01-01

    From concept to launch and operations, what became the Kepler mission took a quarter of a century to create. We will review some of the steps along the way, the challenges, opportunities, strategic decisions and choices that had to be made that resulted in a mission that has the capability to detect and determine the frequencies of Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone of solar-like stars. The process of going from starlight focused onto individual pixels to declaration of a planet detection is long and complex. Data for each star are recorded on the spacecraft and telemetered to the ground once per month. The raw pixel data are processed to produce light curves for each star. The light curves are processed to search for sequences of transits. A team of scientists examines the output to decide which meet the many validation criteria and qualify as candidates. Next an extensive series of ground-based follow-up observations are performed on the candidates now numbering in excess of 700. The objective is to eliminate false positive cases, while simultaneously improving our knowledge of the parent stars. Extensive analysis and modeling is performed on both the original photometric data and the newly acquired ground-based data to ascertain the true nature of each candidate. On the order of one-quarter to one-half of the candidates are rejected, mostly as some form of eclipsing binary. Of the remaining, some meet all the criteria and are submitted by the science team for peer-reviewed publications. Others may just require more data or may be left as undecided candidates for future research. An extended mission beyond 3.5 years will significantly improve the results from the Kepler mission, especially by covering the outer portion of the habitable zone for solar-like stars.

  7. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    William Borucki, principal investigator for Kepler Science at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.,, second from left, talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Joining Borucki at the briefing were Jon Morse, director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters, Jim Fanson, Kepler project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Debra Fischer, a professor of Astronomy at San Francisco State University. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  8. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    William Borucki, principal investigator for Kepler Science at Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., second from left, is seen through a television camer monitor as he talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  9. Processing and Managing the Kepler Mission's Treasure Trove of Stellar and Exoplanet Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.

    2016-01-01

    The Kepler telescope launched into orbit in March 2009, initiating NASAs first mission to discover Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars. Kepler simultaneously collected data for 160,000 target stars at a time over its four-year mission, identifying over 4700 planet candidates, 2300 confirmed or validated planets, and over 2100 eclipsing binaries. While Kepler was designed to discover exoplanets, the long term, ultra- high photometric precision measurements it achieved made it a premier observational facility for stellar astrophysics, especially in the field of asteroseismology, and for variable stars, such as RR Lyraes. The Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) was developed at NASA Ames Research Center to process the data acquired by Kepler from pixel-level calibrations all the way to identifying transiting planet signatures and subjecting them to a suite of diagnostic tests to establish or break confidence in their planetary nature. Detecting small, rocky planets transiting Sun-like stars presents a variety of daunting challenges, from achieving an unprecedented photometric precision of 20 parts per million (ppm) on 6.5-hour timescales, supporting the science operations, management, processing, and repeated reprocessing of the accumulating data stream. This paper describes how the design of the SOC meets these varied challenges, discusses the architecture of the SOC and how the SOC pipeline is operated and is run on the NAS Pleiades supercomputer, and summarizes the most important pipeline features addressing the multiple computational, image and signal processing challenges posed by Kepler.

  10. Kepler Discovery

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-02

    Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist and a Kepler science team member at NASA's Ames Research Center, speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Scientists using NASA's Kepler, a space telescope, recently discovered six planets made of a mix of rock and gases orbiting a single sun-like star, known as Kepler-11, which is located approximately 2,000 light years from Earth. "It’s amazingly compact, it’s amazingly flat, there’s an amazingly large number of big planets orbiting close to their star - we didn’t know such systems could even exist," he said. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  11. Kepler Discovery

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-02

    Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist and a Kepler science team member at NASA's Ames Research Center, speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Scientists using NASA's Kepler, a space telescope, recently discovered six planets made of a mix of rock and gases orbiting a single sun-like star, known as Kepler-11, which is located approximately 2,000 light years from Earth."It’s amazingly compact, it’s amazingly flat, there’s an amazingly large number of big planets orbiting close to their star - we didn’t know such systems could even exist." Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  12. Kepler Data Release 4 Notes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Van Cleve, Jeffrey (Editor); Jenkins, Jon; Caldwell, Doug; Allen, Christopher L.; Batalha, Natalie; Bryson, Stephen T.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Clarke, Bruce D.; Cote, Miles T.; Dotson, Jessie L.; hide

    2010-01-01

    The Data Analysis Working Group have released long and short cadence materials, including FFIs and Dropped Targets for the Public. The Kepler Science Office considers Data Release 4 to provide "browse quality" data. These notes have been prepared to give Kepler users of the Multimission Archive at STScl (MAST) a summary of how the data were collected and prepared, and how well the data processing pipeline is functioning on flight data. They will be updated for each release of data to the public archive and placed on MAST along with other Kepler documentation, at http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/documents.html. Data release 3 is meant to give users the opportunity to examine the data for possibly interesting science and to involve the users in improving the pipeline for future data releases. To perform the latter service, users are encouraged to notice and document artifacts, either in the raw or processed data, and report them to the Science Office.

  13. Kepler: A Search for Terrestrial Planets - SOC 9.3 DR25 Pipeline Parameter Configuration Reports

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Campbell, Jennifer R.

    2017-01-01

    This document describes the manner in which the pipeline and algorithm parameters for the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) science data processing pipeline were managed. This document is intended for scientists and software developers who wish to better understand the software design for the final Kepler codebase (SOC 9.3) and the effect of the software parameters on the Data Release (DR) 25 archival products.

  14. Kepler Mission IYA Teacher Professional Development Workshops

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Devore, E. K.; Harman, P.; Gould, A. D.; Koch, D.

    2009-12-01

    NASA's Kepler Mission conducted six teacher professional development workshops on the search for Earth-size in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The Kepler Mission launched in March, 2009. As a part of International Year of Astronomy 2009, this series of one-day workshops were designed and presented for middle and high school teachers, and science center and planetarium educators prior to and after the launch. The professional development workshops were designed using the best practices and principals from the National Science Education Standards and similar documents. Sharing the outcome of our plans, strategies and formative evaluation results can be of use to other Education and Public Outreach practitioners who plan similar trainings. Each event was supported by a Kepler team scientist, two Education & Public Outreach staff and local hosts. The workshops combined a science content lecture and discussion, making models, kinesthetic activities, and interpretation of transit data. The emphasis was on inquiry-based instruction and supported science education standards in grades 7-12. Participants’ kit included an orrery, optical sensor and software to demonstrate transit detection. The workshop plan, teaching strategies, and lessons learned from evaluation will be discussed. Future events are planned. Kepler's Education and Public Outreach program is jointly conducted by the SETI Institute and Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley in close coordination with the Kepler Mission at NASA Ames Research Center. The IYA Kepler Teacher Professional Development workshops were supported by NASA Grants to the E. DeVore, SETI Institute NAG2-6066 Kepler Education and Public Outreach and NNX08BA74G, IYA Kepler Mission Pre-launch Workshops. Teachers participate in human orrery.

  15. Kepler Mission Discovers Trove of Extrasolar Planet Candidates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Showstack, Randy

    2011-02-01

    NASA's Kepler discovery mission is collecting more than just pennies from heaven. Results from the first 4 months of science operations of the Kepler space telescope, announced on 2 February, include the discovery of 1235 candidate planets orbiting 997 stars in a small portion of the Milky Way galaxy examined by the telescope. Follow-up observations likely could confirm about 80% of the candidates as actual planets rather than false positives, according to researchers. This new trove of possible exoplanets could greatly expand the number of known planets outside of our solar system.

  16. Status of the TESS Science Processing Operations Center

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon Michael; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Davies, Misty; Li, Jie; Morris, Robert L.; Rose, Mark; Smith, Jeffrey C.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Ting, Eric; Twicken, Joseph D.; Wohler, Bill

    2018-06-01

    The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was selected by NASA’s Explorer Program to conduct a search for Earth’s closest cousins starting in 2018. TESS will conduct an all-sky transit survey of F, G and K dwarf stars between 4 and 12 magnitudes and M dwarf stars within 200 light years. TESS is expected to discover 1,000 small planets less than twice the size of Earth, and to measure the masses of at least 50 of these small worlds. The TESS science pipeline is being developed by the Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) at NASA Ames Research Center based on the highly successful Kepler science pipeline. Like the Kepler pipeline, the TESS pipeline provides calibrated pixels, simple and systematic error-corrected aperture photometry, and centroid locations for all 200,000+ target stars observed over the 2-year mission, along with associated uncertainties. The pixel and light curve products are modeled on the Kepler archive products and will be archived to the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). In addition to the nominal science data, the 30-minute Full Frame Images (FFIs) simultaneously collected by TESS will also be calibrated by the SPOC and archived at MAST. The TESS pipeline searches through all light curves for evidence of transits that occur when a planet crosses the disk of its host star. The Data Validation pipeline generates a suite of diagnostic metrics for each transit-like signature, and then extracts planetary parameters by fitting a limb-darkened transit model to each potential planetary signature. The results of the transit search are modeled on the Kepler transit search products (tabulated numerical results, time series products, and pdf reports) all of which will be archived to MAST. Synthetic sample data products are available at https://archive.stsci.edu/tess/ete-6.html.Funding for the TESS Mission has been provided by the NASA Science Mission Directorate.

  17. The TESS Science Processing Operations Center

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon; Twicken, Joseph D.; McCauliff, Sean; Campbell, Jennifer; Sanderfer, Dwight; Lung, David; Mansouri-Samani, Masoud; Girouard, Forrest; Tenenbaum, Peter; Klaus, Todd; hide

    2016-01-01

    The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will conduct a search for Earth’s closest cousins starting in late 2017. TESS will discover approx.1,000 small planets and measure the masses of at least 50 of these small worlds. The Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) is being developed based on the Kepler science pipeline and will generate calibrated pixels and light curves on the NAS Pleiades supercomputer. The SPOC will search for periodic transit events and generate validation products for the transit-like features in the light curves. All TESS SPOC data products will be archived to the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes.

  18. Demystifying Kepler Data: A Primer for Systematic Artifact Mitigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kinemuchi, K.; Barclay, T.; Fanelli, M.; Pepper, J.; Still, M.; Howell, B.

    2012-01-01

    The Kepler spacecraft has collected data of high photometric precision and cadence almost continuously since operations began on 2009 May 2. Primarily designed to detect planetary transits and asteroseismological signals from solar-like stars, Kepler has provided high quality data for many areas of investigation. Unconditioned simple aperture time-series photometry are however affected by systematic structure. Examples of these systematics are differential velocity aberration, thermal gradients across the spacecraft, and pointing variations. While exhibiting some impact on Kepler's primary science, these systematics can critically handicap potentially ground-breaking scientific gains in other astrophysical areas, especially over long timescales greater than 10 days. As the data archive grows to provide light curves for 10(exp 5) stars of many years in length, Kepler will only fulfill its broad potential for stellar astrophysics if these systematics are understood and mitigated. Post-launch developments in the Kepler archive, data reduction pipeline and open source data analysis software have occurred to remove or reduce systematic artifacts. This paper provides a conceptual primer for users of the Kepler data archive to understand and recognize systematic artifacts within light curves and some methods for their removal. Specific examples of artifact mitigation are provided using data available within the archive. Through the methods defined here, the Kepler community will find a road map to maximizing the quality and employment of the Kepler legacy archive.

  19. Kepler Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-08-05

    William Bo-Ricki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, second from left, speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March. Others seated include Jon Morse, NASA's Astrophysics Director, Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at MIT, and Alan Boss, an Astrophysicist at the Carnegie Institution at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, right. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  20. Kepler Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-08-05

    Sara Seager, Professor of Planetary Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  1. Demystifying Kepler Data: A Primer for Systematic Artifact Mitigation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kinemuchi, K.; Barclay, T.; Fanelli, M.; Pepper, J.; Still, M.; Howell, Steve B.

    2012-09-01

    The Kepler spacecraft has collected data of high photometric precision and cadence almost continuously since operations began on 2009 May 2. Primarily designed to detect planetary transits and asteroseismological signals from solar-like stars, Kepler has provided high-quality data for many areas of investigation. Unconditioned simple aperture time-series photometry is, however, affected by systematic structure. Examples of these systematics include differential velocity aberration, thermal gradients across the spacecraft, and pointing variations. While exhibiting some impact on Kepler’s primary science, these systematics can critically handicap potentially ground-breaking scientific gains in other astrophysical areas, especially over long timescales greater than 10 days. As the data archive grows to provide light curves for 105 stars of many years in length, Kepler will only fulfill its broad potential for stellar astrophysics if these systematics are understood and mitigated. Post-launch developments in the Kepler archive, data reduction pipeline and open source data analysis software have helped to remove or reduce systematic artifacts. This paper provides a conceptual primer to help users of the Kepler data archive understand and recognize systematic artifacts within light curves and some methods for their removal. Specific examples of artifact mitigation are provided using data available within the archive. Through the methods defined here, the Kepler community will find a road map to maximizing the quality and employment of the Kepler legacy archive.

  2. Science from Kepler Collateral Data: 50 Kilosecond per Year from 13 Million Star?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kolodziejczak, J. J.; Caldwell, D. A.

    2011-01-01

    As each Kepler frame is read out, light from each star in a CCD column accumulates in successive pixels as they wait for the next row to be read out. This accumulation is the same in the masked rows at the start of the readout and virtual rows at the end of the readout as it is in the science data. A range of these "smear" rows are added together for each long cadence and sent to the ground for calibration purposes. We will introduce and describe this smear collateral data, discuss and demonstrate its potential use for scientific studies exclusive of Kepler calibration,.

  3. Kepler Data Release 3 Notes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cleve, Jeffrey E.

    2010-01-01

    This describes the collection of data and the processing done on it so when researchers around the world get the Kepler data sets (which are a set of pixels from the telescope of a particular target (star, galaxy or whatever) over a 3 month period) they can adjust their algorithms fro things that were done (like subtracting all of one particular wavelength for example). This is used to calibrate their own algorithms so that they know what it is they are starting with. It is posted so that whoever is accessing the publicly available data (not all of it is made public) can understand it .. (most of the Kepler data is under restriction for 1 - 4 years and is not available, but the handbook is for everyone (public and restricted) The Data Analysis Working Group have released long and short cadence materials, including FFls and Dropped Targets for the Public. The Kepler Science Office considers Data Release 3 to provide "browse quality" data. These notes have been prepared to give Kepler users of the Multimission Archive at STScl (MAST) a summary of how the data were collected and prepared, and how well the data processing pipeline is functioning on flight data. They will be updated for each release of data to the public archive and placed on MAST along with other Kepler documentation, at http:// archive.stsci.edu/kepler/documents.html .Data release 3 is meant to give users the opportunity to examine the data for possibly interesting science and to involve the users in improving the pipeline for future data releases. To perform the latter service, users are encouraged to notice and document artifacts, either in the raw or processed data, and report them to the Science Office.

  4. Kepler Mission: Current Status

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borucki, William J.; Koch, D. G.; Lissauer, J. J.; Bryson, S.; Natalie, B.; Caldwell, D. A.; DeVore, E.; Jenkins, J. M.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Cochran, W. D.; Dunham, E. W.; Gautier, T. N.; Geary, J. C.; Latham, D. W.; Sasselov, D.; Gilliland, R. L.; Gould, A.; Howell, S. B.; Monet, D. G.

    2007-12-01

    Kepler is a Discovery-class mission designed to determine the frequency of Earth-size planets in and near the habitable zone of solar-like stars. The instrument consists of a high precision photometer with Schmidt-type optics and a focal plane containing 95 million pixels to monitor over 100,000 stars to search for patterns of transits generated by planets as small as Mars. The recent reduction in the mission duration is discussed with regard to the impact on the expected science product and null statistics. Both terrestrial and giant planets discoveries will be followed up with ground-based Doppler-velocity observations to determine mass and density. The first meeting of Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium was held in Paris to organize an international team to analyze the Kepler data to determine the characteristics of the brighter target stars including their size and age. Stellar size determinations accurate to a few percent are expected. These will allow very accurate planet sizes to be determined from the depth of the transit signals. NASA HQ received thirty six proposals for the Participating Scientist Program and chose several new members to join the Science Team. Both the 0.95 m Schmidt corrector and 1.4 m aperture primary mirror have been completed and delivered for integration into the photometer. The focal plane with forty-two science CCD detectors and their processing electronics has been assembled and tested. The spacecraft assembly has begun with the mounting of the reaction control system, reaction wheels, attitude determination & control system, and power systems. Both the photometer and spacecraft are nearing final assembly with all subsystems having passed their environmental and performance testing. The photometer to spacecraft integration will begin this spring. The Mission is on schedule for a launch in February 2009. The Kepler Mission is funded by the NASA Astrophysics Division, Science Mission Directorate.

  5. KEPLER OBSERVATIONS OF THE SEYFERT 1 GALAXY II ZW 229.015

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Carini, M. T.; Ryle, Wesley T., E-mail: mike.carini@wku.edu

    2012-04-10

    The Seyfert 1 galaxy II ZW 229.015 has been observed with the Kepler spacecraft since quarter 4 of Kepler science operations. The results of the quarters 4-7 (1 year) Kepler observations are presented in this paper. We find the source to be highly variable on multiple timescales, with discrete variations occurring on timescales as short as tens of hours with amplitudes as small as 0.5%. Such small amplitude, rapid variability has never before been detected in active galactic nuclei. The presence of a strong galaxy component dilutes the variability determined from the photometric aperture used in the standard Kepler PDCmore » analysis. Using the tools provided by the Kepler Guest Observer Office and simultaneous V-band photometry found in the literature, we determine an optimal customized aperture for photometry of this source with Kepler. The results of a PSRESP analysis reveal tentative evidence of a characteristic variability timescale in the power spectrum. Using this timescale, we estimate the mass of the central supermassive black hole and this estimate is consistent with the virial mass estimate from reverberation mapping studies.« less

  6. The TESS science processing operations center

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.; Twicken, Joseph D.; McCauliff, Sean; Campbell, Jennifer; Sanderfer, Dwight; Lung, David; Mansouri-Samani, Masoud; Girouard, Forrest; Tenenbaum, Peter; Klaus, Todd; Smith, Jeffrey C.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Chacon, A. D.; Henze, Christopher; Heiges, Cory; Latham, David W.; Morgan, Edward; Swade, Daryl; Rinehart, Stephen; Vanderspek, Roland

    2016-08-01

    The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will conduct a search for Earth's closest cousins starting in early 2018 and is expected to discover 1,000 small planets with Rp < 4 R⊕ and measure the masses of at least 50 of these small worlds. The Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) is being developed at NASA Ames Research Center based on the Kepler science pipeline and will generate calibrated pixels and light curves on the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division's Pleiades supercomputer. The SPOC will also search for periodic transit events and generate validation products for the transit-like features in the light curves. All TESS SPOC data products will be archived to the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST).

  7. Science from Kepler Collateral Data: 50 Kilosecond per Year from 13 Million Stars

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kolodziejczak, J. J.; Caldwell, D. A.

    2012-01-01

    As each Kepler frame is read out, light from each star in a CCD column accumulates in successive pixels as they wait for the next row to be read out. This accumulation is the same in the masked rows at the start of the readout and virtual rows at the end of the readout as it is in the science data. A range of these "smear" rows are added together for each long cadence and sent to the ground for calibration purposes. We will introduce and describe this smear collateral data, discuss and demonstrate its potential use for scientific studies exclusive of Kepler calibration,[1,2] including global characteristics of stellar variability, which are influenced by parameters of galactic evolution.

  8. The TESS Science Processing Operations Center

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.; Twicken, Joseph D.; McCauliff, Sean; Campbell, Jennifer; Sanderfer, Dwight; Lung, David; Mansouri-Samani, Masoud; Girouard, Forrest; Tenenbaum, Peter; Klaus, Todd; hide

    2016-01-01

    The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will conduct a search for Earth's closest cousins starting in early 2018 and is expected to discover approximately 1,000 small planets with R(sub p) less than 4 (solar radius) and measure the masses of at least 50 of these small worlds. The Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) is being developed at NASA Ames Research Center based on the Kepler science pipeline and will generate calibrated pixels and light curves on the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division's Pleiades supercomputer. The SPOC will also search for periodic transit events and generate validation products for the transit-like features in the light curves. All TESS SPOC data products will be archived to the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST).

  9. Teacher Professional Development: Lessons Learned from Six Kepler Mission Workshops

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    DeVore, Edna; Harman, P.; Gould, A.; Koch, D.

    2010-01-01

    NASA's Kepler Mission conducted teacher professional development workshops on the search for exoplanets in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. During late 2008 and into 2009, six workshops were conducted surrounding the launch of the Kepler Mission. These were a part of the Kepler Mission's outreach honoring the International Year of Astronomy. Each workshop was supported by a Kepler team scientist, two Education & Public Outreach staff and local hosts. Activities combined a science content lecture and discussion, making models, kinesthetic activities, and interpretation of transit data. The emphasis was on inquiry-based instruction and supported science education standards in grades 7-12. Participants’ kit included an orrery, optical sensor and software to demonstrate transit detection. The workshop plan, teaching strategies, and lessons learned from evaluation will be discussed. The Kepler Mission teacher professional development workshops were designed using the best practices and principals from the National Science Education Standards and similar documents. Sharing the outcome of our plans, strategies and evaluation results can be of use to other Education and Public Outreach practitioners who plan similar events. In sharing our experiences, we hope to assist others, and to learn from them as well. Future events are planned. Supported by NASA Grants to the SETI Institute: NAG2-6066 Kepler Education and Public Outreach and NNX08BA74G, IYA Kepler Mission Pre-launch Workshops.

  10. Johannes Kepler on Christmas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kemp, Martin

    2009-12-01

    Kepler's interpretation of the supernova of 1604, De Stella Nova, interwove the science of astronomy with astrology and theology in an attempt to determine the correct birthdate of Jesus, explains Martin Kemp.

  11. NASA's Kepler Mission: Lessons Learned from Teacher Professional Development Workshops

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Devore, E.; Harman, P.; Koch, D.; Gould, A.

    2010-08-01

    NASA's Kepler Mission conducts teacher professional development workshops on the search for exoplanets in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. Each is supported by a Kepler team scientist, two Education and Public Outreach staff and local hosts. Activities combine a science content lecture and discussion, making models, kinesthetic activities, and interpretation of transit data. The emphasis is on inquiry-based instruction and supports science education standards in grades 7-12. Participants' kit includes an orrery, optical sensor and software to demonstrate transit detection. The workshop plan, teaching strategies, and lessons learned from evaluation will be discussed. Future events are planned. The Kepler Mission teacher professional development workshops are designed using the best practices and principals from the National Science Education Standards and similar documents. Sharing the outcome of our plans, strategies and formative evaluation results can be of use to other Education and Public Outreach practitioners who plan similar events. In sharing our experiences, we hope to assist others, and to learn from them as well. Supported by NASA Grants to the E. DeVore, SETI Institute NAG2-6066 Kepler Education and Public Outreach and NNX08BA74G, IYA Kepler Mission Pre-launch Workshops.

  12. Improving Kepler Pipeline Sensitivity with Pixel Response Function Photometry.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morris, Robert L.; Bryson, Steve; Jenkins, Jon Michael; Smith, Jeffrey C

    2014-06-01

    We present the results of our investigation into the feasibility and expected benefits of implementing PRF-fitting photometry in the Kepler Science Processing Pipeline. The Kepler Pixel Response Function (PRF) describes the expected system response to a point source at infinity and includes the effects of the optical point spread function, the CCD detector responsivity function, and spacecraft pointing jitter. Planet detection in the Kepler pipeline is currently based on simple aperture photometry (SAP), which is most effective when applied to uncrowded bright stars. Its effectiveness diminishes rapidly as target brightness decreases relative to the effects of noise sources such as detector electronics, background stars, and image motion. In contrast, PRF photometry is based on fitting an explicit model of image formation to the data and naturally accounts for image motion and contributions of background stars. The key to obtaining high-quality photometry from PRF fitting is a high-quality model of the system's PRF, while the key to efficiently processing the large number of Kepler targets is an accurate catalog and accurate mapping of celestial coordinates onto the focal plane. If the CCD coordinates of stellar centroids are known a priori then the problem of PRF fitting becomes linear. A model of the Kepler PRF was constructed at the time of spacecraft commissioning by fitting piecewise polynomial surfaces to data from dithered full frame images. While this model accurately captured the initial state of the system, the PRF has evolved dynamically since then and has been seen to deviate significantly from the initial (static) model. We construct a dynamic PRF model which is then used to recover photometry for all targets of interest. Both simulation tests and results from Kepler flight data demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. Kepler was selected as the 10th mission of the Discovery Program. Funding for this mission is provided by NASA’s Science

  13. A Planet Hunters Search of the Kepler TCE Inventory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwamb, Meg; Lintott, Chris; Fischer, Debra; Smith, Arfon; Boyajian, Tabetha; Brewer, John; Giguere, Matt; Lynn, Stuart; Schawinski, Kevin; Simpson, Rob; Wang, Ji

    2013-07-01

    NASA's Kepler spacecraft has spent the past 4 years monitoring ~160,000 stars for the signatures of transiting exoplanets. Planet Hunters (http://www.planethunters.org), part of the Zooniverse (http://www.zooniverse.org) collection of citizen science projects, uses the power of human pattern recognition via the World Wide Web to identify transits in the Kepler public data. We have demonstrated the success of a citizen science approach with the project's discoveries including PH1 b, a transiting circumbinary planet in a four star system., and over 20 previously unknown planet candidates. The Kepler team has released the list of 18,406 potential transit signals or threshold-crossing events (TCEs) identified in Quarters 1-12 (~1000 days) by their automated Transit Planet Search (TPS) algorithm. The majority of these detections found by TPS are triggered by transient events and are not valid planet candidates. To identify planetary candidates from the detected TCEs, a human review of the validation reports, generated by the Kepler pipeline for each TCE, is performed by several Kepler team members. We have undertaken an independent crowd-sourced effort to perform a systematic search of the Kepler Q1-12 TCE list. With the Internet we can obtain multiple assessments of each TCE's data validation report. Planet Hunters volunteers evaluate whether a transit is visible in the Kepler light curve folded on the expected period identified by TPS. We present the first results of this analysis.

  14. Ground-based follow-up in relation to Kepler asteroseismic investigation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Uytterhoeven, K.; Briquet, M.; Bruntt, H.; De Cat, P.; Frandsen, S.; Gutiérrez-Soto, J.; Kiss, L.; Kurtz, D. W.; Marconi, M.; Molenda-Żakowicz, J.; Østensen, R.; Randall, S.; Southworth, J.; Szabó, R.

    2010-12-01

    based on observations collected at the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). We acknowledge with thanks the variable star observations from the AAVSO International Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this research. Funding for the Kepler mission is provided by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. We thank the entire Kepler team for the development and operations of this outstanding mission.

  15. From emblems to diagrams: Kepler's new pictorial language of scientific representation.

    PubMed

    Chen-Morris, Raz

    2009-01-01

    Kepler's treatise on optics of 1604 furnished, along with technical solutions to problems in medieval perspective, a mathematically-based visual language for the observation of nature. This language, based on Kepler's theory of retinal pictures, ascribed a new role to geometrical diagrams. This paper examines Kepler's pictorial language against the backdrop of alchemical emblems that flourished in and around the court of Rudolf II in Prague. It highlights the cultural context in which Kepler's optics was immersed, and the way in which Kepler attempted to demarcate his new science from other modes of the investigation of nature.

  16. Characterization and Validation of Transiting Planets in the Kepler and TESS Pipelines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Twicken, Joseph; Brownston, Lee; Catanzarite, Joseph; Clarke, Bruce; Cote, Miles; Girouard, Forrest; Li, Jie; McCauliff, Sean; Seader, Shawn; Tenenbaum, Peter; Wohler, Bill; Jenkins, Jon Michael; Batalha, Natalie; Bryson, Steve; Burke, Christopher; Caldwell, Douglas

    2015-08-01

    Light curves for Kepler targets are searched for transiting planet signatures in the Transiting Planet Search (TPS) component of the Science Operations Center (SOC) Processing Pipeline. Targets for which the detection threshold is exceeded are subsequently processed in the Data Validation (DV) Pipeline component. The primary functions of DV are to (1) characterize planets identified in the transiting planet search, (2) search for additional transiting planet signatures in light curves after modeled transit signatures have been removed, and (3) perform a comprehensive suite of diagnostic tests to aid in discrimination between true transiting planets and false positive detections. DV output products include extensive reports by target, one-page report summaries by planet candidate, and tabulated planet model fit and diagnostic test results. The DV products are employed by humans and automated systems to vet planet candidates identified in the pipeline. The final revision of the Kepler SOC codebase (9.3) was released in March 2015. It will be utilized to reprocess the complete Q1-Q17 data set later this year. At the same time, the SOC Pipeline codebase is being ported to support the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission. TESS is expected to launch in 2017 and survey the entire sky for transiting exoplanets over a period of two years. We describe the final revision of the Kepler Data Validation component with emphasis on the diagnostic tests and reports. This revision also serves as the DV baseline for TESS. The diagnostic tests exploit the flux (i.e., light curve), centroid and pixel time series associated with each target to facilitate the determination of the true origin of each purported transiting planet signature. Candidate planet detections and DV products for Kepler are delivered to the Exoplanet Archive at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI). The Exoplanet Archive is located at exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu. Funding for the Kepler

  17. Homogeneous Photodynamical Analysis of Kepler's Multiply-Transiting Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ragozzine, Darin

    To search for planets more like our own, NASA s Kepler Space Telescope ( Kepler ) discovered thousands of exoplanet candidates that cross in front of ( transit ) their parent stars (e.g., Twicken et al. 2016). The Kepler exoplanet data represent an incredible observational leap forward as evidenced by hundreds of papers with thousands of citations. In particular, systems with multiple transiting planets combine the determination of physical properties of exoplanets (e.g., radii), the context provided by the system architecture, and insights from orbital dynamics. Such systems are the most information-rich exoplanetary systems (Ragozzine & Holman 2010). Thanks to Kepler s revolutionary dataset, understanding these Multi-Transiting Systems (MTSs) enables a wide variety of major science questions. In conclusion, existing analyses of MTSs are incomplete and suboptimal and our efficient and timely proposal will provide significant scientific gains ( 100 new mass measurements and 100 updated mass measurements). Furthermore, our homogeneous analysis enables future statistical analyses, including those necessary to characterize the small planet mass-radius relation with implications for understanding the formation, evolution, and habitability of planets. The overarching goal of this proposal is a complete homogeneous investigation of Kepler MTSs to provide detailed measurements (or constraints) on exoplanetary physical and orbital properties. Current investigations do not exploit the full power of the Kepler data; here we propose to use better data (Short Cadence observations), better methods (photodynamical modeling), and a better statistical method (Bayesian Differential Evolution Markov Chain Monte Carlo) in a homogenous analysis of all 700 Kepler MTSs. These techniques are particularly valuable for understanding small terrestrial planets. We propose to extract the near-maximum amount of information from these systems through a series of three research objectives

  18. Planet Detection: The Kepler Mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.; Smith, Jeffrey C.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Twicken, Joseph D.; Van Cleve, Jeffrey

    2012-03-01

    and another 1100 pixels containing virtual smear measurements used to remove artifacts caused by the lack of a shutter and a finite 0.51-s readout time; and 1070 trailing black measurements that monitor the bias voltage presented at the input of the analog-to-digital converter so that the zero point can be restored to the digitized data during processing [24]. There are a total of up to 6,092,680 pixels containing the stellar and collateral data collected for each LC, with 48 LCs/day. While only 512 SC targets are defined at any given time, there are 30 SC intervals for each LC interval, and an average of 85 pixels are allocated for each SC target star. Smear and black-level measurements are collected for each SC target, but only for the rows and columns occupied by SC stellar target pixels. Approximately 21% of the pixel data returned by Kepler are SC data. The total data rate for both LC and SC data is 1.3 GB/day when the data are expanded to 4 bytes/pixel from the compressed bit stream. Raw pixel data are downlinked at monthly intervals through National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Deep Space Network (DSN) and routed through the ground system to the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Ames Research Center. The SOC performs a number of critical functions for the mission, including management of the target definitions which specify the pixels needed for each stellar target and the compression tables that allow a ˜5:1 compression of the science data onboard the SSR (from 23 bits/pixel to 4.6 bits/pixel), but its two major tasks are to: 1. Process raw pixel data to produce archival science data products, including calibrated pixels, measurements of the location or centroid of each star in each frame, flux time series representing the brightness of each star in each data frame, and systematic error-corrected flux time series that have instrumental artifacts removed. 2. Search each target-star light curve to identify transit-like features

  19. Reborn Kepler Discovers First K2 Exoplanet Artist Concept

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-12-18

    This artist concept shows NASA planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft operating in a new mission profile called K2. Using publicly available data, astronomers have confirmed K2 first exoplanet discovery proving Kepler can still find planets.

  20. Passing NASA's Planet Quest Baton from Kepler to TESS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, J.

    Kepler vaulted into the heavens on March 7, 2009, initiating NASAs search for Earth- size planets orbiting Sun-like stars in the habitable zone, where liquid water could exist on a rocky planetary surface. In the 4 years since Kepler began science operations, a flood of photometric data on upwards of 190,000 stars of unprecedented precision and continuity has provoked a watershed of 134+ confirmed or validated planets, 3200+ planetary candidates (most sub-Neptune in size and many compara- ble to or smaller than Earth), and a resounding revolution in asteroseismology and astrophysics. The most recent discoveries include Kepler-62 with 5 planets total of which 2 are in the habitable zone with radii of 1.4 and 1.7 Re. The focus of the mission is shifting towards how to rapidly vet the 18,000+ threshold crossing events produced with each transiting planet search, and towards those studies that will allow us to understand what the data are saying about the prevalence of planets in the solar neighborhood and throughout the galaxy. This talk will provide an overview of the science results from the Kepler Mission and the work ahead to derive the frequency of Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars from the treasure trove of Kepler data. NASAs quest for exoplanets continues with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satel- lite (TESS) mission, slated for launch in May 2017 by NASAs Explorer Program. TESS will conduct an all-sky transit survey to identify the 1000 best small exoplanets in the solar neighborhood for follow up observations and characterization. TESSs targets will include all F, G, K dwarfs from +4 to +12 magnitude and all M dwarfs known within ˜200 light-years. 500,000 target stars will be observed over two years with ˜500 square degrees observed continuously for a year in each hemisphere in the James Webb Space Telescopes continuously viewable zones. Since the typical TESS target star is 5 magnitudes brighter than Kepler’s and 10 times

  1. Kepler Mission Website: Portal to the International Year of Astronomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harman, Pamela; DeVore, E.; Gould, A.; Koch, D.

    2008-05-01

    The 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope is an opportunity to turn the public's eyes skyward and to the universe beyond the solar system. The Kepler Mission, launching in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy (IYA) will is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone, using the transit method of detection. The habitable zone encompasses the distances from a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface. Results from this mission will allow us to place our solar system within the continuum of planetary systems in the Galaxy. The Kepler Mission is a NASA Discovery Program Mission. The Kepler Mission website http://www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov/ offers classroom activity lesson plans Detecting Planet Transits, The Human Orrery, and Morning Star and Evening Star. The activities are suitable for the informal science education realm. The spacecraft paper model and LEGO model orrerey can be used in the classroom by teachers or at home by families. The mission simulation and animation, as well as lessons and models highlight the science concepts critical to employing the transit method of detection, Kepler's Laws. The Send Your Name to Space on Kepler Spacecraft provides a certificate of participation for all individuals that submit there name to be listed on a DVD placed on the spacecraft. This poster will provide details on each of the items described.

  2. Comet 67P Seen by Kepler

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2016-10-07

    The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission concluded its study of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Sept. 30, 2016. NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft observed the comet during the final month of the Rosetta mission, while the comet was not visible from Earth. This animation is composed of images from Kepler of the comet. From Sept. 7 through Sept. 20, the Kepler spacecraft, operating in its K2 mission, fixed its gaze on comet 67P. From the distant vantage point of Kepler, the comet's nucleus and tail could be observed. The long-range view from Kepler complements the closeup view of the Rosetta spacecraft, providing context for the high-resolution investigation Rosetta performed as it descended closer and closer to the comet. During the two-week period of study, Kepler took a picture of the comet every 30 minutes. The animation shows a period of 29.5 hours of observation from Sept. 17 thru Sept. 18. The comet is seen passing through Kepler's field of view from top right to bottom left, as outlined by the diagonal strip. The white dots represent stars and other regions in space studied during K2's tenth observing campaign. As a comet travels through space it sheds a tail of gas and dust. The more material that is shed, the more surface area there is to reflect sunlight. A comet's activity level can be obtained by measuring the reflected sunlight. Analyzing the Kepler data, scientists will be able to determine the amount of mass lost each day as comet 67P travels through the solar system. An animation is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21072

  3. Kepler

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Howell, Steve B.

    2011-01-01

    The NASA Kepler mission recently announced over 1200 exoplanet candidates. While some are common Hot Jupiters, a large number are Neptune size and smaller, transit depths suggest sizes down to the radius of Earth. The Kepler project has a fairly high confidence that most of these candidates are real exoplanets. Many analysis steps and lessons learned from Kepler light curves are used during the vetting process. This talk will cover some new results in the areas of stellar variability, solar systems with multiple planets, and how transit-like signatures are vetted for false positives, especially those indicative of small planets.

  4. Kepler Discovery

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-02

    Douglas Hudgins, a Kepler Program Scientist, speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Scientists using NASA's Kepler, a space telescope, recently discovered six planets made of a mix of rock and gases orbiting a single sun-like star, known as Kepler-11, which is located approximately 2,000 light years from Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  5. Kepler: A Search for Terrestrial Planets - Kepler Data Characterization Handbook

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Christiansen, J. L.; Jenkins, J. M.; Caldwell, D. A.; Barclay, T.; Bryson, S. T.; Burke, C. J.; Campbell, J.; Catanzarite, J.; Clarke, B. D.; hide

    2016-01-01

    The Kepler Data Characteristics Handbook (KDCH) provides a description of all phenomena identified in the Kepler data throughout the mission, and an explanation for how these characteristics are handled by the final version of the Kepler Data Processing Pipeline (SOC 9.3).The KDCH complements the Kepler Data Release Notes (KDRNs), which document phenomena and processing unique to a data release. The original motivation for this separation into static, explanatory text and a more journalistic set of figures and tables in the KDRN was for the user to become familiar with the Data Characteristics Handbook, then peruse the short Notes for a new quarter, referring back to the Handbook when necessary. With the completion of the Kepler mission and the final Data Release 25, both the KDCH and the DRN encompass the entire Kepler mission, so the distinction between them is in the level of exposition, not the extent of the time interval discussed.

  6. Kepler's Third Law and NASA's "Kepler Mission"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gould, Alan; Komatsu, Toshi; DeVore, Edna; Harman, Pamela; Koch, David

    2015-01-01

    NASA's "Kepler Mission" has been wildly successful in discovering exoplanets. This paper summarizes the mission goals, briefly explains the transit method of finding exoplanets and design of the mission, provides some key findings, and describes useful education materials available at the "Kepler" website.

  7. Kepler Discovery

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-02

    A scale model of the Kepler space telescope is seen at a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Scientists using NASA's Kepler, a space telescope, recently discovered six planets made of a mix of rock and gases orbiting a single sun-like star, known as Kepler-11, which is located approximately 2,000 light years from Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  8. Transiting circumbinary planets Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b.

    PubMed

    Welsh, William F; Orosz, Jerome A; Carter, Joshua A; Fabrycky, Daniel C; Ford, Eric B; Lissauer, Jack J; Prša, Andrej; Quinn, Samuel N; Ragozzine, Darin; Short, Donald R; Torres, Guillermo; Winn, Joshua N; Doyle, Laurance R; Barclay, Thomas; Batalha, Natalie; Bloemen, Steven; Brugamyer, Erik; Buchhave, Lars A; Caldwell, Caroline; Caldwell, Douglas A; Christiansen, Jessie L; Ciardi, David R; Cochran, William D; Endl, Michael; Fortney, Jonathan J; Gautier, Thomas N; Gilliland, Ronald L; Haas, Michael R; Hall, Jennifer R; Holman, Matthew J; Howard, Andrew W; Howell, Steve B; Isaacson, Howard; Jenkins, Jon M; Klaus, Todd C; Latham, David W; Li, Jie; Marcy, Geoffrey W; Mazeh, Tsevi; Quintana, Elisa V; Robertson, Paul; Shporer, Avi; Steffen, Jason H; Windmiller, Gur; Koch, David G; Borucki, William J

    2012-01-11

    Most Sun-like stars in the Galaxy reside in gravitationally bound pairs of stars (binaries). Although long anticipated, the existence of a 'circumbinary planet' orbiting such a pair of normal stars was not definitively established until the discovery of the planet transiting (that is, passing in front of) Kepler-16. Questions remained, however, about the prevalence of circumbinary planets and their range of orbital and physical properties. Here we report two additional transiting circumbinary planets: Kepler-34 (AB)b and Kepler-35 (AB)b, referred to here as Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b, respectively. Each is a low-density gas-giant planet on an orbit closely aligned with that of its parent stars. Kepler-34 b orbits two Sun-like stars every 289 days, whereas Kepler-35 b orbits a pair of smaller stars (89% and 81% of the Sun's mass) every 131 days. The planets experience large multi-periodic variations in incident stellar radiation arising from the orbital motion of the stars. The observed rate of circumbinary planets in our sample implies that more than ∼1% of close binary stars have giant planets in nearly coplanar orbits, yielding a Galactic population of at least several million.

  9. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    Jim Fanson, Kepler project manager, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. holds a model of the Kepler spacecraft as he talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  10. Kepler Fine Guidance Sensor Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Campbell, Jennifer Roseanna

    2017-01-01

    The Kepler and K2 missions collected Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) data in addition to the science data, as discussed in the Kepler Instrument Handbook (KIH, Van Cleve and Caldwell 2016). The FGS CCDs are frame transfer devices (KIH Table 7) located in the corners of the Kepler focal plane (KIH Figure 24), which are read out 10 times every second. The FGS data are being made available to the user community for scientific analysis as flux and centroid time series, along with a limited number of FGS full frame images which may be useful for constructing a World Coordinate System (WCS) or otherwise putting the time series data in context. This document will describe the data content and file format, and give example MATLAB scripts to read the time series. There are three file types delivered as the FGS data.1. Flux and Centroid (FLC) data: time series of star signal and centroid data. 2. Ancillary FGS Reference (AFR) data: catalog of information about the observed stars in the FLC data. 3. FGS Full-Frame Image (FGI) data: full-frame image snapshots of the FGS CCDs.

  11. Inferring Planet Occurrence Rates With a Q1-Q16 Kepler Planet Candidate Catalog Produced by a Machine Learning Classifier

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Catanzarite, Joseph; Jenkins, Jon Michael; Burke, Christopher J.; McCauliff, Sean D.; Kepler Science Operations Center

    2015-01-01

    NASA's Kepler Space Telescope monitored the photometric variations of over 170,000 stars within a ~100 square degree field in the constellation Cygnus, at half-hour cadence, over its four year prime mission. The Kepler SOC (Science Operations Center) pipeline calibrates the pixels of the target apertures for each star, corrects light curves for systematic error, and detects TCEs (threshold-crossing events) that may be due to transiting planets. Finally the pipeline estimates planet parameters for all TCEs and computes quantitative diagnostics that are used by the TCERT (Threshold Crossing Event Review Team) to produce a catalog containing KOIs (Kepler Objects of Interest). KOIs are TCEs that are determined to be either likely transiting planets or astrophysical false positives such as background eclipsing binary stars. Using examples from the Q1-Q16 TCERT KOI catalog as a training set, we created a machine-learning classifier that dispositions the TCEs into categories of PC (planet candidate), AFP (astrophysical false positive) and NTP (non-transiting phenomenon). The classifier uniformly and consistently applies heuristics developed by TCERT as well as other diagnostics to the Q1-Q16 TCEs to produce a more robust and reliable catalog of planet candidates than is possible with only human classification. In this work, we estimate planet occurrence rates, based on the machine-learning-produced catalog of Kepler planet candidates. Kepler was selected as the 10th mission of the Discovery Program. Funding for this mission is provided by NASA, Science Mission Directorate.

  12. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    Jim Fanson, Kepler project manager, right, talks about the Kepler mission as William Borucki, left, listens during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  13. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    Jim Fanson, Kepler project manager, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  14. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    Jim Fanson, Kepler project manager, center, talks about the Kepler mission as William Borucki, left, and Debra Fischer, right, listen during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  15. Kepler Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-08-05

    William Bo-Ricki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  16. Speckle Imaging and Spectroscopy of Kepler Exo-planet Transit Candidate Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Howell, Steve B.; Sherry, William; Horch, Elliott; Doyle, Laurance

    2010-02-01

    The NASA Kepler mission was successfully launched on 6 March 2009 and has begun science operations. Commissioning tests done early on in the mission have shown that for the bright sources, 10-15 ppm relative photometry can be achieved. This level assures we will detect Earth- like transits if they are present. ``Hot Jupiter" and similar large planet candidates have already been discovered and will be discussed at the Jan. AAS meeting as well as in a special issue of Science magazine to appear near years end. The plethora of variability observed is astounding and includes a number of eclipsing binaries which appear to have Jupiter and smaller size objects as an orbiting their body. Our proposal consists of three highly related objectives: 1) To continue our highly successful speckle imaging program which is a major component of defense to weed out false positive candidate transiting planets found by Kepler and move the rest to probable or certain exo-planet detections; 2) To obtain low resolution ``discovery" type spectra for planet candidate stars in order to provide spectral type and luminosity class indicators as well as a first look triage to eliminate binaries and rapid rotators; and 3) to obtain ~1Aresolution time ordered spectra of eclipsing binaries that are exo-planet candidates in order to obtain the velocity solution for the binary star, allowing its signal to be modeled and removed from the Keck or HET exo-planet velocity search. As of this writing, Kepler has produced a list of 227 exo-planet candidates which require false positive decision tree observations. Our proposed effort performs much of the first line of defense for the mission.

  17. Transiting circumbinary planets Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Welsh, William F.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Carter, Joshua A.

    Most Sun-like stars in the Galaxy reside in gravitationally-bound pairs of stars called 'binary stars'. While long anticipated, the existence of a 'circumbinary planet' orbiting such a pair of normal stars was not definitively established until the discovery of Kepler-16. Incontrovertible evidence was provided by the miniature eclipses ('transits') of the stars by the planet. However, questions remain about the prevalence of circumbinary planets and their range of orbital and physical properties. Here we present two additional transiting circumbinary planets, Kepler-34 and Kepler-35. Each is a low-density gas giant planet on an orbit closely aligned with that of its parentmore » stars. Kepler-34 orbits two Sun-like stars every 289 days, while Kepler-35 orbits a pair of smaller stars (89% and 81% of the Sun's mass) every 131 days. Due to the orbital motion of the stars, the planets experience large multi-periodic variations in incident stellar radiation. The observed rate of circumbinary planets implies > ~1% of close binary stars have giant planets in nearly coplanar orbits, yielding a Galactic population of at least several million.« less

  18. Kepler Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-08-05

    Jon Morse, NASA's Astrophysics Division Director, left, speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March asWilliam Bo-Ricki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, looks on. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  19. Devil in the Details: Investigating Astrophysical Phenomena with Kepler Light Curves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon Michael; SOC, Kepler; SO, Kepler; Kepler Science Team

    2011-05-01

    The light curves produced by the Kepler photometer are unprecedented in their photometric precision, completeness, and contiguity. Moreover, although Kepler was designed to detect 100 ppm changes in brightness corresponding to transits of Earth-size planets crossing Sun-size stars, the Kepler light curves preserve intrinsic intensity variations across a large dynamic range, including those of RR Lyrae stars, which can increase their brightness by more than a factor of two over a few hours. The large dynamic range and phenomenal photometric precision of Kepler promises to revolutionize the study of intrinsic stellar variability and a wide variety of variable stars on timescales from minutes to several years. In this paper, we describe the science pipeline processing that produces the uncorrected and the systematic error-corrected light curves, and give examples of residual instrumental artifacts that can be found in the data, such as those caused by thermal changes due to the position of the spacecraft with relation to the sun or heaters cycling on and off on various spacecraft components (which can change the shape of the telescope and alter its focus), as well as examples of processing artifacts that can occur. We also describe algorithms in development that promise to improve our ability to identify and remove instrumental signatures and further reduce the incidence of processing artifacts in the archival light curves, thereby increasing the usability of the corrected light curves for astrophysical investigations. Kepler was selected as the 10th mission of the Discovery Program. Funding for this mission is provided by the NASA Science Mission Directorate.

  20. Kepler's mathematization of Cosmology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Field, Judith V.

    The paper concerns with mathematical knowledge of Johannes Kepler. A part of the paper describes the mathematical education of Kepler which includes the Euclidean geometry and texts by Ptolemy. The first He knew from the Proclus' Commentary which was published in 1533. The author is pointing out that Kepler's epistemology was close to Plato's. The "polyhedral archetype" is discussed in detail. The greatest error was in the case of Mercury (~20%) Kepler's reaction was otherwise absolutely what one would exopect of a theoretician in the twentieth century: he suggested that better observations would imoprouve matter. The author make an analogy with modern discussions on metal abundances in the outer layers of old stars. The author is mentioning also that the Kepler's version of Copernicus' system is noticeably different from Copernicus' original one, including important improvements.

  1. Kepler Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-08-05

    William Bo-Ricki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, second from left, speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March as Jon Morse, NASA's Astrophysics Division Director, left, looks on. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  2. Kepler Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-08-05

    William Bo-Ricki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center, second from left, is joined by Jon Morse, left, Sara Seager, and Alan Boss while speaking at a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  3. Destination Innovation: Episode 1 Kepler: Discovering New Worlds

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-01-06

    Destination Innovation is a new series that explores the research, science and other projects underway at the NASA Ames Research Center. Episode 1 focuses on the Kepler Mission, a space telescope that is revolutionizing our knowledge of planets outside our Solar System.

  4. Kepler Confirms First Earth-Sized Planet Outside Our Solar System (Kepler-20) (Reporter Package)

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-12-19

    NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed the discovery of the first Earth-size planets outside our solar system orbiting a sun-like star. Located about 1,000 light years from Earth, the Kepler-20 solar system has five planets orbiting a star similar to the Sun. Kepler-20f, the 4th planet in the system, is about 90 percent the size of Earth. Kepler-20f is slightly larger than Earth,with a radius that is 3 percent larger.

  5. One Hundred Thousand Eyes: Analysis of Kepler Archival Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fischer, Debra

    We are using a powerful resource, more than 100,000 eyes of users on the successful Planet Hunters Web project, who will identify the best follow-up science targets for this ADAP proposal among the Kepler public archive light curves. Planet Hunters is a Citizen Science program with a user base of more than 50,000 individuals who have already contributed the 24/7 cumulative equivalent of 200 human years assessing Kepler data. They independently identified most of the Kepler candidates with radii greater than 3-4 REARTH and they detected ten transiting planet candidates that were missed by the Kepler pipeline algorithms, including two circumbinary transiting planet candidates. These detections have provided important feedback for the Kepler algorithms about possible leaks where candidates might be lost. Our scientific follow up program will use Planet Hunter classifications of archival data from the Kepler Mission to: "Detect and model new transiting planets: for radii greater than 3 4 REARTH and orbital periods longer than one year, the Planet Hunters should be quite competitive with automated pipelines that require at least 3 transits for a detection and fill in the parameter space for Neptune-size planets over a wide range of orbital periods. For stars where a single transit can be modeled as a long period planet, we will establish a watch list for future transits. We will carry out checks for false positives (pixel centroiding analysis, AO observations, Doppler measurements where appropriate). "Analyze the completeness statistics for Kepler transits and independently determine a corrected planet occurrence rate as a function of planet radius and orbital period. This will be done by injecting synthetic transits into real Kepler light curves and calculating the efficiency with which the transits are detected by Planet Hunters. "Model the full spectroscopic and photometric orbital solutions for a set of ~60 detached eclipsing binary systems with low mass K and M

  6. Kepler's "War on Mars"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dorsey, William; Orchiston, W.; Stephenson, F. R.

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents an interpretation of how Johannes Kepler changed the study of astronomy. We propose that in his metaphorical "War on Mars,” the Astronomia Nova, Kepler used a revolutionary rhetoric to bring about the usurpation of seventeenth-century astronomy. We discuss how Kepler approached the well-established conceptual framework within which the hypotheses of Ptolemy, Copernicus and Tycho Brahe functioned, and how he sought comprehensive physical principles that could determine the true cause and form of the known Universe. We examine Kepler's need to redefine reality and his use of rhetoric in shaping his astronomical argument for a new astronomy, and we show that his new `laws’ represent a fusion of physics and geometry based upon astronomical observations. We suggest that although Kepler may have believed in and defended some Copernican ideas, his innovative Astronomia Nova opened up a whole new vista for international astronomy.

  7. Kepler Diamond Mine of Stars

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-04-16

    stars. Blooming is an expected side effect of Kepler's ultra-sensitive camera. Some of the lightly saturated stars are candidates for planet searches, while those that are heavily saturated are not. The grid lines across the picture show how the focal plane is laid out on Kepler's camera —the largest ever launched in space at 95 megapixels. There are 42 charge-coupled devices (CCDs), paired into square-shaped modules, whose outline can be seen in the image. A thin black line in each module shows adjacent pairs of CCDs. The thicker black lines that cross through the image are from structures holding the modules together, and were purposely oriented to block out the very brightest stars in Kepler's field of view. The four black corners of the image show where the fine-guidance sensors reside on the focal plane. These sensors are used to hold the telescope's gaze steady by measuring its position on the sky 10 times every second, and by feeding this information to the spacecraft's attitude control system. Ghost images also appear in the image, which are reflections off the lenses above the CCDs. These expected artifacts were mapped out during ground testing for Kepler, and will not affect science observations because they will be removed as the data are processed. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11984

  8. Kepler Data Validation I—Architecture, Diagnostic Tests, and Data Products for Vetting Transiting Planet Candidates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Twicken, Joseph D.; Catanzarite, Joseph H.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Girouard, Forrest; Jenkins, Jon M.; Klaus, Todd C.; Li, Jie; McCauliff, Sean D.; Seader, Shawn E.; Tenenbaum, Peter; Wohler, Bill; Bryson, Stephen T.; Burke, Christopher J.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Haas, Michael R.; Henze, Christopher E.; Sanderfer, Dwight T.

    2018-06-01

    The Kepler Mission was designed to identify and characterize transiting planets in the Kepler Field of View and to determine their occurrence rates. Emphasis was placed on identification of Earth-size planets orbiting in the Habitable Zone of their host stars. Science data were acquired for a period of four years. Long-cadence data with 29.4 min sampling were obtained for ∼200,000 individual stellar targets in at least one observing quarter in the primary Kepler Mission. Light curves for target stars are extracted in the Kepler Science Data Processing Pipeline, and are searched for transiting planet signatures. A Threshold Crossing Event is generated in the transit search for targets where the transit detection threshold is exceeded and transit consistency checks are satisfied. These targets are subjected to further scrutiny in the Data Validation (DV) component of the Pipeline. Transiting planet candidates are characterized in DV, and light curves are searched for additional planets after transit signatures are modeled and removed. A suite of diagnostic tests is performed on all candidates to aid in discrimination between genuine transiting planets and instrumental or astrophysical false positives. Data products are generated per target and planet candidate to document and display transiting planet model fit and diagnostic test results. These products are exported to the Exoplanet Archive at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, and are available to the community. We describe the DV architecture and diagnostic tests, and provide a brief overview of the data products. Transiting planet modeling and the search for multiple planets on individual targets are described in a companion paper. The final revision of the Kepler Pipeline code base is available to the general public through GitHub. The Kepler Pipeline has also been modified to support the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission which is expected to commence in 2018.

  9. Kepler Data Validation I: Architecture, Diagnostic Tests, and Data Products for Vetting Transiting Planet Candidates

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Twicken, Joseph D.; Catanzarite, Joseph H.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Giroud, Forrest; Jenkins, Jon M.; Klaus, Todd C.; Li, Jie; McCauliff, Sean D.; Seader, Shawn E.; Tennenbaum, Peter; hide

    2018-01-01

    The Kepler Mission was designed to identify and characterize transiting planets in the Kepler Field of View and to determine their occurrence rates. Emphasis was placed on identification of Earth-size planets orbiting in the Habitable Zone of their host stars. Science data were acquired for a period of four years. Long-cadence data with 29.4 min sampling were obtained for approx. 200,000 individual stellar targets in at least one observing quarter in the primary Kepler Mission. Light curves for target stars are extracted in the Kepler Science Data Processing Pipeline, and are searched for transiting planet signatures. A Threshold Crossing Event is generated in the transit search for targets where the transit detection threshold is exceeded and transit consistency checks are satisfied. These targets are subjected to further scrutiny in the Data Validation (DV) component of the Pipeline. Transiting planet candidates are characterized in DV, and light curves are searched for additional planets after transit signatures are modeled and removed. A suite of diagnostic tests is performed on all candidates to aid in discrimination between genuine transiting planets and instrumental or astrophysical false positives. Data products are generated per target and planet candidate to document and display transiting planet model fit and diagnostic test results. These products are exported to the Exoplanet Archive at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, and are available to the community. We describe the DV architecture and diagnostic tests, and provide a brief overview of the data products. Transiting planet modeling and the search for multiple planets on individual targets are described in a companion paper. The final revision of the Kepler Pipeline code base is available to the general public through GitHub. The Kepler Pipeline has also been modified to support the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Mission which is expected to commence in 2018.

  10. Kepler-1647b: The Largest and Longest-period Kepler Transiting Circumbinary Planet

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kostov, Veselin B.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Welsh, William F.; Doyle, Laurance R.; Fabrycky, Daniel C.; Haghighipour, Nader; Quarles, Billy; Short, Donald R.; Cochran, William D.; Endl, Michael; Ford, Eric B.; Gregorio, Joao; Hinse, Tobias C.; Isaacson, Howard; Jenkins, Jon M.; Jensen, Eric L. N.; Kane, Stephen; Kull, Ilya; Latham, David W.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Mazeh, Tsevi; Müller, Tobias W. A.; Pepper, Joshua; Quinn, Samuel N.; Ragozzine, Darin; Shporer, Avi; Steffen, Jason H.; Torres, Guillermo; Windmiller, Gur; Borucki, William J.

    2016-08-01

    We report the discovery of a new Kepler transiting circumbinary planet (CBP). This latest addition to the still-small family of CBPs defies the current trend of known short-period planets orbiting near the stability limit of binary stars. Unlike the previous discoveries, the planet revolving around the eclipsing binary system Kepler-1647 has a very long orbital period (˜1100 days) and was at conjunction only twice during the Kepler mission lifetime. Due to the singular configuration of the system, Kepler-1647b is not only the longest-period transiting CBP at the time of writing, but also one of the longest-period transiting planets. With a radius of 1.06 ± 0.01 R Jup, it is also the largest CBP to date. The planet produced three transits in the light curve of Kepler-1647 (one of them during an eclipse, creating a syzygy) and measurably perturbed the times of the stellar eclipses, allowing us to measure its mass, 1.52 ± 0.65 M Jup. The planet revolves around an 11-day period eclipsing binary consisting of two solar-mass stars on a slightly inclined, mildly eccentric (e bin = 0.16), spin-synchronized orbit. Despite having an orbital period three times longer than Earth’s, Kepler-1647b is in the conservative habitable zone of the binary star throughout its orbit.

  11. Rolling Band Artifact Flagging in the Kepler Data Pipeline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clarke, Bruce; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J; Caldwell, Douglas A.

    2014-06-01

    Instrument-induced artifacts in the raw Kepler pixel data include time-varying crosstalk from the fine guidance sensor (FGS) clock signals, manifestations of drifting moiré pattern as locally correlated nonstationary noise and rolling bands in the images. These systematics find their way into the calibrated pixel time series and ultimately into the target flux time series. The Kepler pipeline module Dynablack models the FGS crosstalk artifacts using a combination of raw science pixel data, full frame images, reverse-clocked pixel data and ancillary temperature data. The calibration module (CAL) uses the fitted Dynablack models to remove FGS crosstalk artifacts in the calibrated pixels by adjusting the black level correction per cadence. Dynablack also detects and flags spatial regions and time intervals of strong time-varying black-level. These rolling band artifact (RBA) flags are produced on a per row per cadence basis by searching for transit signatures in the Dynablack fit residuals. The Photometric Analysis module (PA) generates per target per cadence data quality flags based on the Dynablack RBA flags. Proposed future work includes using the target data quality flags as a basis for de-weighting in the Presearch Data Conditioning (PDC), Transiting Planet Search (TPS) and Data Validation (DV) pipeline modules. We discuss the effectiveness of RBA flagging for downstream users and illustrate with some affected light curves. We also discuss the implementation of Dynablack in the Kepler data pipeline and present results regarding the improvement in calibrated pixels and the expected improvement in cotrending performance as a result of including FGS corrections in the calibration. Funding for the Kepler Mission has been provided by the NASA Science Mission Directorate.

  12. Kepler Discovery

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-02

    Debra Fischer, a professor of Astronomy at Yale University, speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2010, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Scientists using NASA's Kepler, a space telescope, recently discovered six planets made of a mix of rock and gases orbiting a single sun-like star, known as Kepler-11, which is located approximately 2,000 light years from Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  13. VALFAST: Secure Probabilistic Validation of Hundreds of Kepler Planet Candidates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morton, Tim; Petigura, E.; Johnson, J. A.; Howard, A.; Marcy, G. W.; Baranec, C.; Law, N. M.; Riddle, R. L.; Ciardi, D. R.; Robo-AO Team

    2014-01-01

    The scope, scale, and tremendous success of the Kepler mission has necessitated the rapid development of probabilistic validation as a new conceptual framework for analyzing transiting planet candidate signals. While several planet validation methods have been independently developed and presented in the literature, none has yet come close to addressing the entire Kepler survey. I present the results of applying VALFAST---a planet validation code based on the methodology described in Morton (2012)---to every Kepler Object of Interest. VALFAST is unique in its combination of detail, completeness, and speed. Using the transit light curve shape, realistic population simulations, and (optionally) diverse follow-up observations, it calculates the probability that a transit candidate signal is the result of a true transiting planet or any of a number of astrophysical false positive scenarios, all in just a few minutes on a laptop computer. In addition to efficiently validating the planetary nature of hundreds of new KOIs, this broad application of VALFAST also demonstrates its ability to reliably identify likely false positives. This extensive validation effort is also the first to incorporate data from all of the largest Kepler follow-up observing efforts: the CKS survey of ~1000 KOIs with Keck/HIRES, the Robo-AO survey of >1700 KOIs, and high-resolution images obtained through the Kepler Follow-up Observing Program. In addition to enabling the core science that the Kepler mission was designed for, this methodology will be critical to obtain statistical results from future surveys such as TESS and PLATO.

  14. A Framework for Propagation of Uncertainties in the Kepler Data Analysis Pipeline

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clarke, Bruce D.; Allen, Christopher; Bryson, Stephen T.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Cote, Miles T.; Girouard, Forrest; Jenkins, Jon M.; Klaus, Todd C.; Li, Jie; hide

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler space telescope is designed to detect Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars using transit photometry by simultaneously observing 100,000 stellar targets nearly continuously over a three and a half year period. The 96-megapixel focal plane consists of 42 charge-coupled devices (CCD) each containing two 1024 x 1100 pixel arrays. Cross-correlations between calibrated pixels are introduced by common calibrations performed on each CCD requiring downstream data products access to the calibrated pixel covariance matrix in order to properly estimate uncertainties. The prohibitively large covariance matrices corresponding to the 75,000 calibrated pixels per CCD preclude calculating and storing the covariance in standard lock-step fashion. We present a novel framework used to implement standard propagation of uncertainties (POU) in the Kepler Science Operations Center (SOC) data processing pipeline. The POU framework captures the variance of the raw pixel data and the kernel of each subsequent calibration transformation allowing the full covariance matrix of any subset of calibrated pixels to be recalled on-the-fly at any step in the calibration process. Singular value decomposition (SVD) is used to compress and low-pass filter the raw uncertainty data as well as any data dependent kernels. The combination of POU framework and SVD compression provide downstream consumers of the calibrated pixel data access to the full covariance matrix of any subset of the calibrated pixels traceable to pixel level measurement uncertainties without having to store, retrieve and operate on prohibitively large covariance matrices. We describe the POU Framework and SVD compression scheme and its implementation in the Kepler SOC pipeline.

  15. Kepler-Daten von BR Cyg

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pagel, Lienhard

    2015-01-01

    In the Kepler field is the eclipsing binary BR Cyg. He is a BAV program star. In the KIC (Kepler Input Catalogue) he is associated with the identifier kplr009899416 [1]. There have been determined 1084 minima and as many secondary minima. Acknowledgement: This paper makes use of data from the Kepler exoplanetarchive.

  16. Planet Hunters, Undergraduate Research, and Detection of Extrasolar Planet Kepler-818 b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baker, David; Crannell, Graham; Duncan, James; Hays, Aryn; Hendrix, Landon

    2017-01-01

    Detection of extrasolar planets provides an excellent research opportunity for undergraduate students. In Spring 2012, we searched for transiting extrasolar planets using Kepler spacecraft data in our Research Experience in Physics course at Austin College. Offered during the regular academic year, these Research Experience courses engage students in the scientific process, including proposal writing, paper submission, peer review, and oral presentations. Since 2004, over 190 undergraduate students have conducted authentic scientific research through Research Experience courses at Austin College.Zooniverse’s citizen science Planet Hunters web site offered an efficient method for rapid analysis of Kepler data. Light curves from over 5000 stars were analyzed, of which 2.3% showed planetary candidates already tagged by the Kepler team. Another 1.5% of the light curves suggested eclipsing binary stars, and 1.6% of the light curves had simulated planets for training purposes.One of the stars with possible planetary transits had not yet been listed as a planetary candidate. We reported possible transits for Kepler ID 4282872, which later was promoted to planetary candidate KOI-1325 in 2012 and confirmed to host extrasolar planet Kepler-818 b in 2016 (Morton et al. 2016). Kepler-818 b is a “hot Neptune” with period 10.04 days, flux decrease during transit ~0.4%, planetary radius 4.69 Earth radii, and semi-major axis 0.089 au.

  17. Kepler's Final Survey Catalog

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mullally, S. E.

    2017-12-01

    The Kepler mission was designed to detect transiting exoplanets and has succeeded in finding over 4000 candidates. These candidates include approximately 50 terrestrial-sized worlds near to the habitable zone of their GKM dwarf stars (shown in figure against the stellar temperature). However not all transit detections are created equal. False positives, such as background eclipsing binaries, can mimic the signal of a transiting planet. Additionally, at Kepler's detection limit noise, either from the star or from the detector, can create signals that also mimic a transiting planet. For the data release 25 Kepler catalog we simulated these false alarms and determined how often known false alarms are called candidates. When this reliability information is combined with our studies of catalog completeness, this catalog can be used to understand the occurrence rate of exoplanets, even for the small, temperate planet candidates found by Kepler. I will discuss the automated methods we used to create and characterize this latest catalog, highlighting how we balanced the completeness and reliability of the long period candidates. While Kepler has been very successful at detecting transiting terrestrial-sized exoplanets, many of these detections are around stars that are too dim for successful follow-up work. Future missions will pick up where Kepler left off and find small planets around some of the brightest and smallest stars.

  18. Planet Hunters: New Kepler Planet Candidates from Analysis of Quarter 2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lintott, Chris J.; Schwamb, Megan E.; Barclay, Thomas; Sharzer, Charlie; Fischer, Debra A.; Brewer, John; Giguere, Matthew; Lynn, Stuart; Parrish, Michael; Batalha, Natalie; Bryson, Steve; Jenkins, Jon; Ragozzine, Darin; Rowe, Jason F.; Schwainski, Kevin; Gagliano, Robert; Gilardi, Joe; Jek, Kian J.; Pääkkönen, Jari-Pekka; Smits, Tjapko

    2013-06-01

    We present new planet candidates identified in NASA Kepler Quarter 2 public release data by volunteers engaged in the Planet Hunters citizen science project. The two candidates presented here survive checks for false positives, including examination of the pixel offset to constrain the possibility of a background eclipsing binary. The orbital periods of the planet candidates are 97.46 days (KIC 4552729) and 284.03 (KIC 10005758) days and the modeled planet radii are 5.3 and 3.8 R ⊕. The latter star has an additional known planet candidate with a radius of 5.05 R ⊕ and a period of 134.49 days, which was detected by the Kepler pipeline. The discovery of these candidates illustrates the value of massively distributed volunteer review of the Kepler database to recover candidates which were otherwise uncataloged. .

  19. Johannes Kepler - And the New Astronomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Voelkel, James R.

    1999-11-01

    Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) is remembered as one of the greatest medieval astronomers in the tradition of Copernicus and Galileo, a man who made major contributions to physics, astronomy, and mathematics. Born in Germany and trained as a theologian, Kepler did not hesitate to challenge church doctrine by supporting the iconoclastic theory of a Sun-centered solar system. As Imperial Mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor, he conducted careful observations of the night sky, which led to his discovery of the three Laws of Planetary Motion and the orbit of Mars. He also devised the Rudolphine Tables on planetary movements, and made key improvements to the telescope. Voelkel vividly describes the scientific achievements, providing enough background in physics and trigonometry so even beginners can enjoy this book. The author also gives us a captivating account of Kepler's tumultuous life, plagued by misery, disease, and fervent religious prosecution by the Catholic Church.Oxford Portraits in Science is an ongoing series of scientific biographies for young adults. Written by top scholars and writers, each biography examines the personality of its subject as well as the thought process leading to his or her discoveries. These illustrated biographies combine accessible technical information with compelling personal stories to portray the scientists whose work has shaped our understanding of the natural world.

  20. The Kepler End-to-End Model: Creating High-Fidelity Simulations to Test Kepler Ground Processing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bryson, Stephen T.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Peters, Dan J.; Tenenbaum, Peter P.; Klaus, Todd C.; Gunter, Jay P.; Cote, Miles T.; Caldwell, Douglas A.

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler mission is designed to detect the transit of Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars by observing 100,000 stellar targets. Developing and testing the Kepler ground-segment processing system, in particular the data analysis pipeline, requires high-fidelity simulated data. This simulated data is provided by the Kepler End-to-End Model (ETEM). ETEM simulates the astrophysics of planetary transits and other phenomena, properties of the Kepler spacecraft and the format of the downlinked data. Major challenges addressed by ETEM include the rapid production of large amounts of simulated data, extensibility and maintainability.

  1. Kepler Detects Planet Orbiting Two Stars (Kepler-16b) Reporter Package for TWAN

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-09-19

    NASA's Kepler Mission has made the first detection of a planet orbiting two stars. About 200 light years away from our solar system, the planet Kepler-16b is cold, gaseous and about the size of Saturn. Its stars are both smaller than the Sun and about 2 billion years younger than our Solar System. They orbit around each other, so from our vantage point they take turns eclipsing each other about every 41 days. The planet Kepler-16b orbits around both stars every 229 days.

  2. Eccentric Companions to Kepler-448b and Kepler-693b: Clues to the Formation of Warm Jupiters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Masuda, Kento

    2017-08-01

    I report the discovery of non-transiting close companions to two transiting warm Jupiters (WJs), Kepler-448/KOI-12b (orbital period P=17.9 {days}, radius {R}{{p}}={1.23}-0.05+0.06 {R}{Jup}) and Kepler-693/KOI-824b (P=15.4 {days}, {R}{{p}}=0.91+/- 0.05 {R}{Jup}), via dynamical modeling of their transit timing and duration variations (TTVs and TDVs). The companions have masses of {22}-5+7 {M}{Jup} (Kepler-448c) and {150}-40+60 {M}{Jup} (Kepler-693c), and both are on eccentric orbits (e={0.65}-0.09+0.13 for Kepler-448c and e={0.47}-0.06+0.11 for Kepler-693c) with periastron distances of 1.5 {au}. Moderate eccentricities are detected for the inner orbits as well (e={0.34}-0.07+0.08 for Kepler-448b and e={0.2}-0.1+0.2 for Kepler-693b). In the Kepler-693 system, a large mutual inclination between the inner and outer orbits ({53}-9+7 \\deg or {134}-10+11 \\deg ) is also revealed by the TDVs. This is likely to induce a secular oscillation in the eccentricity of the inner WJ that brings its periastron close enough to the host star for tidal star-planet interactions to be significant. In the Kepler-448 system, the mutual inclination is weakly constrained, and such an eccentricity oscillation is possible for a fraction of the solutions. Thus these WJs may be undergoing tidal migration to become hot Jupiters (HJs), although the migration via this process from beyond the snow line is disfavored by the close-in and massive nature of the companions. This may indicate that WJs can be formed in situ and could even evolve into HJs via high-eccentricity migration inside the snow line.

  3. A Bayesian Approach to Systematic Error Correction in Kepler Photometric Time Series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon Michael; VanCleve, J.; Twicken, J. D.; Smith, J. C.; Kepler Science Team

    2011-01-01

    In order for the Kepler mission to achieve its required 20 ppm photometric precision for 6.5 hr observations of 12th magnitude stars, the Presearch Data Conditioning (PDC) software component of the Kepler Science Processing Pipeline must reduce systematic errors in flux time series to the limit of stochastic noise for errors with time-scales less than three days, without smoothing or over-fitting away the transits that Kepler seeks. The current version of PDC co-trends against ancillary engineering data and Pipeline generated data using essentially a least squares (LS) approach. This approach is successful for quiet stars when all sources of systematic error have been identified. If the stars are intrinsically variable or some sources of systematic error are unknown, LS will nonetheless attempt to explain all of a given time series, not just the part the model can explain well. Negative consequences can include loss of astrophysically interesting signal, and injection of high-frequency noise into the result. As a remedy, we present a Bayesian Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) approach, in which a subset of intrinsically quiet and highly-correlated stars is used to establish the probability density function (PDF) of robust fit parameters in a diagonalized basis. The PDFs then determine a "reasonable” range for the fit parameters for all stars, and brake the runaway fitting that can distort signals and inject noise. We present a closed-form solution for Gaussian PDFs, and show examples using publically available Quarter 1 Kepler data. A companion poster (Van Cleve et al.) shows applications and discusses current work in more detail. Kepler was selected as the 10th mission of the Discovery Program. Funding for this mission is provided by NASA, Science Mission Directorate.

  4. PLANET HUNTERS: NEW KEPLER PLANET CANDIDATES FROM ANALYSIS OF QUARTER 2

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lintott, Chris J.; Schwamb, Megan E.; Schwainski, Kevin, E-mail: cjl@astro.ox.ac.uk

    2013-06-15

    We present new planet candidates identified in NASA Kepler Quarter 2 public release data by volunteers engaged in the Planet Hunters citizen science project. The two candidates presented here survive checks for false positives, including examination of the pixel offset to constrain the possibility of a background eclipsing binary. The orbital periods of the planet candidates are 97.46 days (KIC 4552729) and 284.03 (KIC 10005758) days and the modeled planet radii are 5.3 and 3.8 R{sub Circled-Plus }. The latter star has an additional known planet candidate with a radius of 5.05 R{sub Circled-Plus} and a period of 134.49 days,more » which was detected by the Kepler pipeline. The discovery of these candidates illustrates the value of massively distributed volunteer review of the Kepler database to recover candidates which were otherwise uncataloged.« less

  5. The California-Kepler Survey. I. High-resolution Spectroscopy of 1305 Stars Hosting Kepler Transiting Planets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petigura, Erik A.; Howard, Andrew W.; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Johnson, John Asher; Isaacson, Howard; Cargile, Phillip A.; Hebb, Leslie; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Weiss, Lauren M.; Morton, Timothy D.; Winn, Joshua N.; Rogers, Leslie A.; Sinukoff, Evan; Hirsch, Lea A.; Crossfield, Ian J. M.

    2017-09-01

    The California-Kepler Survey (CKS) is an observational program developed to improve our knowledge of the properties of stars found to host transiting planets by NASA’s Kepler Mission. The improvement stems from new high-resolution optical spectra obtained using HIRES at the W. M. Keck Observatory. The CKS stellar sample comprises 1305 stars classified as Kepler objects of interest, hosting a total of 2075 transiting planets. The primary sample is magnitude-limited ({Kp}< 14.2) and contains 960 stars with 1385 planets. The sample was extended to include some fainter stars that host multiple planets, ultra-short period planets, or habitable zone planets. The spectroscopic parameters were determined with two different codes, one based on template matching and the other on direct spectral synthesis using radiative transfer. We demonstrate a precision of 60 K in {T}{eff}, 0.10 dex in {log}g, 0.04 dex in [{Fe}/{{H}}], and 1.0 {km} {{{s}}}-1 in V\\sin I. In this paper, we describe the CKS project and present a uniform catalog of spectroscopic parameters. Subsequent papers in this series present catalogs of derived stellar properties such as mass, radius, and age; revised planet properties; and statistical explorations of the ensemble. CKS is the largest survey to determine the properties of Kepler stars using a uniform set of high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio spectra. The HIRES spectra are available to the community for independent analyses. Based on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the University of California and the California Institute of Technology. Keck time was granted for this project by the University of California, and California Institute of Technology, the University of Hawaii, and NASA.

  6. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    Jon Morse, director, Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  7. Kepler Media Briefing

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-02-19

    Debra Fischer, a professor of Astronomy at San Francisco State University, talks about the Kepler mission during a media briefing, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2008, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Kepler, the first mission with the ability to find planets like earth, is scheduled to launch on March 5, 2009 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. aboard a Delta II rocket. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul. E. Alers)

  8. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Transit times of Kepler-448b and Kepler-693b (Masuda, 2017)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Masuda, K.

    2017-11-01

    I analyzed Transit Timing Variations (TTVs) of 23 confirmed, singly transiting warm Jupiters (WJs; Section 2.1) with an orbital period of 7days8R{Earth} in the DR24 of the KOI catalog (Coughlin et al. 2016, Cat. J/ApJS/224/12). Systems with multiple KOIs are all excluded, even though they consist of only one confirmed planet and false positives. I found clearly non-sinusoidal TTVs for Kepler-448/KOI-12b, Kepler-693/KOI-824b, and Kepler-419/KOI-1474b. The result is consistent with the TTV search by Holczer et al. 2016 (Cat. J/ApJS/225/9), who reported significant long-term TTVs for the same three KOIs in our sample. Of these planets, the TTVs of Kepler-419b have previously been analyzed by Dawson et al. (2014ApJ...791...89D). Therefore, I focus on Kepler-448b and Kepler-693b. (3 data files).

  9. Kepler constraints on planets near hot Jupiters

    PubMed Central

    Steffen, Jason H.; Ragozzine, Darin; Fabrycky, Daniel C.; Carter, Joshua A.; Ford, Eric B.; Holman, Matthew J.; Rowe, Jason F.; Welsh, William F.; Borucki, William J.; Boss, Alan P.; Ciardi, David R.; Quinn, Samuel N.

    2012-01-01

    We present the results of a search for planetary companions orbiting near hot Jupiter planet candidates (Jupiter-size candidates with orbital periods near 3 d) identified in the Kepler data through its sixth quarter of science operations. Special emphasis is given to companions between the 2∶1 interior and exterior mean-motion resonances. A photometric transit search excludes companions with sizes ranging from roughly two-thirds to five times the size of the Earth, depending upon the noise properties of the target star. A search for dynamically induced deviations from a constant period (transit timing variations) also shows no significant signals. In contrast, comparison studies of warm Jupiters (with slightly larger orbits) and hot Neptune-size candidates do exhibit signatures of additional companions with these same tests. These differences between hot Jupiters and other planetary systems denote a distinctly different formation or dynamical history. PMID:22566651

  10. Kepler constraints on planets near hot Jupiters.

    PubMed

    Steffen, Jason H; Ragozzine, Darin; Fabrycky, Daniel C; Carter, Joshua A; Ford, Eric B; Holman, Matthew J; Rowe, Jason F; Welsh, William F; Borucki, William J; Boss, Alan P; Ciardi, David R; Quinn, Samuel N

    2012-05-22

    We present the results of a search for planetary companions orbiting near hot Jupiter planet candidates (Jupiter-size candidates with orbital periods near 3 d) identified in the Kepler data through its sixth quarter of science operations. Special emphasis is given to companions between the 21 interior and exterior mean-motion resonances. A photometric transit search excludes companions with sizes ranging from roughly two-thirds to five times the size of the Earth, depending upon the noise properties of the target star. A search for dynamically induced deviations from a constant period (transit timing variations) also shows no significant signals. In contrast, comparison studies of warm Jupiters (with slightly larger orbits) and hot Neptune-size candidates do exhibit signatures of additional companions with these same tests. These differences between hot Jupiters and other planetary systems denote a distinctly different formation or dynamical history.

  11. The Kepler Project: Mission Update

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Borucki, William J.; Koch, David G.

    2009-01-01

    Kepler is a Discovery-class mission designed to determine the frequency of Earth-size planets in and near the habitable zone of solar-like stars. The instrument consists of a 0.95 m aperture photometer designed to obtain high precision photometric measurement of > 100,000 stars to search for patterns of transits. The focal plane of the Schmidt-telescope contains 42 CCDs with at total of 95 mega pixels that cover 116 square degrees of sky. The photometer was launched into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit on March 6, 2009, finished its commissioning on May 12, and is now in the science operations mode. During the commissioning of the Kepler photometer, data were obtained at a 30 minute cadence for 53,000 stars for 9.7 days. Although the data have not yet been corrected for the presence of systematic errors and artifacts, the data show the presence of hundreds of eclipsing binary stars and variable stars of amazing variety. To provide some estimate of the capability of the photometer, a quick analysis of the photometric precision was made. Analysis of the commissioning data also show transits, occultations and light emitted from the known exoplanet HAT-P7b. The data show a smooth rise and fall of light: from the planet as it orbits its star, punctuated by a drop of 130 +/- 11 ppm in flux when the planet passes behind its star. We interpret this as the phase variation of the dayside thermal emission plus reflected light from the planet as it orbits its star and is occulted. The depth of the occultation is similar in amplitude to that expected from a transiting Earth-size planet and demonstrates that the Mission has the precision necessary to detect such planets.

  12. Kepler-90 system (Artist's Concept)

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-12-14

    Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star, with the recent discovery of an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star 2,545 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. The newly-discovered Kepler-90i -- a sizzling hot, rocky planet that orbits its star once every 14.4 days -- was found using machine learning from Google. Machine learning is an approach to artificial intelligence in which computers "learn." In this case, computers learned to identify planets by finding in Kepler data instances where the telescope recorded changes in starlight caused by planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22192

  13. Kepler Press Conference

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-08-05

    Alan Boss, an astrophyscist at the Carnegie Institution at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the scientific observations coming from the Kepler spacecraft that was launched this past March. Kepler is NASA's first mission that is capable of discovering earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

  14. Johannes Kepler and his contribution to Applied Mathematics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pichler, Franz

    The worldwide renown of Johannes Kepler is based above all on his contribution to astronomy. The 3 Kepler's Laws relating to the planets are well known and will ensure that his name is remembered by future generations. Besides his astronomical work, Kepler also made important contributions in the fields of theology, physics, phylosophy and mathematics. The actual paper discusses the advances by Kepler in the application of mathematics to the solution of "real life problems". The author made a concise account of some of the disciples by Kepler: Klug, Wieleitner, Caspar, Hammer, paying particular attention to works published by Kepler while he was living in Linz (1612-1628). The Kepler's contribution to applied mathematics is an example supremely worthy of emulation, the author concludes.

  15. Obliquity Variations of Habitable Zone Planets Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shan, Yutong; Li, Gongjie

    2018-06-01

    Obliquity variability could play an important role in the climate and habitability of a planet. Orbital modulations caused by planetary companions and the planet’s spin axis precession due to the torque from the host star may lead to resonant interactions and cause large-amplitude obliquity variability. Here we consider the spin axis dynamics of Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f, both of which reside in the habitable zone around their host stars. Using N-body simulations and secular numerical integrations, we describe their obliquity evolution for particular realizations of the planetary systems. We then use a generalized analytic framework to characterize regions in parameter space where the obliquity is variable with large amplitude. We find that the locations of variability are fine-tuned over the planetary properties and system architecture in the lower-obliquity regimes (≲40°). As an example, assuming a rotation period of 24 hr, the obliquities of both Kepler-62f and Kepler-186f are stable below ∼40°, whereas the high-obliquity regions (60°–90°) allow moderate variabilities. However, for some other rotation periods of Kepler-62f or Kepler-186f, the lower-obliquity regions could become more variable owing to resonant interactions. Even small deviations from coplanarity (e.g., mutual inclinations ∼3°) could stir peak-to-peak obliquity variations up to ∼20°. Undetected planetary companions and/or the existence of a satellite could also destabilize the low-obliquity regions. In all cases, the high-obliquity region allows for moderate variations, and all obliquities corresponding to retrograde motion (i.e., >90°) are stable.

  16. The host stars of Kepler's habitable exoplanets: superflares, rotation and activity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Armstrong, D. J.; Pugh, C. E.; Broomhall, A.-M.; Brown, D. J. A.; Lund, M. N.; Osborn, H. P.; Pollacco, D. L.

    2016-01-01

    We embark on a detailed study of the light curves of Kepler's most Earth-like exoplanet host stars using the full length of Kepler data. We derive rotation periods, photometric activity indices, flaring energies, mass-loss rates, gyrochronological ages, X-ray luminosities and consider implications for the planetary magnetospheres and habitability. Furthermore, we present the detection of superflares in the light curve of Kepler-438, the exoplanet with the highest Earth Similarity Index to date. Kepler-438b orbits at a distance of 0.166 au to its host star, and hence may be susceptible to atmospheric stripping. Our sample is taken from the Habitable Exoplanet Catalogue, and consists of the stars Kepler-22, Kepler-61, Kepler-62, Kepler-174, Kepler-186, Kepler-283, Kepler-296, Kepler-298, Kepler-438, Kepler-440, Kepler-442, Kepler-443 and KOI-4427, between them hosting 15 of the most habitable transiting planets known to date from Kepler.

  17. Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feigelson, Eric

    NASA's Kepler mission is the source of more exoplanets than any other instrument, but the discovery depends on complex statistical analysis procedures embedded in the Kepler pipeline. A particular challenge is mitigating irregular stellar variability without loss of sensitivity to faint periodic planetary transits. This proposal presents a two-stage alternative analysis procedure. First, parametric autoregressive ARFIMA models, commonly used in econometrics, remove most of the stellar variations. Second, a novel matched filter is used to create a periodogram from which transit-like periodicities are identified. This analysis procedure, the Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search (KARPS), is confirming most of the Kepler Objects of Interest and is expected to identify additional planetary candidates. The proposed research will complete application of the KARPS methodology to the prime Kepler mission light curves of 200,000: stars, and compare the results with Kepler Objects of Interest obtained with the Kepler pipeline. We will then conduct a variety of astronomical studies based on the KARPS results. Important subsamples will be extracted including Habitable Zone planets, hot super-Earths, grazing-transit hot Jupiters, and multi-planet systems. Groundbased spectroscopy of poorly studied candidates will be performed to better characterize the host stars. Studies of stellar variability will then be pursued based on KARPS analysis. The autocorrelation function and nonstationarity measures will be used to identify spotted stars at different stages of autoregressive modeling. Periodic variables with folded light curves inconsistent with planetary transits will be identified; they may be eclipsing or mutually-illuminating binary star systems. Classification of stellar variables with KARPS-derived statistical properties will be attempted. KARPS procedures will then be applied to archived K2 data to identify planetary transits and characterize stellar variability.

  18. Computational Challenges in Processing the Q1-Q16 Kepler Data Set

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klaus, Todd C.; Henze, C.; Twicken, J. D.; Hall, J.; McCauliff, S. D.; Girouard, F.; Cote, M.; Morris, R. L.; Clarke, B.; Jenkins, J. M.; Caldwell, D.; Kepler Science Operations Center

    2013-10-01

    Since launch on March 6th, 2009, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has collected 48 months of data on over 195,000 targets. The raw data are rife with instrumental and astrophysical noise that must be removed in order to detect and model the transit-like signals present in the data. Calibrating the raw pixels, generating and correcting the flux light curves, and detecting and characterizing the signals require significant computational power. In addition, the algorithms that make up the Kepler Science Pipeline and their parameters are still undergoing changes (most of which increase the computational cost), creating the need to reprocess the entire data set on a regular basis. We discuss how we have ported all of the core elements of the pipeline to the Pleiades cluster at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Division, the needs driving the port, and the technical challenges we faced. In 2011 we ported the Transiting Planet Search (TPS) and Data Validation (DV) modules to Pleiades. These pipeline modules operate on the full data set and the computational complexity increases roughly by the square of the number of data points. At the time of the port it had become infeasible to run these modules on our local hardware, necessitating the move to Pleiades. In 2012 and 2013 we turned our attention to the front end of the pipeline; Pixel-level Calibration (CAL), Photometric Analysis (PA), and Pre-Search Data Conditioning (PDC). Porting these modules to Pleiades will allow us to reprocess the complete data set on a more frequent basis. The last time we reprocessed all data for the front end we only had 24 months of data. We estimate that the full 48-month data set would take over 200 days to complete on local hardware. When the port is complete we expect to reprocess this data set on Pleiades in about a month. The NASA Science Mission Directorate provided funding for the Kepler Mission.

  19. Atmospheres of Two Super-Puffs: Transmission Spectra of Kepler 51b and Kepler 51d

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roberts, Jessica; Berta-Thompson, Zachory K.; Desert, Jean-Michel; Deck, Katherine; Fabrycky, Daniel; Fortney, Jonathan J.; Line, Michael R.; Lopez, Eric; Masuda, Kento; Morley, Caroline; Sanchis Ojeda, Roberto; Winn, Joshua N.

    2018-06-01

    The Kepler 51 system hosts three transiting, extremely low-mass, low-density exoplanets. These planets orbit a young G type star at periods of 45, 85 and 130 days, placing them outside of the regime for the inflated hot-Jupiters. Instead, the Kepler 51 planets are part of a rare class of exoplanets: the super-puffs. Models suggest these H/He-rich planets formed outside of the snow-line and migrated inwards, which might imply abundant water in their atmospheres. Because Kepler 51b and 51d have low surface gravities, they also have scale heights 10x larger than a typical hot-Jupiter, making them prime targets for atmospheric investigation. Kepler 51c, while also possessing a large scale height, only grazes its star during transit. We are also presented with a unique opportunity to study two super-puffs in very different temperature regimes around the same star. Therefore, we observed two transits each of both Kepler 51b and 51d with the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 G141 grism spectroscopy. Using these data we created spectroscopic light curves that allow us to compute a transmission spectrum for each planet. We conclude that both planets have a flat transmission spectrum with a precision better than 0.6 scale heights between 1.1 and 1.7 microns. We also analyzed the transit timing variations of each planet by combining re-fitted Kepler mid-transit times with our measured HST times. From these additional timing points, we are able to better constrain the planetary masses and the dynamics of the system. With these updated masses and revisited stellar parameters, we determine precise measurements on the densities of these planets. We will present these results as well as discuss the implications for high altitude aerosols in both Kepler 51b and 51d.

  20. The Kepler and K2 Near-Infrared Transit Survey (KNITS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colon, Knicole; Rodriguez, Joseph E.; Barentsen, Geert; Cardoso, Jose Vinicius de Miranda; Vanderburg, Andrew

    2018-01-01

    NASA's Kepler mission discovered a plethora of transiting exoplanets after observing a single region of the Galaxy for four years. After a second reaction wheel failed, NASA's Kepler spacecraft was repurposed as K2 to observe different fields along the ecliptic in ~80 day campaigns. To date, K2 has discovered ~130 exoplanets along with another ~400 candidates. The exoplanets that have been confirmed or validated from Kepler and K2 have been primarily subject to spectroscopic observations, high-resolution imaging, or statistical methods. However, most of these, along with all the remaining candidate exoplanets, have had no follow-up transit photometry. In addition, recent studies have shown that for single-planet systems, statistical validation alone can be unreliable and additional follow-up observations are required to reveal the true nature of the system. I will present the latest results from an ongoing program to use the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory for near-infrared transit photometry of Kepler and K2 exoplanets and candidates. Our program of high-precision, high-cadence, high-spatial-resolution near-infrared transit photometry is providing new measurements of the transit ephemerides and planetary radii as well as weeding out false positives lurking within the candidate lists. To date, 25 K2 and 5 Kepler targets have been observed with WIYN. I will also describe upcoming observations with WIYN that will take place in January 2018 as part of a campaign to observe exoplanet transits in the near-infrared simultaneously with the Kepler spacecraft during K2 Campaign 16. Our program ultimately provides a vetted sample of exoplanets that could be targeted in the future by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and also demonstrates WIYN’s capabilities for observations of exoplanets to be discovered by NASA's all-sky Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).Data presented herein were obtained at the WIYN Observatory from

  1. Detecting Close-In Extrasolar Giant Planets with the Kepler Photometer via Scattered Light

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, J. M.; Doyle, L. R.; Kepler Discovery Mission Team

    2003-05-01

    NASA's Kepler Mission will be launched in 2007 primarily to search for transiting Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of solar-like stars. In addition, it will be poised to detect the reflected light component from close-in extrasolar giant planets (CEGPs) similar to 51 Peg b. Here we use the DIARAD/SOHO time series along with models for the reflected light signatures of CEGPs to evaluate Kepler's ability to detect such planets. We examine the detectability as a function of stellar brightness, stellar rotation period, planetary orbital inclination angle, and planetary orbital period, and then estimate the total number of CEGPs that Kepler will detect over its four year mission. The analysis shows that intrinsic stellar variability of solar-like stars is a major obstacle to detecting the reflected light from CEGPs. Monte Carlo trials are used to estimate the detection threshold required to limit the total number of expected false alarms to no more than one for a survey of 100,000 stellar light curves. Kepler will likely detect 100-760 51 Peg b-like planets by reflected light with orbital periods up to 7 days. LRD was supported by the Carl Sagan Chair at the Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, a division of the SETI Institute. JMJ received support from the Kepler Mission Photometer and Science Office at NASA Ames Research Center.

  2. The EB Factory: Fundamental Stellar Astrophysics with Eclipsing Binary Stars Discovered by Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stassun, Keivan

    Eclipsing binaries (EBs) are key laboratories for determining the fundamental properties of stars. EBs are therefore foundational objects for constraining stellar evolution models, which in turn are central to determinations of stellar mass functions, of exoplanet properties, and many other areas. The primary goal of this proposal is to mine the Kepler mission light curves for: (1) EBs that include a subgiant star, from which precise ages can be derived and which can thus serve as critically needed age benchmarks; and within these, (2) long-period EBs that include low-mass M stars or brown dwarfs, which are increa-singly becoming the focus of exoplanet searches, but for which there are the fewest available fundamental mass- radius-age benchmarks. A secondary goal of this proposal is to develop an end-to-end computational pipeline -- the Kepler EB Factory -- that allows automatic processing of Kepler light curves for EBs, from period finding, to object classification, to determination of EB physical properties for the most scientifically interesting EBs, and finally to accurate modeling of these EBs for detailed tests and benchmarking of theoretical stellar evolution models. We will integrate the most successful algorithms into a single, cohesive workflow environment, and apply this 'Kepler EB Factory' to the full public Kepler dataset to find and characterize new "benchmark grade" EBs, and will disseminate both the enhanced data products from this pipeline and the pipeline itself to the broader NASA science community. The proposed work responds directly to two of the defined Research Areas of the NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP), specifically Research Area #2 (Stellar Astrophysics) and Research Area #9 (Astrophysical Databases). To be clear, our primary goal is the fundamental stellar astrophysics that will be enabled by the discovery and analysis of relatively rare, benchmark-grade EBs in the Kepler dataset. At the same time, to enable this goal will

  3. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler TTVs. IX. The full long-cadence data set (Holczer+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Holczer, T.; Mazeh, T.; Nachmani, G.; Jontof-Hutter, D.; Ford, E. B.; Fabrycky, D.; Ragozzine, D.; Kane, M.; Steffen, J. H.

    2016-10-01

    The Kepler mission in its original mode of operation has been terminated after 17 quarters (May 2009-Apr 2013), and we do not expect any additional Kepler TTVs for the KOIs identified during the original mission. Thus, here we analyze the whole data set of the mission and derive a complete catalog of the transit timings. Following the approach of Mazeh et al. (2013, J/ApJS/208/16), we present here an analysis of 2599 KOIs (from the NASA exoplanet archive), based on all 17 quarters of the Kepler data. (7 data files).

  4. The Kepler Dichotomy in Planetary Disks: Linking Kepler Observables to Simulations of Late-stage Planet Formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moriarty, John; Ballard, Sarah

    2016-11-01

    NASA’s Kepler Mission uncovered a wealth of planetary systems, many with planets on short-period orbits. These short-period systems reside around 50% of Sun-like stars and are similarly prevalent around M dwarfs. Their formation and subsequent evolution is the subject of active debate. In this paper, we simulate late-stage, in situ planet formation across a grid of planetesimal disks with varying surface density profiles and total mass. We compare simulation results with observable characteristics of the Kepler sample. We identify mixture models with different primordial planetesimal disk properties that self-consistently recover the multiplicity, radius, period and period ratio, and duration ratio distributions of the Kepler planets. We draw three main conclusions. (1) We favor a “frozen-in” narrative for systems of short-period planets, in which they are stable over long timescales, as opposed to metastable. (2) The “Kepler dichotomy,” an observed phenomenon of the Kepler sample wherein the architectures of planetary systems appear to either vary significantly or have multiple modes, can naturally be explained by formation within planetesimal disks with varying surface density profiles. Finally, (3) we quantify the nature of the “Kepler dichotomy” for both GK stars and M dwarfs, and find that it varies with stellar type. While the mode of planet formation that accounts for high multiplicity systems occurs in 24% ± 7% of planetary systems orbiting GK stars, it occurs in 63% ± 16% of planetary systems orbiting M dwarfs.

  5. Target Characterization and Follow-Up Observations in Support of the Kepler Mission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Latham, David W.

    2003-01-01

    A variety of experiments were carried out to investigate the number and characteristics of the stars to be included in the Kepler Input Catalog. One result of this work was the proposal that the 2MASS Catalog of astrometry and photometry in the infrared be used as the primary source for the initial selection of candidate target stars, because this would naturally decrease the number of unsuitable hot blue stars and would also increase the number of desirable solar-type dwarf stars. Another advantage of the 2MASS catalogue is that the stellar positions have more than adequate astrometric accuracy for the Kepler target selection. The original plan reported in the Concept Study Report was to use the parallaxes and multi-band photometry from the FAME mission to provide the information needed for reliable separation of giants and dwarfs. As a result of NASA's withdrawal of support for FAME an alternate approach was needed. In November 2002 we proposed to the Kepler Science Team that a ground-based multi-band photometric survey could help alleviate the loss of the FAME data. The Science Team supported this proposal strongly, and we undertook a survey of possible facilities for such a survey. We concluded that the SAO's 4Shooter CCD camera on the 1.2-m telescope at the Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona, showed promise for this work.

  6. Chemical Abundances of M-Dwarfs from the Apogee Survey. I. The Exoplanet Hosting Stars Kepler-138 and Kepler-186

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Souto, D.; Cunha, K.; García-Hernández, D. A.

    2017-02-01

    We report the first detailed chemical abundance analysis of the exoplanet-hosting M-dwarf stars Kepler-138 and Kepler-186 from the analysis of high-resolution ( R ∼ 22,500) H -band spectra from the SDSS-IV–APOGEE survey. Chemical abundances of 13 elements—C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, and Fe—are extracted from the APOGEE spectra of these early M-dwarfs via spectrum syntheses computed with an improved line list that takes into account H{sub 2}O and FeH lines. This paper demonstrates that APOGEE spectra can be analyzed to determine detailed chemical compositions of M-dwarfs. Both exoplanet-hosting M-dwarfs display modest sub-solar metallicities:more » [Fe/H]{sub Kepler-138} = −0.09 ± 0.09 dex and [Fe/H]{sub Kepler-186} = −0.08 ± 0.10 dex. The measured metallicities resulting from this high-resolution analysis are found to be higher by ∼0.1–0.2 dex than previous estimates from lower-resolution spectra. The C/O ratios obtained for the two planet-hosting stars are near-solar, with values of 0.55±0.10 for Kepler-138 and 0.52±0.12 for Kepler-186. Kepler-186 exhibits a marginally enhanced [Si/Fe] ratio.« less

  7. Kepler, the Ultimate Aristotelian

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, A. E. L.

    A comparison is made between Aristotelian and Newtonian versions of Laws of Motion. Kepler was successful in proving the 2 laws of motion of a single planet - to the extent that agreement with a framework of theory constitutes a proof. Of course he invented his framework of causes after the event, to fit the motions that had been already been quantified - but it may seem to you that Kepler's mainly mechanistic way explanation could have been considered by his contemporaries just as reasonable as Newton's action at a distance. It could be now apprecated that there was a window of less than 50 years before Newton's total synthesis. No-one previously had had the motivation to create a system of "celestial physics" based on a judicious use of Aristotelian principles. Yet this is what Kepler achieved.

  8. Kepler Transit Depths Contaminated By a Phantom Star

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dalba, Paul A.; Muirhead, Philip S.; Croll, Bryce; Kempton, Eliza M.-R.

    2017-02-01

    We present ground-based observations from the Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) of three transits of Kepler-445c—a supposed super-Earth exoplanet with properties resembling GJ 1214b—and demonstrate that the transit depth is ˜50% shallower than the depth previously inferred from Kepler spacecraft data. The resulting decrease in planetary radius significantly alters the interpretation of the exoplanet’s bulk composition. Despite the faintness of the M4 dwarf host star, our ground-based photometry clearly recovers each transit and achieves repeatable 1σ precision of ˜0.2% (2 millimags). The transit parameters estimated from the DCT data are discrepant with those inferred from the Kepler data to at least 17σ confidence. This inconsistency is due to a subtle miscalculation of the stellar crowding metric during the Kepler pre-search data conditioning (PDC). The crowding metric, or CROWDSAP, is contaminated by a non-existent phantom star originating in the USNO-B1 catalog and inherited by the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC). Phantom stars in the KIC are likely rare, but they have the potential to affect statistical studies of Kepler targets that use the PDC transit depths for a large number of exoplanets where an individual follow-up observation of each is not possible. The miscalculation of Kepler-445c’s transit depth emphasizes the importance of stellar crowding in the Kepler data, and provides a cautionary tale for the analysis of data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which will have even larger pixels than Kepler.

  9. Finding Optimal Apertures in Kepler Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, Jeffrey C.; Morris, Robert L.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Girouard, Forrest R.

    2016-12-01

    With the loss of two spacecraft reaction wheels precluding further data collection for the Kepler primary mission, even greater pressure is placed on the processing pipeline to eke out every last transit signal in the data. To that end, we have developed a new method to optimize the Kepler Simple Aperture Photometry (SAP) photometric apertures for both planet detection and minimization of systematic effects. The approach uses a per cadence modeling of the raw pixel data and then performs an aperture optimization based on signal-to-noise ratio and the Kepler Combined Differential Photometric Precision (CDPP), which is a measure of the noise over the duration of a reference transit signal. We have found the new apertures to be superior to the previous Kepler apertures. We can now also find a per cadence flux fraction in aperture and crowding metric. The new approach has also been proven to be robust at finding apertures in K2 data that help mitigate the larger motion-induced systematics in the photometry. The method further allows us to identify errors in the Kepler and K2 input catalogs.

  10. Kepler Mission to Detect Earth-like Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kondo, Yoji

    2003-01-01

    Kepler Mission to detect Earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy was approved by NASA in December 2001 for a 4-5 year mission. The launch is planned in about 5 years. The Kepler observatory will be placed in an Earth-trailing orbit. The unique feature of the Kepler Mission is its ability to detect Earth-like planets orbiting around solar-type stars at a distance similar to that of Earth (from our Sun); such an orbit could provide an environment suitable for supporting life as we know it. The Kepler observatory accomplishes this feat by looking for the transits of planetary object in front of their suns; Kepler has a photometric precision of 10E-5 (0.00001) to achieve such detections. Other ongoing planetary detection programs (based mostly on a technique that looks for the shifting of spectral lines of the primary star due to its planetary companions' motions around it) have detected massive planets (with masses in the range of Jupiter); such massive planets are not considered suitable for supporting life. If our current theories for the formation of planetary systems are valid, we expect to detect about 50 Earth-like planets during Kepler's 4-year mission (assuming a random distribution of the planetary orbital inclinations with respect to the line of sight from Kepler). The number of detection will increase about 640 planets if the planets to be detected are Jupiter-sized.

  11. Kepler Mission to Detect Earth-like Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kondo, Yoji

    2002-01-01

    Kepler Mission to detect Earth-like planets in our Milky Way galaxy was approved by NASA in December 2001 for a 4-5 year mission. The launch is planned in about 5 years. The Kepler observatory will be placed in an Earth-trailing orbit. The unique feature of the Kepler Mission is its ability to detect Earth-like planets orbiting around solar-type stars at a distance similar to that of Earth (from our Sun); such an orbit could provide an environment suitable for supporting life as we know it. The Kepler observatory accomplishes this feat by looking for the transits of planetary object in front of their suns; Kepler has a photometric precision of 10E-5 (0.00001) to achieve such detections. Other ongoing planetary detection programs (based mostly on a technique that looks for the shifting of spectral lines of the primary star due to its planetary companions' motions around it) have detected massive planets (with masses in the range of Jupiter); such massive planets are not considered suitable for supporting life. If our current theories for the formation of planetary systems are valid, we expect to detect about 50 Earth-like planets during Kepler's 4-year mission (assuming a random distribution of the planetary orbital inclinations with respect to the line of sight from Kepler). The number of detection will increase about 640 planets if the planets to be detected are Jupiter-sized.

  12. Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caceres, Gabriel Antonio; Feigelson, Eric

    2016-01-01

    The Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search (KARPS) project uses statistical methodology associated with autoregressive (AR) processes to model Kepler lightcurves in order to improve exoplanet transit detection in systems with high stellar variability. We also introduce a planet-search algorithm to detect transits in time-series residuals after application of the AR models. One of the main obstacles in detecting faint planetary transits is the intrinsic stellar variability of the host star. The variability displayed by many stars may have autoregressive properties, wherein later flux values are correlated with previous ones in some manner. Our analysis procedure consisting of three steps: pre-processing of the data to remove discontinuities, gaps and outliers; AR-type model selection and fitting; and transit signal search of the residuals using a new Transit Comb Filter (TCF) that replaces traditional box-finding algorithms. The analysis procedures of the project are applied to a portion of the publicly available Kepler light curve data for the full 4-year mission duration. Tests of the methods have been made on a subset of Kepler Objects of Interest (KOI) systems, classified both as planetary `candidates' and `false positives' by the Kepler Team, as well as a random sample of unclassified systems. We find that the ARMA-type modeling successfully reduces the stellar variability, by a factor of 10 or more in active stars and by smaller factors in more quiescent stars. A typical quiescent Kepler star has an interquartile range (IQR) of ~10 e-/sec, which may improve slightly after modeling, while those with IQR ranging from 20 to 50 e-/sec, have improvements from 20% up to 70%. High activity stars (IQR exceeding 100) markedly improve. A periodogram based on the TCF is constructed to concentrate the signal of these periodic spikes. When a periodic transit is found, the model is displayed on a standard period-folded averaged light curve. Our findings to date on real

  13. How Galileo and Kepler Countered Aristotle's Cosmological Errors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gingerich, O.

    2009-08-01

    Aristotle made two major common sense assumptions that ultimately had to be refuted to open the way to modern science. One was the dichotomy between celestial and terrestrial. The other was the separation of astronomy from physics. Galileo, particularly with his examination of the moon in the Sidereus nuncius, was a pioneer in destroying the first assumption, while Kepler, whose Astronomia nova was subtitled ``based on causes, or celestial physics,'' broke the stranglehold of the second. The importance of these fundamental contributions toward establishing the nature of modern science, which paved the way for Isaac Newton, is often overshadowed by their more specific contributions in optics or mechanics.

  14. Kepler's Cosmos And The Lathe Of Heaven

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brecher, Kenneth

    2011-01-01

    Johannes Kepler's Mysterium Cosmographicum, published in 1596, presented his vision of the geometrical structure of the solar system. Kepler sought to account for the number of planets, thought to be six, as well as their orbital radii. He assigned orbits to the planets in three-dimensional space. Kepler proposed that the planets move on six spheres inscribed within and circumscribed around the five platonic solids. How did he arrive at his model? By his own account reported in the book, the central idea occurred to him while giving a lecture about planetary conjunctions. But was this revelation the origin of the model? In this presentation, we discuss the artistic, scientific and mathematical environment in which Kepler was immersed in late 16th century Europe. Examples will be shown of some of the readily available inscribed polyhedra that he may have seen - printed in widely circulated books, included in well-known paintings and engravings, and displayed as three dimensional ornamentally turned sculptures. It is highly likely that he saw such physical models five years later while in the employ of Rudolf II who was an avid ornamental turner. Layered polyhedral ivory turnings were made by the nobility with what were then fairly common lathes. Kepler himself wanted to have his own celestial model made into a punch bowl! Therefore, it seems plausible that Kepler had seen models of inscribed platonic solids well before 1596. Later in life Kepler reprinted the Mysterium Cosmographicum with very little fundamental change in its outlook, even after having found what we now call Kepler's three laws of planetary motion. His interest in nested polyhedra may well have preceded any astronomical evidence or geometrical reasoning, arising from artistic and aesthetic encounters that occurred early in his life. Project LITE is supported by the NSF through DUE Grant # 0715975.

  15. Precision asteroseismology of the pulsating white dwarf GD 1212 using a two-wheel-controlled Kepler spacecraft

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hermes, J. J.; Charpinet, S.; Barclay, Thomas

    We present a preliminary analysis of the cool pulsating white dwarf (WD) GD 1212, enabled by more than 11.5 days of space-based photometry obtained during an engineering test of the two-reaction-wheel-controlled Kepler spacecraft. We detect at least 19 independent pulsation modes, ranging from 828.2-1220.8 s, and at least 17 nonlinear combination frequencies of those independent pulsations. Our longest uninterrupted light curve, 9.0 days in length, evidences coherent difference frequencies at periods inaccessible from the ground, up to 14.5 hr, the longest-period signals ever detected in a pulsating WD. These results mark some of the first science to come from amore » two-wheel-controlled Kepler spacecraft, proving the capability for unprecedented discoveries afforded by extending Kepler observations to the ecliptic.« less

  16. Pulsation Modes of sdBV Stars Observed with Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reed, M. D.; Baran, A. S.; Quint, A. C.; Telting, J. H.; Østensen, R. H.; O'Toole, S. J.

    2012-03-01

    During the Kepler satellite's first year of operation, its short cadence observations were obtained in a survey mode where targets received one month of nearly continuous observations. 48 subdwarf B stars were observed of which 14 were found to be pulsators, with only one of these having predominantly short periods. The other 13 were mostly long-period (g-mode) pulsators. With Kepler's exquisite duty cycle and data quality, an average of 23 periods per star were detected with ranges from 6 to 44. As the g-mode pulsations are high-overtone (typically n > 10), asymptotic period relations could apply and so we searched for evenly spaced periods. We found these for l =1 and 2 modes in all but one of the Kepler stars and that one outlier has a very complex temporal spectrum caused by a close companion. We were able to associate 204 of 299 measured periods with l = 1 and 2 modes. Those results should provide tight constraints on pulsation models. However, they also offer a surprise as current structure models predict significant mode trapping, which is inconsistent with the period spacings we have found.

  17. Kepler Discovers First Confirmed Planet in the Habitable Zone (Kepler-22); Celebrates 1000 Days

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-12-07

    At a press conference held at NASA Ames Research Center,the Kepler team announced the discovery of its first confirmed planet in the 'habitable zone' or the region around a star where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Named Kepler-22b, the planet is about 2.4 times the radius of the Earth and orbits a sun-like star about 600 light years away between the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra.

  18. Discourse following award of Kepler Gold Medal. [Kepler Laws, planetary astronomy and physics, and Jupiter studies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kuiper, G. P.

    1973-01-01

    Kuiper briefly reviews Kepler's contributions to the field of planetary astronomy and physics, along with references to his own background in the study of stars, planets, and the solar system. He mentions his participation in NASA programs related to planetary astronomy. He concludes his remarks with thanks for being honored by the award of the Kepler Gold Medal.

  19. Kepler planet-detection mission: introduction and first results.

    PubMed

    Borucki, William J; Koch, David; Basri, Gibor; Batalha, Natalie; Brown, Timothy; Caldwell, Douglas; Caldwell, John; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jørgen; Cochran, William D; DeVore, Edna; Dunham, Edward W; Dupree, Andrea K; Gautier, Thomas N; Geary, John C; Gilliland, Ronald; Gould, Alan; Howell, Steve B; Jenkins, Jon M; Kondo, Yoji; Latham, David W; Marcy, Geoffrey W; Meibom, Søren; Kjeldsen, Hans; Lissauer, Jack J; Monet, David G; Morrison, David; Sasselov, Dimitar; Tarter, Jill; Boss, Alan; Brownlee, Don; Owen, Toby; Buzasi, Derek; Charbonneau, David; Doyle, Laurance; Fortney, Jonathan; Ford, Eric B; Holman, Matthew J; Seager, Sara; Steffen, Jason H; Welsh, William F; Rowe, Jason; Anderson, Howard; Buchhave, Lars; Ciardi, David; Walkowicz, Lucianne; Sherry, William; Horch, Elliott; Isaacson, Howard; Everett, Mark E; Fischer, Debra; Torres, Guillermo; Johnson, John Asher; Endl, Michael; MacQueen, Phillip; Bryson, Stephen T; Dotson, Jessie; Haas, Michael; Kolodziejczak, Jeffrey; Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Twicken, Joseph D; Quintana, Elisa V; Clarke, Bruce D; Allen, Christopher; Li, Jie; Wu, Haley; Tenenbaum, Peter; Verner, Ekaterina; Bruhweiler, Frederick; Barnes, Jason; Prsa, Andrej

    2010-02-19

    The Kepler mission was designed to determine the frequency of Earth-sized planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The habitable zone is the region where planetary temperatures are suitable for water to exist on a planet's surface. During the first 6 weeks of observations, Kepler monitored 156,000 stars, and five new exoplanets with sizes between 0.37 and 1.6 Jupiter radii and orbital periods from 3.2 to 4.9 days were discovered. The density of the Neptune-sized Kepler-4b is similar to that of Neptune and GJ 436b, even though the irradiation level is 800,000 times higher. Kepler-7b is one of the lowest-density planets (approximately 0.17 gram per cubic centimeter) yet detected. Kepler-5b, -6b, and -8b confirm the existence of planets with densities lower than those predicted for gas giant planets.

  20. Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey. III. Adaptive Optics Imaging of 1629 Kepler Exoplanet Candidate Host Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ziegler, Carl; Law, Nicholas M.; Morton, Tim; Baranec, Christoph; Riddle, Reed; Atkinson, Dani; Baker, Anna; Roberts, Sarah; Ciardi, David R.

    2017-02-01

    The Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey is observing every Kepler planet candidate host star with laser adaptive optics imaging to search for blended nearby stars, which may be physically associated companions and/or responsible for transit false positives. In this paper, we present the results of our search for stars nearby 1629 Kepler planet candidate hosts. With survey sensitivity to objects as close as ˜0.″15, and magnitude differences Δm ≤slant 6, we find 223 stars in the vicinity of 206 target KOIs; 209 of these nearby stars have not been previously imaged in high resolution. We measure an overall nearby-star probability for Kepler planet candidates of 12.6 % +/- 0.9 % at separations between 0.″15 and 4.″0. Particularly interesting KOI systems are discussed, including 26 stars with detected companions that host rocky, habitable zone candidates and five new candidate planet-hosting quadruple star systems. We explore the broad correlations between planetary systems and stellar binarity, using the combined data set of Baranec et al. and this paper. Our previous 2σ result of a low detected nearby star fraction of KOIs hosting close-in giant planets is less apparent in this larger data set. We also find a significant correlation between detected nearby star fraction and KOI number, suggesting possible variation between early and late Kepler data releases.

  1. Johannes Kepler and the Supernova of 1604

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boner, P. J.

    2006-08-01

    The brilliant luminary that first appeared in October 1604 was considered by many contemporaries to be a new star of unrivalled magnitude. Shining forth near the historic conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the new star held important implications for several areas of interest, notably astrology, astronomy, chronology and theology. Addressing all of these areas in his comprehensive book, De stella nova (1606), Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) studied the new star extensively under the aegis of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612) in Prague. The focus of the following presentation is Kepler's theory of the new star's origins in the celestial ether. Describing the heavens poetically as a fertile expanse of "liquid fields", Kepler suggested that the new star sprung from the celestial ether much like the numerous living beings in the sublunary realm which were spontaneously generated from the Earth. As evidence for his claim, Kepler pointed to the conspicuous mathematical patterns similarly observed in earthly and celestial entities. Kepler's efficient cause for this explanation, known as the animate faculty, accounted for both the generation and form of new phenomena in the celestial and terrestrial realms. The new star of 1604 proved to be no exception.

  2. The architecture and formation of the Kepler-30 planetary system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Panichi, F.; Goździewski, K.; Migaszewski, C.; Szuszkiewicz, E.

    2018-04-01

    We study the orbital architecture, physical characteristics of planets, formation and long-term evolution of the Kepler-30 planetary system, detected and announced in 2012 by the KEPLER team. We show that the Kepler-30 system belongs to a particular class of very compact and quasi-resonant, yet long-term stable planetary systems. We re-analyse the light curves of the host star spanning Q1-Q17 quarters of the KEPLER mission. A huge variability of the Transit Timing Variations (TTV) exceeding 2 days is induced by a massive Jovian planet located between two Neptune-like companions. The innermost pair is near to the 2:1 mean motion resonance (MMR), and the outermost pair is close to higher order MMRs, such as 17:7 and 7:3. Our re-analysis of photometric data allows us to constrain, better than before, the orbital elements, planets' radii and masses, which are 9.2 ± 0.1, 536 ± 5, and 23.7 ± 1.3 Earth masses for Kepler-30b, Kepler-30c and Kepler-30d, respectively. The masses of the inner planets are determined within ˜1% uncertainty. We infer the internal structures of the Kepler-30 planets and their bulk densities in a wide range from (0.19 ± 0.01) g.cm-3 for Kepler-30d, (0.96 ± 0.15) g.cm-3 for Kepler-30b, to (1.71 ± 0.13) g.cm-3 for the Jovian planet Kepler-30c. We attempt to explain the origin of this unique planetary system and a deviation of the orbits from exact MMRs through the planetary migration scenario. We anticipate that the Jupiter-like planet plays an important role in determining the present dynamical state of this system.

  3. Revised Masses and Densities of the Planets around Kepler-10

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weiss, Lauren M.; Rogers, Leslie A.; Isaacson, Howard T.; Agol, Eric; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Rowe, Jason F.; Kipping, David; Fulton, Benjamin; Lissauer, Jack; Howard, Andrew; Clark Fabrycky, Daniel

    2015-12-01

    Determining which small exoplanets have stony-iron compositions is necessary for quantifying the occurrence of such planets and for understanding the physics of planet formation. Kepler-10 hosts the stony-iron world Kepler-10b, and also contains what has been reported to be the largest solid silicate-ice planet, Kepler-10c. Using 220 radial velocities (RVs), including 72 new precise RVs from Keck-HIRES, and 17 quarters of Kepler photometry, we obtain the most complete picture of the Kepler-10 system to date. We find that Kepler-10b (Rp = 1.47 R⊕) has mass 3.70 ± 0.43 M⊕ and density 6.44 ± 0.73 g cm-3. Modeling the interior of Kepler-10b as an iron core overlaid with a silicate mantle, we find that the core constitutes 0.17 ± 0.11 of the planet mass. For Kepler-10c (Rp = 2.35 R⊕) we measure mass 13.32 ± 1.65 M⊕and density 5.67 ± 0.70 g cm-3, significantly lower than the mass in Dumusque et al. (2014, 17.2±1.9 M⊕). Kepler-10c is not sufficiently dense to have a pure stony-iron composition. Internal compositional modeling reveals that at least 10% of the radius of Kepler-10c is a volatile envelope composed of either hydrogen-helium (0.0027 ± 0.0015 of the mass, 0.172±0.037 of the radius) or super-ionic water (0.309±0.11 of the mass, 0.305±0.075 of the radius). Transit timing variations (TTVs) of Kepler-10c indicate the likely presence of a third planet in the system, KOI-72.X. The TTVs and RVs are consistent with KOI-72.X having an orbital period of 24, 71, 82, or 101 days, and a mass from 1-7 M⊕.

  4. Initial Data Release of the Kepler-INT Survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Greiss, S.; Steeghs, D.; Gänsicke, B. T.; Martín, E. L.; Groot, P. J.; Irwin, M. J.; González-Solares, E.; Greimel, R.; Knigge, C.; Østensen, R. H.; Verbeek, K.; Drew, J. E.; Drake, J.; Jonker, P. G.; Ripepi, V.; Scaringi, S.; Southworth, J.; Still, M.; Wright, N. J.; Farnhill, H.; van Haaften, L. M.; Shah, S.

    2012-07-01

    This paper describes the first data release of the Kepler-INT Survey (KIS) that covers a 116 deg2 region of the Cygnus and Lyra constellations. The Kepler field is the target of the most intensive search for transiting planets to date. Despite the fact that the Kepler mission provides superior time-series photometry, with an enormous impact on all areas of stellar variability, its field lacks optical photometry complete to the confusion limit of the Kepler instrument necessary for selecting various classes of targets. For this reason, we follow the observing strategy and data reduction method used in the IPHAS and UVEX galactic plane surveys in order to produce a deep optical survey of the Kepler field. This initial release concerns data taken between 2011 May and August, using the Isaac Newton Telescope on the island of La Palma. Four broadband filters were used, U, g, r, i, as well as one narrowband one, Hα, reaching down to a 10σ limit of ~20th mag in the Vega system. Observations covering ~50 deg2, thus about half of the field, passed our quality control thresholds and constitute this first data release. We derive a global photometric calibration by placing the KIS magnitudes as close as possible to the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) photometry. The initial data release catalog containing around 6 million sources from all the good photometric fields is available for download from the KIS Web site (www.astro.warwick.ac.uk/research/kis/) as well as via MAST (KIS magnitudes can be retrieved using the MAST enhanced target search page http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/kepler_fov/search.php and also via Casjobs at MAST Web site http://mastweb.stsci.edu/kplrcasjobs/).

  5. INITIAL DATA RELEASE OF THE KEPLER-INT SURVEY

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Greiss, S.; Steeghs, D.; Gaensicke, B. T.

    2012-07-15

    This paper describes the first data release of the Kepler-INT Survey (KIS) that covers a 116 deg{sup 2} region of the Cygnus and Lyra constellations. The Kepler field is the target of the most intensive search for transiting planets to date. Despite the fact that the Kepler mission provides superior time-series photometry, with an enormous impact on all areas of stellar variability, its field lacks optical photometry complete to the confusion limit of the Kepler instrument necessary for selecting various classes of targets. For this reason, we follow the observing strategy and data reduction method used in the IPHAS andmore » UVEX galactic plane surveys in order to produce a deep optical survey of the Kepler field. This initial release concerns data taken between 2011 May and August, using the Isaac Newton Telescope on the island of La Palma. Four broadband filters were used, U, g, r, i, as well as one narrowband one, H{alpha}, reaching down to a 10{sigma} limit of {approx}20th mag in the Vega system. Observations covering {approx}50 deg{sup 2}, thus about half of the field, passed our quality control thresholds and constitute this first data release. We derive a global photometric calibration by placing the KIS magnitudes as close as possible to the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) photometry. The initial data release catalog containing around 6 million sources from all the good photometric fields is available for download from the KIS Web site (www.astro.warwick.ac.uk/research/kis/) as well as via MAST (KIS magnitudes can be retrieved using the MAST enhanced target search page http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/kepler{sub f}ov/search.php and also via Casjobs at MAST Web site http://mastweb.stsci.edu/kplrcasjobs/).« less

  6. Kepler False Positive Rate & Occurrence of Earth-size and Larger Planets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fressin, Francois; Torres, G.; Charbonneau, D.; Kepler Team

    2013-01-01

    We model the Kepler exoplanet survey targets and their background stars to estimate the occurrence of astrophysical configurations which could mimic an exoplanetary transit. Using real noise level estimates, we compute the number and the characteristics of detectable eclipsing pairs involving stars or planets. We select the fraction of those that would pass the Kepler candidate vetting procedure, including the modeling of the centroid shift of their position on the Kepler camera. By comparing their distribution with that of the Kepler Object Interests from the first 6 quarters of Kepler data, we quantify the false positive rate of Kepler, as a function of candidate planet size and period. Most importantly, this approach allows quantifying and characterizing the distribution of planets, with no assumption of any prior, as the remaining population of the Kepler candidate list minus the simulated population of alternate astrophysical causes. We study the actual detection recovery rate for Kepler that allows reproducing both the KOI size and period distribution as well as their SNR distribution. We estimate the occurrence of planets down to Earth-size, and study if their frequency is correlated with their host star spectral type. This work is supported by the Spitzer General Observer Proposal #80117 - Validating the First Habitable-Zone Planet Candidates Identified by the NASA Kepler Mission, and by the Kepler Participating Scientist Contract led by David Charbonneau, to confirm the planetary nature of candidates identified by the Kepler mission

  7. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Final Kepler transiting planet search (DR25) (Twicken+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Twicken, J. D.; Jenkins, J. M.; Seader, S. E.; Tenenbaum, P.; Smith, J. C.; Brownston, L. S.; Burke, C. J.; Catanzarite, J. H.; Clarke, B. D.; Cote, M. T.; Girouard, F. R.; Klaus, T. C.; Li, J.; McCauliff, S. D.; Morris, R. L.; Wohler, B.; Campbell, J. R.; Uddin, A. K.; Zamudio, K. A.; Sabale, A.; Bryson, S. T.; Caldwell, D. A.; Christiansen, J. L.; Coughlin, J. L.; Haas, M. R.; Henze, C. E.; Sanderfer, D. T.; Thompson, S. E.

    2017-01-01

    The Kepler spacecraft is in an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit and maintained a boresight pointing centered on α=19h22m40s, δ=+44.5° during the primary mission. The Kepler photometer acquired data on a 115-square-degree region of the sky. The data were acquired on 29.4-minute intervals, colloquially known as "long cadences". Long-cadence pixel values were obtained by accumulating 270 consecutive 6.02s exposures. Science acquisition of Q1 data began at 2009-05-13 00:01:07Z, and acquisition of Q17 data concluded at 2013-05-11 12:16:22Z. This time period contains 71427 long-cadence intervals. A total of 198709 targets observed by Kepler were searched for evidence of transiting planets in the final Q1-Q17 pipeline run (see Table1). The results of past Kepler Mission transiting planet searches have been presented in Tenenbaum et al. 2012 (Cat. J/ApJS/199/24) for Quarter 1 through Quarter 3 (i.e., Q1-Q3), Tenenbaum et al. 2013ApJS..206....5T for Q1-Q12, Tenenbaum et al. 2014ApJS..211....6T for Q1-Q16, and Seader et al. 2015 (Cat. J/ApJS/217/18) for Q1-Q17. We now present results of the final Kepler transiting planet search encompassing the complete 17-quarter primary mission. The data release for the final Q1-Q17 pipeline processing is referred to as Data Release 25 (DR25). (3 data files).

  8. Limits On Undetected Planets in the Six Transiting Planets Kepler-11 System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lissauer, Jack

    2017-01-01

    The Kepler-11 has five inner planets ranging from approx. 2 - 1 times as massive Earth in a tightly-packed configuration, with orbital periods between 10 and 47 days. A sixth planet, Kepler-11 g, with a period of118 days, is also observed. The spacing between planets Kepler-11 f and Kepler-11 g is wide enough to allow room for a planet to orbit stably between them. We compare six and seven planet fits to measured transit timing variations (TTVs) of the six known planets. We find that in most cases an additional planet between Kepler-11 f and Kepler-11 g degrades rather than enhances the fit to the TTV data, and where the fit is improved, the improvement provides no significant evidence of a planet between Kepler-11 f and Kepler-11 g. This implies that any planet in this region must be low in mass. We also provide constraints on undiscovered planets orbiting exterior to Kepler-11 g. representations will be described.

  9. Spectroscopy of Kepler Exo-planet Transit Candidate Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Howell, Steve B.; Everett, Mark; Silva, David; Rowe, Jason; Szkody, Paula; Mighell, Ken; Ciardi, David

    2012-02-01

    We propose a long term spectroscopic follow-up program in support of the NASA Kepler exo-planet mission. The Kepler project is now focusing on exo-planet candidates which are smaller in radius (down to Earth- size), have longer period orbits and many of which orbit fainter stars. Our program will spend 85% of the time on our primary goal, spectroscopy of the host stars of exoplanet candidates, and 15% of the time on investigation of other astrophysically interesting stars discovered by Kepler. Our prime goal is to obtain reconnaissance spectra of newly discovered exo-planet stars yielding model fits to T_eff and log g. Secondary goals are to obtain velocity information on EBs with a third component aimed toward discovery of circumbinary planets (such as Kepler 16b) and identification spectra of U-band selected targets in order to find more white dwarfs for Kepler focal plane calibration purposes. All of these tasks can be accomplished using the Kitt Peak 4-m telescope and RCspec as shown by our previous time allocations.

  10. Kepler-432 b: a massive warm Jupiter in a 52-day eccentric orbit transiting a giant star

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ortiz, Mauricio; Gandolfi, Davide; Reffert, Sabine; Quirrenbach, Andreas; Deeg, Hans J.; Karjalainen, Raine; Montañés-Rodríguez, Pilar; Nespral, David; Nowak, Grzegorz; Osorio, Yeisson; Palle, Enric

    2015-01-01

    We study the Kepler object Kepler-432, an evolved star ascending the red giant branch. By deriving precise radial velocities from multi-epoch high-resolution spectra of Kepler-432 taken with the CAFE spectrograph at the 2.2 m telescope of Calar Alto Observatory and the FIES spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope of Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, we confirm the planetary nature of the object Kepler-432 b, which has a transit period of 52 days. We find a planetary mass of Mp = 5.84 ± 0.05MJup and a high eccentricity of e = 0.478 ± 0.004. With a semi-major axis of a = 0.303 ± 0.007 AU, Kepler-432 b is the first bona fide warm Jupiter detected to transit a giant star. We also find a radial velocity linear trend of γ˙ = 0.44 ± 0.04 m s-1 d-1, which suggests the presence of a third object in the system. Current models of planetary evolution in the post-main-sequence phase predict that Kepler-432 b will be most likely engulfed by its host star before the latter reaches the tip of the red giant branch. Based on observations collected at the German-Spanish Astronomical Center, Calar Alto, jointly operated by the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Heidelberg) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC, Granada).Based on observations obtained with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.Table 3 is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  11. Stellar variability and its implications for photometric planet detection with Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Batalha, N. M.; Jenkins, J.; Basri, G. S.; Borucki, W. J.; Koch, D. G.

    2002-01-01

    Kepler is one of three candidates for the next NASA Discovery Mission and will survey the extended solar neighborhood to detect and characterize hundreds of terrestrial (and larger) planets in or near the habitable zone. Its strength lies in its ability to detect large numbers of Earth-sized planets - planets which produced a 10-4 change in relative stellar brightness during a transit across the disk of a sun-like parent star. Such a detection requires high instrumental relative precision and is facilitated by observing stars which are photometrically quiet on hourly timescales. Probing stellar variability across the HR diagram, one finds that many of the photometrically quietest stars are the F and G dwarfs. The Hipparcos photometric database shows the lowest photometric variances among stars of this spectral class. Our own Sun is a prime example with RMS variations over a few rotational cycles of typically (3 - 4)×10-4 (computed from VIRGO/DIARAD data taken Jan-Mar 2001). And variability on the hourly time scales crucial for planet detection is significantly smaller: just (2 - 5)×10-5. This bodes well for planet detection programs such as Kepler and Eddington. With significant numbers of photometrically quiet solar-type stars, Earth-sized planets should be readily identified provided they are abundant in the solar neighborhood. In support of the Kepler science objectives, we have initiated a study of stellar variability and its implications for planet detection. Herein, we summarize existing observational and theoretrical work with the objective of determining the percentage of stars in the Kepler field of view expected to be photometrically stable at a level which allows for Earth-sized planet detection.

  12. Systems engingeering for the Kepler Mission : a search for terrestrial planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Duren, Riley M.; Dragon, Karen; Gunter, Steve Z.; Gautier, Nick; Koch, Dave; Harvey, Adam; Enos, Alan; Borucki, Bill; Sobeck, Charlie; Mayer, Dave; hide

    2004-01-01

    The Kepler mission will launch in 2007 and determine the distribution of earth-size planets (0.5 to 10 earth masses) in the habitable zones (HZs) of solar-like stars. The mission will monitor > 100,000 dwarf stars simultaneously for at least 4 years. Precision differential photometry will be used to detect the periodic signals of transiting planets. Kepler will also support asteroseismology by measuring the pressure-mode (p-mode) oscillations of selected stars. Key mission elements include a spacecraft bus and 0.95 meter, wide-field, CCD-based photometer injected into an earth-trailing heliocentric orbit by a 3-stage Delta II launch vehicle as well as a distributed Ground Segment and Follow-up Observing Program. The project is currently preparing for Preliminary Design Review (October 2004) and is proceeding with detailed design and procurement of long-lead components. In order to meet the unprecedented photometric precision requirement and to ensure a statistically significant result, the Kepler mission involves technical challenges in the areas of photometric noise and systematic error reduction, stability, and false-positive rejection. Programmatic and logistical challenges include the collaborative design, modeling, integration, test, and operation of a geographically and functionally distributed project. A very rigorous systems engineering program has evolved to address these challenges. This paper provides an overview of the Kepler systems engineering program, including some examples of our processes and techniques in areas such as requirements synthesis, validation & verification, system robustness design, and end-to-end performance modeling.

  13. Hydrodynamic Simulations of Kepler's Supernova Remnant

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sullivan, Jessica; Blondin, John; Borkowski, Kazik; Reynolds, Stephen

    2018-01-01

    Kepler’s supernova remnant contains unusual features that strongly suggest an origin in a single-degenerate Type Ia explosion, including anisotropic circumstellar medium (CSM), a strong brightness gradient, and spatially varying expansion proper motions. We present 3Dhydrodynamic simulations to test a picture in which Kepler's progenitor binary emitted a strong asymmetric wind, densest in the orbital plane, while the system moved at high velocity through the ISM. We simulate the creation of the presupernova environment as well as the supernova blast wave, using the VH-1 grid-based hydrodynamics code. We first modeled an anisotropic wind to create an asymmetric bowshock around the progenitor, then the blast wave from thesupernova. The final simulation places both previous model pieces onto a single grid and allows the blast wave to expand into the bowshock. Models were completed on a Yin-Yang grids with matching angular resolutions. By manipulating parameters that control the asymmetry of the system, we attempted to find conditions that recreated the current state of Kepler. We analyzed these models by comparing images of Kepler from the Chandra X-ray Observatory to line-of-sight projections from the model results. We also present comparisons of simulated expansion velocities with recent observations of X-ray proper motions from Chandra images. We were able to produce models that contained similar features to those seen in Kepler. We find the greatest resemblance to Kepler images with a presupernova wind with an equator-to-pole density contrast of 3 and a moderately disk-like CSM at a 5° angle between equatorial plane and system motion.

  14. NASA's Kepler Spacecraft Discovers Its First Rocky Planet

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-01-10

    Animation narrated by Natalie Batalha, describing the location of Kepler-10b and the possible molten landscape. New Field-of-View animation by Marco Librero and new Kepler-10b animation by Dana Berry.

  15. Science Operations Management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Squibb, Gael F.

    1984-10-01

    The operation teams for the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) included scientists from the IRAS International Science Team. The scientific decisions on an hour-to-hour basis, as well as the long-term strategic decisions, were made by science team members. The IRAS scientists were involved in the analysis of the instrument performance, the analysis of the quality of the data, the decision to reacquire data that was contaminated by radiation effects, the strategy for acquiring the survey data, and the process for using the telescope for additional observations, as well as the processing decisions required to ensure the publication of the final scientific products by end of flight operations plus one year. Early in the project, two science team members were selected to be responsible for the scientific operational decisions. One, located at the operations control center in England, was responsible for the scientific aspects of the satellite operations; the other, located at the scientific processing center in Pasadena, was responsible for the scientific aspects of the processing. These science team members were then responsible for approving the design and test of the tools to support their responsibilities and then, after launch, for using these tools in making their decisions. The ability of the project to generate the final science data products one year after the end of flight operations is due in a large measure to the active participation of the science team members in the operations. This paper presents a summary of the operational experiences gained from this scientific involvement.

  16. Kepler-447b: a hot-Jupiter with an extremely grazing transit

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lillo-Box, J.; Barrado, D.; Santos, N. C.; Mancini, L.; Figueira, P.; Ciceri, S.; Henning, Th.

    2015-05-01

    We present the radial velocity confirmation of the extrasolar planet Kepler-447b, initially detected as a candidate by the Kepler mission. In this work, we analyzeits transit signal and the radial velocity data obtained with the Calar Alto Fiber-fed Echelle spectrograph (CAFE). By simultaneously modeling both datasets, we obtain the orbital and physical properties of the system. According to our results, Kepler-447b is a Jupiter-mass planet (Mp = 1.37+0.48-0.46 MJup), with an estimated radius of Rp = 1.65+0.59-0.56 RJup (uncertainties provided in this work are 3σ unless specified). This translates into a sub-Jupiter density. The planet revolves every ~7.8 days in a slightly eccentric orbit (e = 0.123+0.037-0.036) around a G8V star with detected activity in the Kepler light curve. Kepler-447b transits its host with a large impact parameter (b = 1.076+0.112-0.086), which is one of the few planetary grazing transits confirmed so far and the first in the Kepler large crop of exoplanets. We estimate that only around 20% of the projected planet disk occults the stellar disk. The relatively large uncertainties in the planet radius are due to the large impact parameter and short duration of the transit. Planetary transits with large impact parameters (and in particular grazing transits) can be used to detect and analyze interesting configurations, such as additional perturbing bodies, stellar pulsations, rotation of a non-spherical planet, or polar spot-crossing events. All these scenarios will periodically modify the transit properties (depth, duration, and time of mid-transit), which could be detectable with sufficiently accurate photometry. Short-cadence photometric data (at the 1-min level) would help in the search for these exotic configurations in grazing planetary transits like that of Kepler-447b. This system could then be an excellent target for the forthcoming missions TESS and CHEOPS, which will provide the required photometric precision and cadence to study

  17. Plans for Follow-Up Observations of Kepler Planet Candidates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gautier, Thomas N., III

    2009-05-01

    Ground based follow-up observations of transiting planet candidates identified by Kepler are pursued to identify false positives and to search for non-transiting planets in the systems of true transiting planets. I will describe the observational protocols developed by the Kepler team and the web based infrastructure we are using to support the observations. The current state of the Kepler follow-up observations will be reported.

  18. STELLAR MAGNETIC CYCLES IN THE SOLAR-LIKE STARS KEPLER-17 AND KEPLER-63

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Estrela, Raissa; Valio, Adriana, E-mail: rlf.estrela@gmail.com, E-mail: avalio@craam.mackenzie.br

    2016-11-01

    The stellar magnetic field plays a crucial role in the star internal mechanisms, as in the interactions with its environment. The study of starspots provides information about the stellar magnetic field and can characterize the cycle. Moreover, the analysis of solar-type stars is also useful to shed light onto the origin of the solar magnetic field. The objective of this work is to characterize the magnetic activity of stars. Here, we studied two solar-type stars, Kepler-17 and Kepler-63, using two methods to estimate the magnetic cycle length. The first one characterizes the spots (radius, intensity, and location) by fitting themore » small variations in the light curve of a star caused by the occultation of a spot during a planetary transit. This approach yields the number of spots present in the stellar surface and the flux deficit subtracted from the star by their presence during each transit. The second method estimates the activity from the excess in the residuals of the transit light curves. This excess is obtained by subtracting a spotless model transit from the light curve and then integrating all the residuals during the transit. The presence of long-term periodicity is estimated in both time series. With the first method, we obtained P {sub cycle} = 1.12 ± 0.16 year (Kepler-17) and P {sub cycle} = 1.27 ± 0.16 year (Kepler-63), and for the second approach the values are 1.35 ± 0.27 year and 1.27 ± 0.12 year, respectively. The results of both methods agree with each other and confirm their robustness.« less

  19. Dynamic Black-Level Correction and Artifact Flagging for Kepler Pixel Time Series

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kolodziejczak, J. J.; Clarke, B. D.; Caldwell, D. A.

    2011-01-01

    Methods applied to the calibration stage of Kepler pipeline data processing [1] (CAL) do not currently use all of the information available to identify and correct several instrument-induced artifacts. These include time-varying crosstalk from the fine guidance sensor (FGS) clock signals, and manifestations of drifting moire pattern as locally correlated nonstationary noise, and rolling bands in the images which find their way into the time series [2], [3]. As the Kepler Mission continues to improve the fidelity of its science data products, we are evaluating the benefits of adding pipeline steps to more completely model and dynamically correct the FGS crosstalk, then use the residuals from these model fits to detect and flag spatial regions and time intervals of strong time-varying black-level which may complicate later processing or lead to misinterpretation of instrument behavior as stellar activity.

  20. Kepler-454b: Rocky or Not?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2016-02-01

    Small exoplanets tend to fall into two categories: the smallest ones are predominantly rocky, like Earth, and the larger ones have a lower-density, more gaseous composition, similar to Neptune. The planet Kepler-454b was initially estimated to fall between these two groups in radius. So what is its composition?Small-Planet DichotomyThough Kepler has detected thousands of planet candidates with radii between 1 and 2.7 Earth radii, we have only obtained precise mass measurements for 12 of these planets.Mass-radius diagram (click for a closer look!) for planets with radius 2.7 Earth radii and well-measured masses. The six smallest planets (and Venus and Earth) fall along a single mass-radius curve of Earth-like composition. The six larger planets (including Kepler-454b) have lower-density compositions. [Gettel et al. 2016]These measurements, however, show an interesting dichotomy: planets with radii less than 1.6 Earth radii have rocky, Earth-like compositions, following a single relation between their mass and radius. Planets between 2 and 2.7 Earth radii, however, have lower densities and dont follow a single mass-radius relation. Their low densities suggest they contain a significant fraction of volatiles, likely in the form of a thick gas envelope of water, hydrogen, and/or helium.The planet Kepler-454b, discovered transiting a Sun-like star, was initially estimated to have a radius of 1.86 Earth radii placing it in between these two categories. A team of astronomers led by Sara Gettel (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) have since followed up on the initial Kepler detection, hoping to determine the planets composition.Low-Density OutcomeGettel and collaborators obtained 63 observations of the host stars radial velocity with the HARPS-N spectrograph on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, and another 36 observations with the HIRES spectrograph at Keck Observatory. These observations allowed them to do several things:Obtain a more accurate radius estimate

  1. Kepler-Astronomer in Astrology and Astrologer in Astronomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fempl-Madjarevic, Jasna

    The author is discussing a very complicated subject: the astrological aspects in the scientific activity of Johannes Kepler. Sometimes Kepler is considered the last astronomer which confused astrology with astronomy. In fact he composed horoscopes, but he was conscious finally that the astrology was a confusion. The author is discussing also the mistic aspects of the scientifc creation by Kepler. Particularly she emphasized that the "Mysterium Cosmographicum" is one of such works. Meanwhile, that work led to discovery of famous third laws of planets motion.

  2. An independent planet search in the Kepler dataset. II. An extremely low-density super-Earth mass planet around Kepler-87

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ofir, Aviv; Dreizler, Stefan; Zechmeister, Mathias; Husser, Tim-Oliver

    2014-01-01

    Context. The primary goal of the Kepler mission is the measurement of the frequency of Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars. However, the confirmation of the smallest of Kepler's candidates in long periods around FGK dwarfs is extremely difficult or even beyond the limit of current radial velocity technology. Transit timing variations (TTVs) may offer the possibility for these confirmations of near-resonant multiple systems by the mutual gravitational interaction of the planets. Aims: We previously detected the second planet candidate in the KOI 1574 system. The two candidates have relatively long periods (about 114 d and 191 d) and are in 5:3 resonance. We therefore searched for TTVs in this particularly promising system. Methods: The full Kepler data was detrended with the proven SARS pipeline. The entire data allowed one to search for TTVs of the above signals, and to search for additional transit-like signals. Results: We detected strong anti-correlated TTVs of the 114 d and 191 d signals, dynamically confirming them as members of the same system. Dynamical simulations reproducing the observed TTVs allowed us to also determine the masses of the planets. We found KOI 1574.01 (hereafter Kepler-87 b) to have a radius of 13.49 ± 0.55 R⊕ and a mass of 324.2 ± 8.8 M⊕, and KOI 1574.02 (Kepler-87 c) to have a radius of 6.14 ± 0.29 R⊕ and a mass of 6.4 ± 0.8 M⊕. Both planets have low densities of 0.729 and 0.152 g cm-3, respectively, which is non-trivial for such cold and old (7-8 Gyr) planets. Specifically, Kepler-87 c is the lowest-density planet in the super-Earth mass range. Both planets are thus particularly amenable to modeling and planetary structure studies, and also present an interesting case where ground-based photometric follow-up of Kepler planets is very desirable. Finally, we also detected two more short-period super-Earth sized (<2 R⊕) planetary candidates in the system, making the relatively high multiplicity of this system notable

  3. Kepler Certified False Positive Table

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bryson, Stephen T.; Batalha, Natalie Marie; Colon, Knicole Dawn; Coughlin, Jeffrey Langer; Haas, Michael R.; Henze, Chris; Huber, Daniel; Morton, Tim; Rowe, Jason Frank; Mullally, Susan Elizabeth; hide

    2017-01-01

    This document describes the Kepler Certied False Positive table hosted at the Exoplanet Archive1, herein referred to as the CFP table. This table is the result of detailed examination by the Kepler False Positive Working Group (FPWG) of declared false positives in the Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) tables (see, for example, Batalha et al. (2012); Burke et al.(2014); Rowe et al. (2015); Mullally et al. (2015); Coughlin et al. (2015b)) at the Exoplanet Archive. A KOI is considered a false positive if it is not due to a planet orbiting the KOI's target star. The CFP table contains all KOIs in the Exoplanet Archive cumulative KOI table. The purpose of the CFP table is to provide a list of certified false positive KOIs. A KOI is certified as a false positive when, in the judgement of the FPWG, there is no plausible planetary interpretation of the observational evidence, which we summarize by saying that the evidence for a false positive is compelling. This certification process involves detailed examination using all available data for each KOI, establishing a high-reliability ground truth set. The CFP table can be used to estimate the reliability of, for example, the KOI tables which are created using only Kepler photometric data, so the disposition of individual KOIs may differ in the KOI and CFP tables. Follow-up observers may find the CFP table useful to avoid observing false positives.

  4. Space astrophysics - Science operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kutter, G. S.; Riegler, G. R.

    1990-01-01

    Science Operations in the Astrophysics Division of NASA Headquarters are the responsibility of the Science Operations Branch. The goals of Science Operations are to encourage multimission, panchromatic research in astrophysics and to foster coordination and cooperation among all mission operations and data analysis efforts. To meet these goals, the Branch is structured into four areas of responsibility. The paper describes these responsibilities.

  5. No Metallicity Correlation Associated with the Kepler Dichotomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Munoz Romero, Carlos Eduardo; Kempton, Eliza

    2018-01-01

    NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered thousands of planetary systems, ∼ 20% of which are found to host multiple transiting planets. This relative paucity (compared to the high fraction of single transiting systems) is postulated to result from a distinction in the architecture between multi-transiting systems and those hosting a single transiting planet: a phenomenon usually referred to as the Kepler dichotomy. We investigate the hypothesis that external giant planets are the main cause behind the over-abundance of single- relative to multi-transiting systems, which would be signaled by higher metallicities in the former sample. To this end, we perform a statistical analysis on the stellar metallicity distribution with respect to planet multiplicity in the Kepler data. We perform our analysis on a variety of samples taken from a population of 1062 Kepler main sequence planetary hosts, using precisely determined metallicities from the California-Kepler survey. Contrary to some predictions, we do not find a significant difference between the stellar metallicities of the single- and multiple-transiting planet systems. However, we do find a 43% upper bound for systems with a single non-giant planet that could also host a hidden giant planet, based on metallicity considerations. While the presence of external giant planets might be one factor behind the Kepler dichotomy, our results also favor alternative explanations. We suggest that additional radial velocity and direct imaging measurements are necessary to constrain the presence of gas giants in systems with a single transiting planet.

  6. Improved parameters of seven Kepler giant companions characterized with SOPHIE and HARPS-N

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bonomo, A. S.; Sozzetti, A.; Santerne, A.; Deleuil, M.; Almenara, J.-M.; Bruno, G.; Díaz, R. F.; Hébrard, G.; Moutou, C.

    2015-03-01

    Radial-velocity observations of Kepler candidates obtained with the SOPHIE and HARPS-N spectrographs have permitted unveiling the nature of the five giant planets Kepler-41b, Kepler-43b, Kepler-44b, Kepler-74b, and Kepler-75b, the massive companion Kepler-39b, and the brown dwarf KOI-205b. These companions were previously characterized with long-cadence (LC) Kepler data. Here we aim at refining the parameters of these transiting systems by i) modelling the published radial velocities and Kepler short-cadence (SC) data that provide a much better sampling of the transits; ii) performing new spectral analyses of the SOPHIE and ESPaDOnS spectra, after improving our procedure for selecting and co-adding the SOPHIE spectra of faint stars (Kp ≳ 14); and iii) improving stellar rotation periods hence stellar age estimates through gyrochronology, when possible, by using all the available LC data up to quarter Q17. Posterior distributions of the system parameters were derived with a differential evolution Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. Our main results are as follows: a) Kepler-41b is significantly larger and less dense than previously found because a lower orbital inclination is favoured by SC data. This also affects the determination of the geometric albedo that is lower than previously derived: Ag< 0.135; b) Kepler-44b is moderately smaller and denser than reported in the discovery paper, as a consequence of the slightly shorter transit duration found with SC data; c) good agreement was achieved with published Kepler-43, Kepler-75, and KOI-205 system parameters, although the host stars Kepler-75 and KOI-205 were found to be slightly richer in metals and hotter, respectively; d) the previously reported non-zero eccentricities of Kepler-39b and Kepler-74b might be spurious. If their orbits were circular, the two companions would be smaller and denser than in the eccentric case. The radius of Kepler-39b is still larger than predicted by theoretical isochrones. Its

  7. Visualization of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lu, Meishu; Su, Jun; Wang, Weiguo; Lu, Jianlong

    2017-01-01

    For this article, we use a 3D printer to print a surface similar to universal gravitation for demonstrating and investigating Kepler's laws of planetary motion describing the motion of a small ball on the surface. This novel experimental method allows Kepler's laws of planetary motion to be visualized and will contribute to improving the…

  8. Rediscovering Kepler's laws using Newton's gravitation law and NASA data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Springsteen, Paul; Keith, Jason

    2010-03-01

    Kepler's three laws of planetary motion were originally discovered by using data acquired from Tycho Brache's naked eye observations of the planets. We show how Kepler's third law can be reproduced using planetary data from NASA. We will also be using Newton's Gravitational law to explain why Kepler's three laws exist as they do.

  9. Masses of Kepler-46b, c from Transit Timing Variations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saad-Olivera, Ximena; Nesvorný, David; Kipping, David M.; Roig, Fernando

    2017-04-01

    We use 16 quarters of the Kepler mission data to analyze the transit timing variations (TTVs) of the extrasolar planet Kepler-46b (KOI-872). Our dynamical fits confirm that the TTVs of this planet (period P={33.648}-0.005+0.004 days) are produced by a non-transiting planet Kepler-46c (P={57.325}-0.098+0.116 days). The Bayesian inference tool MultiNest is used to infer the dynamical parameters of Kepler-46b and Kepler-46c. We find that the two planets have nearly coplanar and circular orbits, with eccentricities ≃ 0.03 somewhat higher than previously estimated. The masses of the two planets are found to be {M}b={0.885}-0.343+0.374 and {M}c={0.362}-0.016+0.016 Jupiter masses, with M b being determined here from TTVs for the first time. Due to the precession of its orbital plane, Kepler-46c should start transiting its host star a few decades from now.

  10. The Kepler Mission on Two Reaction Wheels is K2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haas, Michael R.; Barclay, T.; Batalha, N. M.; Bryson, S.; Caldwell, D. A.; Campbell, J.; Coughlin, J.; Howell, S. B.; Jenkins, J. M.; Klaus, T. C.; Mullally, F.; Sanderfer, D. T.; Sobeck, C. K.; Still, M. D.; Troeltzsch, J.; Twicken, J. D.

    2014-01-01

    Although data collection for the original Kepler mission is complete, a repurposed Kepler has the potential to discover many hundreds of new, small exoplanets around low-mass stars located in or near the ecliptic plane. This repurposing of the Kepler spacecraft, dubbed “K2,” seeks to maximize photometric performance using its two operational reaction wheels by observing in the ecliptic plane where solar torques can be carefully balanced to minimize boresight roll. The K2 mission shows great promise and, once approved, will observe many different fields during a sequence of two- to three-month campaigns over the next few years. Like the original Kepler mission, K2 has many challenges, but is anticipated to be well worth the climb scientifically. K2 can observe many thousands of new sources during each campaign and hundreds of thousands of new sources over its lifetime. In addition to its continued search for exoplanets, the K2 mission will provide access to a wide variety of scientifically interesting targets that include young and variable stars, open clusters of differing ages, star-forming regions, supernovae, white dwarfs, microlensing events, solar system objects, AGNs, normal galaxies, and the Galactic Center. Performance testing began in September, 2013, and has continued throughout the fall and early winter. The results of the first ecliptic-plane tests are described and used to predict photometric performance. A trade study reveals the likely number of targets, cadence durations, initial fields of view, and planned observing strategies. K2 is an exciting new mission that addresses a wide variety of scientific questions with expanded opportunities for community participation.

  11. geoKepler Workflow Module for Computationally Scalable and Reproducible Geoprocessing and Modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cowart, C.; Block, J.; Crawl, D.; Graham, J.; Gupta, A.; Nguyen, M.; de Callafon, R.; Smarr, L.; Altintas, I.

    2015-12-01

    The NSF-funded WIFIRE project has developed an open-source, online geospatial workflow platform for unifying geoprocessing tools and models for for fire and other geospatially dependent modeling applications. It is a product of WIFIRE's objective to build an end-to-end cyberinfrastructure for real-time and data-driven simulation, prediction and visualization of wildfire behavior. geoKepler includes a set of reusable GIS components, or actors, for the Kepler Scientific Workflow System (https://kepler-project.org). Actors exist for reading and writing GIS data in formats such as Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, and using OGC web services such as WFS. The actors also allow for calling geoprocessing tools in other packages such as GDAL and GRASS. Kepler integrates functions from multiple platforms and file formats into one framework, thus enabling optimal GIS interoperability, model coupling, and scalability. Products of the GIS actors can be fed directly to models such as FARSITE and WRF. Kepler's ability to schedule and scale processes using Hadoop and Spark also makes geoprocessing ultimately extensible and computationally scalable. The reusable workflows in geoKepler can be made to run automatically when alerted by real-time environmental conditions. Here, we show breakthroughs in the speed of creating complex data for hazard assessments with this platform. We also demonstrate geoKepler workflows that use Data Assimilation to ingest real-time weather data into wildfire simulations, and for data mining techniques to gain insight into environmental conditions affecting fire behavior. Existing machine learning tools and libraries such as R and MLlib are being leveraged for this purpose in Kepler, as well as Kepler's Distributed Data Parallel (DDP) capability to provide a framework for scalable processing. geoKepler workflows can be executed via an iPython notebook as a part of a Jupyter hub at UC San Diego for sharing and reporting of the scientific analysis and results from

  12. The Scattering Outcomes of Kepler Circumbinary Planets: Planet Mass Ratio

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gong, Yan-Xiang; Ji, Jianghui, E-mail: yxgong@pmo.ac.cn, E-mail: jijh@pmo.ac.cn

    Recent studies reveal that the free eccentricities of Kepler-34b and Kepler-413b are much larger than their forced eccentricities, implying that scattering events may take place in their formation. The observed orbital configuration of Kepler-34b cannot be well reproduced in disk-driven migration models, whereas a two-planet scattering scenario can play a significant role of shaping the planetary configuration. These studies indicate that circumbinary planets discovered by Kepler may have experienced scattering process. In this work, we extensively investigate the scattering outcomes of circumbinary planets focusing on the effects of planet mass ratio . We find that the planetary mass ratio andmore » the the initial relative locations of planets act as two important parameters that affect the eccentricity distribution of the surviving planets. As an application of our model, we discuss the observed orbital configurations of Kepler-34b and Kepler-413b. We first adopt the results from the disk-driven models as the initial conditions, then simulate the scattering process that occurs in the late evolution stage of circumbinary planets. We show that the present orbital configurations of Kepler-34b and Kepler-413b can be well reproduced when considering a two unequal-mass planet ejection model. Our work further suggests that some of the currently discovered circumbinary single-planet systems may be survivors of original multiple-planet systems. The disk-driven migration and scattering events occurring in the late stage both play an irreplaceable role in sculpting the final systems.« less

  13. Music Theory and the Harmony Method in J. Kepler's Work " The harmony of the Universe"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smirnov, V. A.

    In Kepler's book The Harmony of the Universe, edited in 1619, the theory of music as a science of that time is presented. Also the investigation of the correspondence between musical proportion and orbital parameters of the planets is presented. Kepler's book The Harmony of the Universe is a work that discloses the basic physical regularities of the developing Universe, which so far had not been definitively formulated. To explain the development process, Kepler introduced the concept of a "productive force" or "forming force" that directs the development of natural phenomena with the principles of world harmony, described by him. In addition to the four known natural interactions is a fifth one, that had never been studied fully. In this way we can explain the development of natural phenomena as alive and nonalive. Arising from the "productive force" that directs the flow of processes with the laws of harmony is an explanation of the existence of "anti-entropy" processes, a contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics, but playing a fundamental part in nature. The "golden section" apparatus defines space and time frames of process flow. The contents of the book give a notion about the way or "program" of development. Which basic law of nature is hiden in the contents of book is yet to be resolved (Kepler, 1939).

  14. Revised Masses and Densities of the Planets around Kepler-10

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weiss, Lauren M.; Rogers, Leslie A.; Isaacson, Howard T.; Agol, Eric; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Rowe, Jason F.; Kipping, David; Fulton, Benjamin J.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Howard, Andrew W.; Fabrycky, Daniel

    2016-03-01

    Determining which small exoplanets have stony-iron compositions is necessary for quantifying the occurrence of such planets and for understanding the physics of planet formation. Kepler-10 hosts the stony-iron world Kepler-10b, and also contains what has been reported to be the largest solid silicate-ice planet, Kepler-10c. Using 220 radial velocities (RVs), including 72 precise RVs from Keck-HIRES of which 20 are new from 2014 to 2015, and 17 quarters of Kepler photometry, we obtain the most complete picture of the Kepler-10 system to date. We find that Kepler-10b ({R}{{p}}=1.47 {R}\\oplus ) has mass 3.72\\quad +/- \\quad 0.42\\quad {M}\\oplus and density 6.46\\quad +/- \\quad 0.73\\quad {{g}} {{cm}}-3. Modeling the interior of Kepler-10b as an iron core overlaid with a silicate mantle, we find that the iron core constitutes 0.17 ± 0.11 of the planet mass. For Kepler-10c ({R}{{p}}=2.35 {R}\\oplus ) we measure mass 13.98\\quad +/- \\quad 1.79\\quad {M}\\oplus and density 5.94\\quad +/- \\quad 0.76\\quad {{g}} {{cm}}-3, significantly lower than the mass computed in Dumusque et al. (17.2+/- 1.9 {M}\\oplus ). Our mass measurement of Kepler-10c rules out a pure stony-iron composition. Internal compositional modeling reveals that at least 10% of the radius of Kepler-10c is a volatile envelope composed of hydrogen-helium (0.2% of the mass, 16% of the radius) or super-ionic water (28% of the mass, 29% of the radius). However, we note that analysis of only HIRES data yields a higher mass for planet b and a lower mass for planet c than does analysis of the HARPS-N data alone, with the mass estimates for Kepler-10 c being formally inconsistent at the 3σ level. Moreover, dividing the data for each instrument into two parts also leads to somewhat inconsistent measurements for the mass of planet c derived from each observatory. Together, this suggests that time-correlated noise is present and that the uncertainties in the masses of the planets (especially planet c) likely

  15. Kepler-90 System Compared to Our Solar System (Artist's Concept)

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-12-14

    Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star, with the recent discovery of an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star 2,545 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. This artist's concept depicts the Kepler-90 system compared with our own solar system. The newly-discovered Kepler-90i -- a sizzling hot, rocky planet that orbits its star once every 14.4 days -- was found using machine learning from Google. Machine learning is an approach to artificial intelligence in which computers "learn." In this case, computers learned to identify planets by finding in Kepler data instances where the telescope recorded changes in starlight caused by planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22193

  16. Asteroseismic inversions in the Kepler era: application to the Kepler Legacy sample

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buldgen, Gaël; Reese, Daniel; Dupret, Marc-Antoine

    2017-10-01

    In the past few years, the CoRoT and Kepler missions have carried out what is now called the space photometry revolution. This revolution is still ongoing thanks to K2 and will be continued by the Tess and Plato2.0 missions. However, the photometry revolution must also be followed by progress in stellar modelling, in order to lead to more precise and accurate determinations of fundamental stellar parameters such as masses, radii and ages. In this context, the long-lasting problems related to mixing processes in stellar interior is the main obstacle to further improvements of stellar modelling. In this contribution, we will apply structural asteroseismic inversion techniques to targets from the Kepler Legacy sample and analyse how these can help us constrain the fundamental parameters and mixing processes in these stars. Our approach is based on previous studies using the SOLA inversion technique [1] to determine integrated quantities such as the mean density [2], the acoustic radius, and core conditions indicators [3], and has already been successfully applied to the 16Cyg binary system [4]. We will show how this technique can be applied to the Kepler Legacy sample and how new indicators can help us to further constrain the chemical composition profiles of stars as well as provide stringent constraints on stellar ages.

  17. Global Erratum for Kepler Q0-Q17 and K2 C0-C5 Short Cadence Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Caldwell, Douglas; Van Cleve, Jeffrey E.

    2016-01-01

    An accounting error has scrambled much of the short-cadence collateral smear data used to correct for the effects of Keplers shutterless readout. This error has been present since launch and affects approximately half of all short-cadence targets observed by Kepler and K2 to date. The resulting calibration errors are present in both the short-cadence target pixel files and the short-cadence light curves for Kepler Data Releases 1-24 and K2 Data Releases 1-7. This error does not affect long-cadence data. Since it will take some time to correct this error and reprocess all Kepler and K2 data, a list of affected targets is provided. Even though the affected targets are readily identified, the science impact for any particular target may be difficult to assess. Since the smear signal is often small compared to the target signal, the effect is negligible for many targets. However, the smear signal is scene-dependent, so time varying signals can be introduced into any target by the other stars falling on the same CCD column. Some tips on how to assess the severity of the calibration error are provided in this document.

  18. Which of Kepler's Stars Flare?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2017-12-01

    function of Rossby number, which traces stellar rotation. Higher rotation rates correspond to lower Rossby numbers, so these data indicate that more rapidly rotating stars are more likely to exhibit flares. [Van Doorsselaere et al. 2017]Roughly 3.5% of Kepler stars in this sample are flaring stars.24 new A stars are found to show flaring activity. This is interesting because A stars arent thought to have an outer convective zone, which should prevent a magnetic dynamo from operating. Yet these flaring-star detections add to the body of evidence that at least some A stars do show magnetic activity.Most flaring stars in the sample are main-sequence stars, but 653 giants were found to have flaring activity. As with A stars, its unexpected that giant stars would have strong magnetic fields their increase in size and gradual spin-down over time should result in weakening of the surface fields. Nevertheless, it seems that the flare incidence of giant stars is similar to that of F or G main-sequence stars.All stellar types appear to have a small fraction of flare stars stars with an especially high rate of flare occurrence.Rapidly rotating stars are more likely to flare, tend to flare more often, and tend to have stronger flares than slowly rotating stars.As a next step, the authors plan to apply their flare detection algorithm to the larger sample of all Kepler data. In the meantime, this study has both deepened a few mysteries and moved us a step closer in our understanding of which stars flare and why.CitationTom Van Doorsselaere et al 2017 ApJS 232 26. doi:10.3847/1538-4365/aa8f9a

  19. Kepler unbound: Some elegant curiosities of classical mechanics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    MacKay, Niall J.; Salour, Sam

    2015-01-01

    We explain two exotic systems of classical mechanics: the McIntosh-Cisneros-Zwanziger ("MICZ") Kepler system, of motion of a charged particle in the presence of a modified dyon; and Gibbons and Manton's description of the slow motion of well-separated solitonic ("BPS") monopoles using Taub-NUT space. Each system is characterized by the conservation of a Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector, and we use elementary vector techniques to show that each obeys a subtly different variation on Kepler's three laws for the Newton-Coulomb two-body problem, including a new modified Kepler third law for BPS monopoles.

  20. What's the Kepler Spacecraft Been Up To?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2016-03-01

    Remember back in May 2013 when the second of Keplers reaction wheels failed, rendering it unable to control its precision pointing? As a result of a clever backup plan by intrepid scientists, Kepler is still going strong! This January, a paper was published describing some of the results from the first year of the extended Kepler mission, known as K2.K2: A Second ChanceHistograms of the K2 planet candidate sample (solid yellow) compared with planet candidates from the first four months of Kepler observations (blue diagonal lines). The histograms compare planet radius, orbital period, and brightness. [Vanderburg et al. 2016]After an incredibly successful five years discovering transiting exoplanets, the failure of two of Keplers reaction wheels (which allow it to maintain its orientation) looked like it would shut down the mission. Luckily, the scientific community came up with the ingenious plan of stabilizing the telescope using the radiation pressure exerted by the Sun. Though this solution limits Kepler to observing within the ecliptic plane, it has provided a new life lease for the project.Despite the significantly worsened pointing precision in the K2 mission, new analysis techniques have been developed that decouple the motion of the spacecraft from its observations, resulting in an observational precision for K2 thats within 35% of the original precision achieved by Kepler.Using these techniques, a team of scientists led by Andrew Vanderburg (HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics) analyzed the publicly released data from the first year of the K2 mission. In a new study, they describe the results from the 59,174 targets that Kepler has observed in that time.Planetary CandidatesVanderburg and collaborators report that K2 has detected 234 planetary candidates around 208 stars in its first year. These candidates span a range of sizes from gas-giant to smaller than the Earth, and have orbital periods that range from hours to more than a month. The list

  1. Likely transiting exocomets detected by Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rappaport, S.; Vanderburg, A.; Jacobs, T.; LaCourse, D.; Jenkins, J.; Kraus, A.; Rizzuto, A.; Latham, D. W.; Bieryla, A.; Lazarevic, M.; Schmitt, A.

    2018-02-01

    We present the first good evidence for exocomet transits of a host star in continuum light in data from the Kepler mission. The Kepler star in question, KIC 3542116, is of spectral type F2V and is quite bright at Kp = 10. The transits have a distinct asymmetric shape with a steeper ingress and slower egress that can be ascribed to objects with a trailing dust tail passing over the stellar disc. There are three deeper transits with depths of ≃ 0.1 per cent that last for about a day, and three that are several times more shallow and of shorter duration. The transits were found via an exhaustive visual search of the entire Kepler photometric data set, which we describe in some detail. We review the methods we use to validate the Kepler data showing the comet transits, and rule out instrumental artefacts as sources of the signals. We fit the transits with a simple dust-tail model, and find that a transverse comet speed of ˜35-50 km s-1 and a minimum amount of dust present in the tail of ˜1016 g are required to explain the larger transits. For a dust replenishment time of ˜10 d, and a comet lifetime of only ˜300 d, this implies a total cometary mass of ≳3 × 1017 g, or about the mass of Halley's comet. We also discuss the number of comets and orbital geometry that would be necessary to explain the six transits detected over the 4 yr of Kepler prime-field observations. Finally, we also report the discovery of a single comet-shaped transit in KIC 11084727 with very similar transit and host-star properties.

  2. Selecting Pixels for Kepler Downlink

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bryson, Stephen T.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Klaus, Todd C.; Cote, Miles T.; Quintana, Elisa V.; Hall, Jennifer R.; Ibrahim, Khadeejah; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Van Cleve, Jeffrey E.; hide

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler mission monitors > 100,000 stellar targets using 42 2200 1024 pixel CCDs. Bandwidth constraints prevent the downlink of all 96 million pixels per 30-minute cadence, so the Kepler spacecraft downlinks a specified collection of pixels for each target. These pixels are selected by considering the object brightness, background and the signal-to-noise of each pixel, and are optimized to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the target. This paper describes pixel selection, creation of spacecraft apertures that efficiently capture selected pixels, and aperture assignment to a target. Diagnostic apertures, short-cadence targets and custom specified shapes are discussed.

  3. Kepler-Astronomer in Astrology and Astrologer in Astronomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fempl-Madarevic, Jasna

    The author is discussing the role of astrology and mysticism in the scientific work by Johannes Kepler. This subject is as more important as the astrology and mysticism are actually very widespread. The author is separating the mathematical proofs in the Kepler's writings from astrological beliefs.

  4. Kepler-20e -- The Smallest Exoplanet Artist Concept

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-12-20

    Kepler-20e is the first planet smaller than the Earth discovered to orbit a star other than the sun. A year on Kepler-20e only lasts 6 days, as it is much closer to its host star than the Earth is to the sun.

  5. Transit Timing Variation analysis with Kepler light curves of KOI 227 and Kepler 93b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dulz, Shannon; Reed, Mike

    2017-01-01

    By searching for transit signals in approximately 150,000 stars, NASA’s Kepler Space telescope found thousands of exoplanets over its primary mission from 2009 to 2013 (Tenenbaum et al. 2014, ApJS, 211, 6). Yet, a detailed follow-up examination of Kepler light curves may contribute more evidence on system dynamics and planetary atmospheres of these objects. Kepler’s continuous observing of these systems over the mission duration produced light curves of sufficient duration to allow for the search for transit timing variations. Transit timing variations over the course of many orbits may indicate a precessing orbit or the existence of a non-transiting third body such as another exoplanet. Flux contributions of the planet just prior to secondary eclipse may provide a measurement of bond albedo from the day-side of the transiting planet. Any asymmetries of the transit shape may indicate thermal asymmetries which can measure upper atmosphere motion of the planet. These two factors can constrain atmospheric models of close orbiting exoplanets. We first establish our procedure with the well-documented TTV system, KOI 227 (Nesvorny et al. 2014, ApJ, 790, 31). Using the test case of KOI 227, we analyze Kepler-93b for TTVs and day-side flux contributions. Kepler-93b is likely a rocky planet with R = 1.50 ± 0.03 Earth Radii and M = 2.59 ± 2.0 Earth Masses (Marcy et al. 2014, ApJS, 210, 20). This research is funded by a NASA EPSCoR grant.

  6. A Bewildering and Dynamic Picture of Exoplanetary Systems Identified by the Kepler Mission (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, J. M.

    2013-12-01

    notion of the habitable zone for single stars and static planetary system configurations. This talk will provide an overview of the science results from the Kepler Mission and the work ahead to derive the frequency of Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars from the treasure trove of Kepler data. NASA's quest for exoplanets continues with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, slated for launch in May 2017 by NASA's Explorer Program. TESS will conduct an all- sky transit survey to identify the 1000 best small exoplanets in the solar neighborhood for follow up observations and characterization. TESS's targets will include all F, G, K dwarfs from +4 to +12 magnitude and all M dwarfs known within ~200 light-years. 500,000 target stars will be observed over two years with ~500 square degrees observed continuously for a year in each hemisphere in the James Webb Space Telescopes continuously viewable zones. Since the typical TESS target star is 5 magnitudes brighter than that of Kepler and 10 times closer, TESS discoveries will afford significant opportunities to measure the masses of the exoplanets and to characterize their atmospheres with JWST, ELTs and other exoplanet explorers. TESS' discoveries will raise new questions regarding habitability that will be open to investigation through active efforts to characterize their atmospheres and search for biomarkers. Funding for this mission is provided by NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

  7. Photometry Using Kepler "Superstamps" of Open Clusters NGC 6791 & NGC 6819

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuehn, Charles A.; Drury, Jason A.; Bellamy, Beau R.; Stello, Dennis; Bedding, Timothy R.; Reed, Mike; Quick, Breanna

    2015-09-01

    The Kepler space telescope has proven to be a gold mine for the study of variable stars. Usually, Kepler only reads out a handful of pixels around each pre-selected target star, omitting a large number of stars in the Kepler field. Fortunately, for the open clusters NGC 6791 and NGC 6819, Kepler also read out larger "superstamps" which contained complete images of the central region of each cluster. These cluster images can be used to study additional stars in the open clusters that were not originally on Kepler's target list. We discuss our work on using two photometric techniques to analyze these superstamps and present sample results from this project to demonstrate the value of this technique for a wide variety of variable stars.

  8. Kepler's relation to the Jesuits-A study of his correspondence with Paul Guldin.

    PubMed

    Schuppener, Georg

    1997-12-01

    First, this article provides a survey of the kind of relationship that existed between Kepler and the Jesuits. Afterwards, it is pondered upon the likelihood of their having been in direct contact with each other while Kepler lived in Prague. The second part of the article is devoted to an investigation into the correspondence between Kepler and Paul Guldin as an example. Thus, the paper describes the key issues of those letters and concludes from this Guldin's attitude to Kepler and the resulting commitment to Kepler's affairs. Finally, the article examines whether the assumption that Kepler and Guldin later discontinued their correspondence intensionally is verifiable and plausible.

  9. BEER ANALYSIS OF KEPLER AND CoRoT LIGHT CURVES. I. DISCOVERY OF KEPLER-76b: A HOT JUPITER WITH EVIDENCE FOR SUPERROTATION

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Faigler, S.; Tal-Or, L.; Mazeh, T.

    We present the first case in which the BEER algorithm identified a hot Jupiter in the Kepler light curve, and its reality was confirmed by orbital solutions based on follow-up spectroscopy. The companion Kepler-76b was identified by the BEER algorithm, which detected the BEaming (sometimes called Doppler boosting) effect together with the Ellipsoidal and Reflection/emission modulations (BEER), at an orbital period of 1.54 days, suggesting a planetary companion orbiting the 13.3 mag F star. Further investigation revealed that this star appeared in the Kepler eclipsing binary catalog with estimated primary and secondary eclipse depths of 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3} andmore » 1 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4}, respectively. Spectroscopic radial velocity follow-up observations with Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph and SOPHIE confirmed Kepler-76b as a transiting 2.0 {+-} 0.26 M{sub Jup} hot Jupiter. The mass of a transiting planet can be estimated from either the beaming or the ellipsoidal amplitude. The ellipsoidal-based mass estimate of Kepler-76b is consistent with the spectroscopically measured mass while the beaming-based estimate is significantly inflated. We explain this apparent discrepancy as evidence for the superrotation phenomenon, which involves eastward displacement of the hottest atmospheric spot of a tidally locked planet by an equatorial superrotating jet stream. This phenomenon was previously observed only for HD 189733b in the infrared. We show that a phase shift of 10. Degree-Sign 3 {+-} 2. Degree-Sign 0 of the planet reflection/emission modulation, due to superrotation, explains the apparently inflated beaming modulation, resolving the ellipsoidal/beaming amplitude discrepancy. Kepler-76b is one of very few confirmed planets in the Kepler light curves that show BEER modulations and the first to show superrotation evidence in the Kepler band. Its discovery illustrates for the first time the ability of the BEER algorithm to detect

  10. THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN THE KEPLER SEARCH VOLUME

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Johnson, Marshall C.; Redfield, Seth; Jensen, Adam G., E-mail: mjohnson@astro.as.utexas.edu

    2015-07-10

    The properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) surrounding a planetary system can impact planetary climate through a number of mechanisms, including changing the size of the astrosphere (one of the major shields for cosmic rays) as well as direct deposition of material into planetary atmospheres. In order to constrain the ambient ISM conditions for exoplanetary systems, we present observations of interstellar Na i and K i absorption toward seventeen early type stars in the Kepler prime mission field of view (FOV). We identify 39 Na i and 8 K i velocity components, and attribute these to 11 ISM clouds. Sixmore » of these are detected toward more than one star, and for these clouds we put limits on the cloud properties, including distance and hydrogen number density. We identify one cloud with significant (≳1.5 cm{sup −3}) hydrogen number density located within the nominal ∼100 pc boundary of the Local Bubble. We identify systems with confirmed planets within the Kepler FOV that could lie within these ISM clouds, and estimate upper limits on the astrosphere sizes of these systems under the assumption that they do lie within these clouds. Under this condition, the Kepler-20, 42, and 445 multiplanet systems could have compressed astrospheres much smaller than the present-day heliosphere. Among the known habitable zone planet hosts, Kepler-186 could have an astrosphere somewhat smaller than the heliosphere, while Kepler-437 and KOI-4427 could have astrospheres much larger than the heliosphere. The thick disk star Kepler-444 may have an astrosphere just a few AU in radius.« less

  11. Discovery and Rossiter-Mclaughlin Effect of Exoplanet Kepler-8b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.; Borucki, William J.; Koch, David G.; Marcy, Geoffrey W.; Cochran, William D.; Welsh, William F.; Basri, Gibor; Batalha, Natalie M.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Brown, Timothy M.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Dunham, Edward W.; Endl, Michael; Fischer, Debra A.; Gautier, Thomas N., III; Geary, John C.; Gilliland, Ronald L.; Howell, Steve B.; Isaacson, Howard; Johnson, John Asher; Latham, David W.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Monet, David G.; Rowe, Jason F.; Sasselov, Dimitar D.; Howard, Andrew W.; MacQueen, Phillip; Orosz, Jerome A.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; Twicken, Joseph D.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Quintana, Elisa V.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Li, Jie; Allen, Christopher; Tenenbaum, Peter; Wu, Hayley; Meibom, Søren; Klaus, Todd C.; Middour, Christopher K.; Cote, Miles T.; McCauliff, Sean; Girouard, Forrest R.; Gunter, Jay P.; Wohler, Bill; Hall, Jennifer R.; Ibrahim, Khadeejah; Kamal Uddin, AKM; Wu, Michael S.; Bhavsar, Paresh A.; Van Cleve, Jeffrey; Pletcher, David L.; Dotson, Jessie L.; Haas, Michael R.

    2010-12-01

    We report on the discovery and the Rossiter-McLaughlin (R-M) effect of Kepler-8b, a transiting planet identified by the NASA Kepler Mission. Kepler photometry and Keck-HIRES radial velocities yield the radius and mass of the planet around this F8IV subgiant host star. The planet has a radius R P = 1.419 R J and a mass M P = 0.60 M J, yielding a density of 0.26 g cm-3, one of the lowest planetary densities known. The orbital period is P = 3.523 days and the orbital semimajor axis is 0.0483+0.0006 -0.0012 AU. The star has a large rotational vsin i of 10.5 ± 0.7 km s-1 and is relatively faint (V ≈ 13.89 mag); both properties are deleterious to precise Doppler measurements. The velocities are indeed noisy, with scatter of 30 m s-1, but exhibit a period and phase that are consistent with those implied by transit photometry. We securely detect the R-M effect, confirming the planet's existence and establishing its orbit as prograde. We measure an inclination between the projected planetary orbital axis and the projected stellar rotation axis of λ = -26fdg4 ± 10fdg1, indicating a significant inclination of the planetary orbit. R-M measurements of a large sample of transiting planets from Kepler will provide a statistically robust measure of the true distribution of spin-orbit orientations for hot Jupiters around F and early G stars. Based in part on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

  12. Compositional Constraints on the Best Characterized Rocky Exoplanet, Kepler-36 b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rogers, Leslie; Deck, Katherine; Lissauer, Jack J.; Carter, Joshua A.

    2015-01-01

    Kepler-36 is an extreme planetary system, consisting of two transiting sub-Neptune-size planets that revolve around a sub-giant star with orbital periods of 13.84 and 16.24 days. Mutual gravitational interactions between the two planets perturb the planets' transit times, allowing the planets' masses to be measured. Despite the similarity of their masses and orbital radii, the planets show a stark contrast in their mean densities; the inner planet (Kepler-36 b) is more than eight times as dense as its outer companion planet (Kepler-36 c). We perform a photo-dynamical analysis of the Kepler-36 system based on more than three years of Kepler photometry. With N-body integrations of initial conditions sampled from the photo-dynamical fits, we further refine the properties of the system by ruling out solutions that show large-scale instability within 5 Giga-days. Ultimately, we measure the planets' masses within 4.2% precision, and the planets' radii with 1.8% precision. Kepler-36 b is currently the rocky exoplanet with the most precisely measured mass and radius. Kepler-36 b's mass and radius are consistent with an Earth-like composition, and an iron-enhanced Mercury-like composition is ruled out.

  13. Compositional Constraints on the Best Characterized Rocky Exoplanet, Kepler-36 b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rogers, Leslie Anne; Deck, Katherine; Lissauer, Jack; Carter, Joshua

    2015-08-01

    Kepler-36 is an extreme planetary system, consisting of two transiting sub-Neptune-size planets that revolve around a sub-giant star with orbital periods of 13.84 and 16.24 days. Mutual gravitational interactions between the two planets perturb the planets' transit times, allowing the planets' masses to be measured. Despite the similarity of their masses and orbital radii, the planets show a stark contrast in their mean densities; the inner planet (Kepler-36 b) is more than eight times as dense as its outer companion planet (Kepler-36 c). We perform a photo-dynamical analysis of the Kepler-36 system based on more than three years of Kepler photometry. With N-body integrations of initial conditions sampled from the photo-dynamical fits, we further refine the properties of the system by ruling out solutions that show large scale instability within 5 Giga-days. Ultimately, we measure the planets' masses within 4.2% precision, and the planets' radii with 1.8% precision. Kepler-36 b is currently the rocky exoplanet with the most precisely measured mass and radius. Kepler-36 b’s mass and radius are consistent with a Earth-like composition, and an iron-enhanced Mercury-like composition is ruled out.

  14. Compositional Constraints on the Best Characterized Rocky Exoplanet, Kepler-36 b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rogers, L.; Deck, K.; Lissauer, J. J.; Carter, J.

    2014-12-01

    Kepler-36 is an extreme planetary system, consisting of two transiting sub-Neptune-size planets that revolve around a sub-giant star with orbital periods of 13.84 and 16.24 days. Mutual gravitational interactions between the two planets perturb the planets' transit times, allowing the planets' masses to be measured. Despite the similarity of their masses and orbital radii, the planets show a stark contrast in their mean densities; the inner planet (Kepler-36 b) is more than eight times as dense as its outer companion planet (Kepler-36 c). We perform a photo-dynamical analysis of the Kepler-36 system based on more than three years of Kepler photometry. With N-body integrations of initial conditions sampled from the photo-dynamical fits, we further refine the properties of the system by ruling out solutions that show large scale instability within 5 Giga-days. Ultimately, we measure the planets' masses within 4.2% precision, and the planets' radii with 1.8% precision. Kepler-36 b is currently the rocky exoplanet with the most precisely measured mass and radius. Kepler-36 b's mass and radius are consistent with a Earth-like composition, and an iron-enhanced Mercury-like composition is ruled out.

  15. NASA's Kepler Reveals Potential New Worlds - Raw Video New File

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-06-19

    This is a video file, or a collection of unedited video clips for media usage, in support of the Kepler mission's latest discovery announcement. Launched in 2009, the Kepler space telescope is our first mission capable of identifying Earth-size planets around other stars. On Monday, June 19, 2017, scientists announced the results from the latest Kepler candidate catalog of the mission at a press conference at NASA's Ames Research Center.

  16. Spitzer, Planck and Kepler Extended by NASA Artist Concept

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-04-05

    From left to right, artist concepts of the Spitzer, Planck and Kepler space telescopes. NASA extended Spitzer and Kepler for two additional years; and the U.S. portion of Planck, a European Space Agency mission, for one year.

  17. Forming Circumbinary Planets: N-body Simulations of Kepler-34

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lines, S.; Leinhardt, Z. M.; Paardekooper, S.; Baruteau, C.; Thebault, P.

    2014-02-01

    Observations of circumbinary planets orbiting very close to the central stars have shown that planet formation may occur in a very hostile environment, where the gravitational pull from the binary should be very strong on the primordial protoplanetary disk. Elevated impact velocities and orbit crossings from eccentricity oscillations are the primary contributors to high energy, potentially destructive collisions that inhibit the growth of aspiring planets. In this work, we conduct high-resolution, inter-particle gravity enabled N-body simulations to investigate the feasibility of planetesimal growth in the Kepler-34 system. We improve upon previous work by including planetesimal disk self-gravity and an extensive collision model to accurately handle inter-planetesimal interactions. We find that super-catastrophic erosion events are the dominant mechanism up to and including the orbital radius of Kepler-34(AB)b, making in situ growth unlikely. It is more plausible that Kepler-34(AB)b migrated from a region beyond 1.5 AU. Based on the conclusions that we have made for Kepler-34, it seems likely that all of the currently known circumbinary planets have also migrated significantly from their formation location with the possible exception of Kepler-47(AB)c.

  18. Modeling Kepler Transit Light Curves as False Positives: Rejection of Blend Scenarios for Kepler-9, and Validation of Kepler-9 d, a Super-Earth-Size Planet in a Multiple System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Torres, Guillermo; Fressin, Francois; Batalha, Natalie M.; Borucki, William J.; Brown, Timothy M.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Charbonneau, David; Ciardi, David R.; Dunham, Edward W.; hide

    2011-01-01

    Light curves from the Kepler Mission contain valuable information on the nature of the phenomena producing the transit-like signals. To assist in exploring the possibility that they are due to an astrophysical false positive we describe a procedure (BLENDER) to model the photometry in terms of a blend rather than a planet orbiting a star. A blend may consist of a background or foreground eclipsing binary (or star-planet pair) whose eclipses are attenuated by the light of the candidate and possibly other stars within the photometric aperture. We apply BLENDER to the case of Kepler-9 (KIC 3323887), a target harboring two previously confirmed Saturn-size planets (Kepler-9 b and Kepler-9 c) showing transit timing variations, and an additional shallower signal with a 1.59 day period suggesting the presence of a super-Earth-size planet. Using BLENDER together with constraints from other follow-up observations we are able to rule out all blends for the two deeper signals and provide independent validation of their planetary nature. For the shallower signal, we rule out a large fraction of the false positives that might mimic the transits. The false alarm rate for remaining blends depends in part (and inversely) on the unknown frequency of small-size planets. Based on several realistic estimates of this frequency, we conclude with very high confidence that this small signal is due to a super-Earth-size planet (Kepler-9 d) in a multiple system, rather than a false positive. The radius is determined to be 1.64(exp)(sub-14),R, and current spectroscopic observations are as yet insufficient to establish its mass.

  19. Kepler Planet Formation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lissauer, Jack J.

    2015-01-01

    Kepler has vastly increased our knowledge of planets and planetary systems located close to stars. The new data shows surprising results for planetary abundances, planetary spacings and the distribution of planets on a mass-radius diagram. The implications of these results for theories of planet formation will be discussed.

  20. Robo-AO Kepler Asteroseismic Survey. I. Adaptive Optics Imaging of 99 Asteroseismic Kepler Dwarfs and Subgiants

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Schonhut-Stasik, Jessica S.; Baranec, Christoph; Huber, Daniel

    We used the Robo-AO laser adaptive optics (AOs) system to image 99 main sequence and subgiant stars that have Kepler -detected asteroseismic signals. Robo-AO allows us to resolve blended secondary sources at separations as close as ∼0.″15 that may contribute to the measured Kepler light curves and affect asteroseismic analysis and interpretation. We report eight new secondary sources within 4.″0 of these Kepler asteroseismic stars. We used Subaru and Keck AOs to measure differential infrared photometry for these candidate companion systems. Two of the secondary sources are likely foreground objects, while the remaining six are background sources; however, we cannotmore » exclude the possibility that three of the objects may be physically associated. We measured a range of i ′-band amplitude dilutions for the candidate companion systems from 0.43% to 15.4%. We find that the measured amplitude dilutions are insufficient to explain the previously identified excess scatter in the relationship between asteroseismic oscillation amplitude and the frequency of maximum power.« less

  1. Kepler-424 b: A 'lonely' hot Jupiter that found A companion

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Endl, Michael; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Barclay, Thomas

    Hot Jupiter systems provide unique observational constraints for migration models in multiple systems and binaries. We report on the discovery of the Kepler-424 (KOI-214) two-planet system, which consists of a transiting hot Jupiter (Kepler-424b) in a 3.31 day orbit accompanied by a more massive outer companion in an eccentric (e = 0.3) 223 day orbit. The outer giant planet, Kepler-424c, is not detected transiting the host star. The masses of both planets and the orbital parameters for the second planet were determined using precise radial velocity (RV) measurements from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) and its High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS). Inmore » stark contrast to smaller planets, hot Jupiters are predominantly found to be lacking any nearby additional planets; they appear to be {sup l}onely{sup .} This might be a consequence of these systems having a highly dynamical past. The Kepler-424 planetary system has a hot Jupiter in a multiple system, similar to υ Andromedae. We also present our results for Kepler-422 (KOI-22), Kepler-77 (KOI-127), Kepler-43 (KOI-135), and Kepler-423 (KOI-183). These results are based on spectroscopic data collected with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), the Keck 1 telescope, and HET. For all systems, we rule out false positives based on various follow-up observations, confirming the planetary nature of these companions. We performed a comparison with planetary evolutionary models which indicate that these five hot Jupiters have heavy element contents between 20 and 120 M {sub ⊕}.« less

  2. Kepler-22b -- Comfortably Circling within the Habitable Zone

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-12-05

    This diagram compares our own solar system to Kepler-22, a star system containing the first habitable zone planet -- the sweet spot around a star where temperatures are right for water to exist in its liquid form, discovered by NASA Kepler mission.

  3. PyKE3: data analysis tools for NASA's Kepler, K2, and TESS missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hedges, Christina L.; Cardoso, Jose Vinicius De Miranda; Barentsen, Geert; Gully-Santiago, Michael A.; Cody, Ann Marie; Barclay, Thomas; Still, Martin; BAY AREA ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH IN

    2018-01-01

    The PyKE package is a set of easy to use tools for working with Kepler/K2 data. This includes tools to correct light curves for cotrending basis vectors, turn the raw Target Pixel File data into motion corrected light curves, check for exoplanet false positives and run new PSF photometry. We are now releasing PyKE 3, which is compatible with Python 3, is pip installable and no longer depends on PyRAF. Tools are available both as Python routines and from the command line. New tutorials are available and under construction for users to learn about Kepler and K2 data and how to best use it for their science goals. PyKE is open source and welcomes contributions from the community. Routines and more information are available on the PyKE repository on GitHub.

  4. Take off with NASA's Kepler Mission!: The Search for Other "Earths"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koch, David; DeVore, Edna K.; Gould, Alan; Harman, Pamela

    2009-01-01

    Humans have long wondered about life in the universe. Are we alone? Is Earth unique? What is it that makes our planet a habitable one, and are there others like Earth? NASA's Kepler Mission seeks the answers to these questions. Kepler is a space-based, specially designed 0.95 m aperture telescope. Launching in 2009, Kepler is NASA's first mission…

  5. The Kepler Mission and the International Year of Astronomy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harman, Pamela; DeVore, E.; Gould, A.; Koch, D.

    2008-05-01

    Johannes Kepler was one of Galileo's contemporaries, publishing New Astronomy defining his first two laws, nearly 400 years ago, in 1609. It is a fitting tribute that the Kepler Mission launches in 2009. Kepler continued his studies of motion and made observations of satellites of Jupiter, and published his third law. We now recognize Kepler's laws as 1. Planets move in elliptical; 2. The planets move such that the line between the Sun and the Planet sweeps out equal areas in equal time no matter where in the orbit; and 3. The square of the period of the orbit of a planet is proportional to the mean distance from the Sun cubed. Kepler's laws were deduced empirically from the motions of the planet Mars in the early 17th century, before Newton deduced the law of gravity and his laws of motion. The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission, is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone. The habitable zone encompasses the distances from a star where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface. Results from this mission will allow us to place our solar system within the continuum of planetary systems in the Galaxy. The Mission Education and Public Outreach (EPO) Program has developed a Night Sky Network (NSN) outreach kit, Shadows and Silhouettes. This NSN kit is used by amateur astronomers at school and public observing events to illustrate a transit, and explain eclipses.

  6. Hubble Space Telescope Parallel Observations Supporting the Kepler Mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caldwell, J.; Borucki, W.

    1999-09-01

    Kepler will detect Earth-like planets by monitoring 100,000 stars over four years for planetary transits. The required photometric precision is one part in 100.000. It is expected that if such ``Earths" are common, about 200 will be detected. In order to achieve the necessary precision, Kepler will be intentionally unfocussed, spreading the light of a single star over an area of 25 pixels. This will minimize the effect of space-craft jitter on photon counting. However, it will also allow the possibility of confusion with background objects which may be in the line of sight to a Kepler target. The greatest concern is that there may be a distant eclipsing binary star which could introduce a photometric signature that is similar to a planetary transit. For the brightest stars in Kepler's intended magnitude range, which is 9 to 14 mv, this will not be serious, because the profiles are different: eclipses have a ``V" shape, transits are flat-bottomed, and Kepler will differentiate the two. However, in this magnitude range, the number of stars per magnitude doubles at each fainter magnitude. More than half of Kepler's discoveries will be in the magnitude which is the faintest in which the precision of the photometry will be able to reveal a transit. That is, most of the discoveries will be low signal to noise events, in which the reality of a small decrease in the light from the region of the target star is certain, but the details of the decrease are not. Hubble Space Telescope images indicate there will be, on average, 0.5 background objects in the magnitude range that could be a problem for Kepler in the 25 pixel blur region of Kepler's optics. Approximately half of the stars will be binaries. The probability that a binary will be eclipsing is the same as that a planetary orbit will be transitting. In order to reduce the chance of a misidentification, various strategies can be used. Rather than integrating the signal over the 25 pixels and returning only the sum, the

  7. KEPLER PLANETS: A TALE OF EVAPORATION

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Owen, James E.; Wu, Yanqin, E-mail: jowen@cita.utoronto.ca, E-mail: wu@astro.utoronto.ca

    2013-10-01

    Inspired by the Kepler mission's planet discoveries, we consider the thermal contraction of planets close to their parent star, under the influence of evaporation. The mass-loss rates are based on hydrodynamic models of evaporation that include both X-ray and EUV irradiation. We find that only low mass planets with hydrogen envelopes are significantly affected by evaporation, with evaporation being able to remove massive hydrogen envelopes inward of ∼0.1 AU for Neptune-mass objects, while evaporation is negligible for Jupiter-mass objects. Moreover, most of the evaporation occurs in the first 100 Myr of stars' lives when they are more chromospherically active. Wemore » construct a theoretical population of planets with varying core masses, envelope masses, orbital separations, and stellar spectral types, and compare this population with the sizes and densities measured for low-mass planets, both in the Kepler mission and from radial velocity surveys. This exercise leads us to conclude that evaporation is the driving force of evolution for close-in Kepler planets. In fact, some 50% of the Kepler planet candidates may have been significantly eroded. Evaporation explains two striking correlations observed in these objects: a lack of large radius/low density planets close to the stars and a possible bimodal distribution in planet sizes with a deficit of planets around 2 R{sub ⊕}. Planets that have experienced high X-ray exposures are generally smaller than this size, and those with lower X-ray exposures are typically larger. A bimodal planet size distribution is naturally predicted by the evaporation model, where, depending on their X-ray exposure, close-in planets can either hold on to hydrogen envelopes ∼0.5%-1% in mass or be stripped entirely. To quantitatively reproduce the observed features, we argue that not only do low-mass Kepler planets need to be made of rocky cores surrounded with hydrogen envelopes, but few of them should have initial masses above

  8. Know the Planet, Know the Star: Precise Stellar Parameters with Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sandford, Emily; Kipping, David M.

    2017-01-01

    The Kepler space telescope has revolutionized exoplanetary science with unprecedentedly precise photometric measurements of the light curves of transiting planets. In addition to information about the planet and its orbit, encoded in each Kepler transiting planet light curve are certain properties of the host star, including the stellar density and the limb darkening profile. For planets with strong prior constraints on orbital eccentricity (planets to which we refer as “stellar anchors”), we may measure these stellar properties directly from the light curve. This method promises to aid greatly in the characterization of transiting planet host stars targeted by the upcoming NASA TESS mission and any long-period, singly-transiting planets discovered in the same systems. Using Bayesian inference, we fit a transit model, including a nonlinear limb darkening law, to a large sample of transiting planet hosts to measure their stellar properties. We present the results of our analysis, including posterior stellar density distributions for each stellar host, and show how the method yields superior precision to literature stellar properties in the majority of cases studied.

  9. Kepler-423b: a half-Jupiter mass planet transiting a very old solar-like star

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gandolfi, D.; Parviainen, H.; Deeg, H. J.; Lanza, A. F.; Fridlund, M.; Prada Moroni, P. G.; Alonso, R.; Augusteijn, T.; Cabrera, J.; Evans, T.; Geier, S.; Hatzes, A. P.; Holczer, T.; Hoyer, S.; Kangas, T.; Mazeh, T.; Pagano, I.; Tal-Or, L.; Tingley, B.

    2015-04-01

    We report the spectroscopic confirmation of the Kepler object of interest KOI-183.01 (Kepler-423b), a half-Jupiter mass planet transiting an old solar-like star every 2.7 days. Our analysis is the first to combine the full Kepler photometry (quarters 1-17) with high-precision radial velocity measurements taken with the FIES spectrograph at the Nordic Optical Telescope. We simultaneously modelled the photometric and spectroscopic data-sets using Bayesian approach coupled with Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling. We found that the Kepler pre-search data conditioned light curve of Kepler-423 exhibits quarter-to-quarter systematic variations of the transit depth, with a peak-to-peak amplitude of ~4.3% and seasonal trends reoccurring every four quarters. We attributed these systematics to an incorrect assessment of the quarterly variation of the crowding metric. The host star Kepler-423 is a G4 dwarf with M⋆ = 0.85 ± 0.04 M⊙, R⋆ = 0.95 ± 0.04 R⊙, Teff= 5560 ± 80 K, [M/H] = - 0.10 ± 0.05 dex, and with an age of 11 ± 2 Gyr. The planet Kepler-423b has a mass of Mp= 0.595 ± 0.081MJup and a radius of Rp= 1.192 ± 0.052RJup, yielding a planetary bulk density of ρp = 0.459 ± 0.083 g cm-3. The radius of Kepler-423b is consistent with both theoretical models for irradiated coreless giant planets and expectations based on empirical laws. The inclination of the stellar spin axis suggests that the system is aligned along the line of sight. We detected a tentative secondary eclipse of the planet at a 2σ confidence level (ΔFec = 14.2 ± 6.6 ppm) and found that the orbit might have asmall non-zero eccentricity of 0.019+0.028-0.014. With a Bond albedo of AB = 0.037 ± 0.019, Kepler-423b is one of the gas-giant planets with the lowest albedo known so far. Based on observations obtained with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of

  10. Absolute densities in exoplanetary systems. Photodynamical modelling of Kepler-138.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Almenara, J. M.; Díaz, R. F.; Dorn, C.; Bonfils, X.; Udry, S.

    2018-04-01

    In favourable conditions, the density of transiting planets in multiple systems can be determined from photometry data alone. Dynamical information can be extracted from light curves, providing modelling is done self-consistently, i.e. using a photodynamical model, which simulates the individual photometric observations instead of the more generally used transit times. We apply this methodology to the Kepler-138 planetary system. The derived planetary bulk densities are a factor of two more precise than previous determinations, and we find a discrepancy in the stellar bulk density with respect to a previous study. This leads, in turn, to a discrepancy in the determination of masses and radii of the star and the planets. In particular, we find that interior planet, Kepler-138 b, has a size in between Mars and the Earth. Given our mass and density estimates, we characterize the planetary interiors using a generalized Bayesian inference model. This model allows us to quantify for interior degeneracy and calculate confidence regions of interior parameters such as thicknesses of the core, the mantle, and ocean and gas layers. We find that Kepler-138 b and Kepler-138 d have significantly thick volatile layers, and that the gas layer of Kepler-138 b is likely enriched. On the other hand, Kepler-138 c can be purely rocky.

  11. Absolute densities in exoplanetary systems: photodynamical modelling of Kepler-138

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Almenara, J. M.; Díaz, R. F.; Dorn, C.; Bonfils, X.; Udry, S.

    2018-07-01

    In favourable conditions, the density of transiting planets in multiple systems can be determined from photometry data alone. Dynamical information can be extracted from light curves, providing modelling is done self-consistently, i.e. using a photodynamical model, which simulates the individual photometric observations instead of the more generally used transit times. We apply this methodology to the Kepler-138 planetary system. The derived planetary bulk densities are a factor of 2 more precise than previous determinations, and we find a discrepancy in the stellar bulk density with respect to a previous study. This leads, in turn, to a discrepancy in the determination of masses and radii of the star and the planets. In particular, we find that interior planet, Kepler-138b, has a size in between Mars and the Earth. Given our mass and density estimates, we characterize the planetary interiors using a generalized Bayesian inference model. This model allows us to quantify for interior degeneracy and calculate confidence regions of interior parameters such as thicknesses of the core, the mantle, and ocean and gas layers. We find that Kepler-138b and Kepler-138 d have significantly thick volatile layers and that the gas layer of Kepler-138b is likely enriched. On the other hand, Kepler-138c can be purely rocky.

  12. The U(1)-Kepler Problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meng, Guowu

    2010-12-01

    Let n ⩾ 2 be a positive integer. To each irreducible representation σ of U(1), a U(1)-Kepler problem in dimension (2n - 1) is constructed and analyzed. This system is superintegrable and when n = 2 it is equivalent to a MICZ-Kepler problem. The dynamical symmetry group of this system is widetildeU(n, n), and the Hilbert space of bound states {{H}}(σ ) is the unitary highest weight representation of widetildeU(n, n) with the minimal positive Gelfand-Kirillov dimension. Furthermore, it is shown that the correspondence between σ ^* (the dual of σ) and {H}(σ ) is the theta-correspondence for dual pair (U(1), U(n,n))subseteq Sp_{4n}({R}).

  13. Human Mars Surface Science Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bobskill, Marianne R.; Lupisella, Mark L.

    2014-01-01

    Human missions to the surface of Mars will have challenging science operations. This paper will explore some of those challenges, based on science operations considerations as part of more general operational concepts being developed by NASA's Human Spaceflight Architecture (HAT) Mars Destination Operations Team (DOT). The HAT Mars DOT has been developing comprehensive surface operations concepts with an initial emphasis on a multi-phased mission that includes a 500-day surface stay. This paper will address crew science activities, operational details and potential architectural and system implications in the areas of (a) traverse planning and execution, (b) sample acquisition and sample handling, (c) in-situ science analysis, and (d) planetary protection. Three cross-cutting themes will also be explored in this paper: (a) contamination control, (b) low-latency telerobotic science, and (c) crew autonomy. The present traverses under consideration are based on the report, Planning for the Scientific Exploration of Mars by Humans1, by the Mars Exploration Planning and Analysis Group (MEPAG) Human Exploration of Mars-Science Analysis Group (HEM-SAG). The traverses are ambitious and the role of science in those traverses is a key component that will be discussed in this paper. The process of obtaining, handling, and analyzing samples will be an important part of ensuring acceptable science return. Meeting planetary protection protocols will be a key challenge and this paper will explore operational strategies and system designs to meet the challenges of planetary protection, particularly with respect to the exploration of "special regions." A significant challenge for Mars surface science operations with crew is preserving science sample integrity in what will likely be an uncertain environment. Crewed mission surface assets -- such as habitats, spacesuits, and pressurized rovers -- could be a significant source of contamination due to venting, out-gassing and

  14. A Search for Lost Planets in the Kepler Multi-planet Systems and the Discovery of the Long-period, Neptune-sized Exoplanet Kepler-150 f

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmitt, Joseph R.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Fischer, Debra A.

    2017-04-01

    The vast majority of the 4700 confirmed planets (CPs) and planet candidates discovered by the Kepler mission were first found by the Kepler pipeline. In the pipeline, after a transit signal is found, all data points associated with those transits are removed, creating a “Swiss cheese”-like light curve full of holes, which is then used for subsequent transit searches. These holes could render an additional planet undetectable (or “lost”). We examine a sample of 114 stars with 3+ CPs to evaluate the effect of this “Swiss cheesing.” A simulation determines that the probability that a transiting planet is lost due to the transit masking is low, but non-negligible, reaching a plateau at ˜3.3% lost in the period range of P = 400-500 days. We then model all planet transits and subtract out the transit signals for each star, restoring the in-transit data points, and use the Kepler pipeline to search the transit-subtracted (I.e., transit-cleaned) light curves. However, the pipeline did not discover any credible new transit signals. This demonstrates the validity and robustness of the Kepler pipeline’s choice to use transit masking over transit subtraction. However, a follow-up visual search through all the transit-subtracted data, which allows for easier visual identification of new transits, revealed the existence of a new, Neptune-sized exoplanet (Kepler-150 f) and a potential single transit of a likely false positive (FP) (Kepler-208). Kepler-150 f (P = 637.2 days, {R}{{P}}={3.64}-0.39+0.52 R⊕) is confirmed with >99.998% confidence using a combination of the planet multiplicity argument, an FP probability analysis, and a transit duration analysis.

  15. Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search (KARPS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caceres, Gabriel

    2018-01-01

    One of the main obstacles in detecting faint planetary transits is the intrinsic stellar variability of the host star. The Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search (KARPS) project implements statistical methodology associated with autoregressive processes (in particular, ARIMA and ARFIMA) to model stellar lightcurves in order to improve exoplanet transit detection. We also develop a novel Transit Comb Filter (TCF) applied to the AR residuals which provides a periodogram analogous to the standard Box-fitting Least Squares (BLS) periodogram. We train a random forest classifier on known Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) using select features from different stages of this analysis, and then use ROC curves to define and calibrate the criteria to recover the KOI planet candidates with high fidelity. These statistical methods are detailed in a contributed poster (Feigelson et al., this meeting).These procedures are applied to the full DR25 dataset of NASA’s Kepler mission. Using the classification criteria, a vast majority of known KOIs are recovered and dozens of new KARPS Candidate Planets (KCPs) discovered, including ultra-short period exoplanets. The KCPs will be briefly presented and discussed.

  16. Kadenza: Kepler/K2 Raw Cadence Data Reader

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barentsen, Geert; Cardoso, José Vinícius de Miranda

    2018-03-01

    Kadenza enables time-critical data analyses to be carried out using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. It enables users to convert Kepler's raw data files into user-friendly Target Pixel Files upon downlink from the spacecraft. The primary motivation for this tool is to enable the microlensing, supernova, and exoplanet communities to create quicklook lightcurves for transient events which require rapid follow-up.

  17. Management and systems engineering of the Kepler mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fanson, James; Livesay, Leslie; Frerking, Margaret; Cooke, Brian

    2010-07-01

    Kepler is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) first mission capable of detecting Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zones around stars other than the sun. Selected for implementation in 2001 and launched in 2009, Kepler seeks to determine whether Earth-like planets are common or rare in the galaxy. The investigation requires a large, space-based photometer capable of simultaneously measuring the brightnesses of 100,000 stars at partper- million level of precision. This paper traces the development of the mission from the perspective of project management and systems engineering and describes various methodologies and tools that were found to be effective. The experience of the Kepler development is used to illuminate lessons that can be applied to future missions.

  18. Management and Systems Engineering of the Kepler Mission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fanson, James; Livesay, Leslie; Frerking, Margaret; Cooke, Brian

    2010-01-01

    Kepler is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) first mission capable of detecting Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zones around stars other than the sun. Selected for implementation in 2001 and launched in 2009, Kepler seeks to determine whether Earth-like planets are common or rare in the galaxy. The investigation requires a large, space-based photometer capable of simultaneously measuring the brightnesses of 100,000 stars at part-per-million level of precision. This paper traces the development of the mission from the perspective of project management and systems engineering and describes various methodologies and tools that were found to be effective. The experience of the Kepler development is used to illuminate lessons that can be applied to future missions.

  19. A Mathematical Elucidation of the Bases of Kepler's Laws

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, A. E. L.

    Throughout this analysis I have followed the Keplerian usage, based essentially on considerations of geometrical coherence, by contrast with the Newtonian usage. The discoveries of Law I and Law II in Astronomia Nova have been examined separately, each in three stages. By stipulating an observation -controlled level of accuracy I have proved that it was at the quadrant that Kepler distinguished the mediate (Sun -focused) ellipse from the eccentric circle and from the small-grade curves he had successively proposed. To specify this correct orbit Kepler expressed both the radius vector (effectively equivalent to libration) and the corresponding time (designated by mean anomaly, then reformulated as area) in terms of eccentric anomaly as common independent variable. Subsequently I demonstrate that, by the use of his characteristic Euclidean construction-method, and within this geometrical frame of reference, Kepler could have justified on other orbit. The proofs of Law I and Law II in Epitome have again been treated separately, so enabling me to confirm the soundness of Kepler's resolution of planetary motion into perpendicular radial and transverse components, precisely in accordance with modern standards. The independence of these motions necessitated just two distinct faculties of the Sun to produce them: the magnetic effect activating radially, and the driving/whirling force of the Sun acting transversely; gravity was thereby altogether excluded from the synthesis. Hence it is Kepler's account of the physical causes alone which is quite wrong, owing to his defective (Aristotelian) concept of force. Moreover, by stipulation of a level of analytical exactitude, I have concluded that Kepler's methods of summation and implicit quotient-formation were mathematically valid, leading to results tantamount to those obtained nowadays by integration and differentiation. As a bonus, I have found relevant information, concerning individual plants, in Harmonice Mundi Book V

  20. Kepler Observations of Transiting Hot Compact Objects

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-04-20

    1998) and a sample of extremely light WDs are shown with black o’s. The open circle near KOI-81b is the millisecond pulsar companion discovered by...Follow-up observations are planned as well as contin- ued with the Kepler instrument to help unravel their nature. Funding for this Discovery mission is... discoveries possible. Facilities: Kepler REFERENCES Bassa, C. G., van Kerkwijk, M. H., Koester, D., & Verbunt, F. 2006, A&A, 456, 295 Beech, M. 1989, Ap&SS

  1. Transiting Planets from Kepler, K2 & TESS

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lissauer, Jack

    2018-01-01

    NASA's Kepler spacecraft, launched in 2009, has been a resounding success. More than 4000 planet candidates have been identified using data from Kepler primary mission, which ended in 2013, and greater than 2000 of these candidates have been verified as bona fide exoplanets. After the loss of two reaction wheels ended the primary mission, the Kepler spacecraft was repurposed in 2014 to observe many fields on the sky for short periods. This new mission, dubbed K2, has led to the discovery of greater than 600 planet candidates, approximately 200 of which have been verified to date; most of these exoplanets are closer to us than the majority of exoplanets discovered by the primary Kepler mission. TESS, launching in 2018, will survey most of the sky for exoplanets, with emphasis on those orbiting nearby and/or bright host stars, making these planets especially well-suited for follow-up observations with other observatories to characterize atmospheric compositions and other properties. More than one-third of the planet candidates found by NASA's are associated with target stars that have more than one planet candidate, and such 'multis' account for the majority of candidates that have been verified as true planets. The large number of multis tells us that flat multiplanet systems like our Solar System are common. Virtually all of the candidate planetary systems are stable, as tested by numerical integrations that assume a physically motivated mass-radius relationship. Statistical studies performed on these candidate systems reveal a great deal about the architecture of planetary systems, including the typical spacing of orbits and flatness. The characteristics of several of the most interesting confirmed Kepler & K2 multi-planet systems will also be discussed.

  2. Cluster of Stars in Kepler Sight

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-04-16

    This image zooms into a small portion of NASA Kepler full field of view, an expansive, 100-square-degree patch of sky in our Milky Way galaxy. An eight-billion-year-old cluster of stars 13,000 light-years from Earth, called NGC 6791, can be seen in the image. Clusters are families of stars that form together out of the same gas cloud. This particular cluster is called an open cluster, because the stars are loosely bound and have started to spread out from each other. The area pictured is 0.2 percent of Kepler's full field of view, and shows hundreds of stars in the constellation Lyra. The image has been color-coded so that brighter stars appear white, and fainter stars, red. It is a 60-second exposure, taken on April 8, 2009, one day after the spacecraft's dust cover was jettisoned. Kepler was designed to hunt for planets like Earth. The mission will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring at the same stars, looking for periodic dips in brightness. Such dips occur when planets cross in front of their stars from our point of view in the galaxy, partially blocking the starlight. To achieve the level of precision needed to spot planets as small as Earth, Kepler's images are intentionally blurred slightly. This minimizes the number of saturated stars. Saturation, or "blooming," occurs when the brightest stars overload the individual pixels in the detectors, causing the signal to spill out into nearby pixels. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11986

  3. On the Nature of Small Planets around the Coolest Kepler Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gaidos, Eric; Fischer, Debra A.; Mann, Andrew W.; Lépine, Sébastien

    2012-02-01

    We constrain the densities of Earth- to Neptune-size planets around very cool (Te = 3660-4660 K) Kepler stars by comparing 1202 Keck/HIRES radial velocity measurements of 150 nearby stars to a model based on Kepler candidate planet radii and a power-law mass-radius relation. Our analysis is based on the presumption that the planet populations around the two sets of stars are the same. The model can reproduce the observed distribution of radial velocity variation over a range of parameter values, but, for the expected level of Doppler systematic error, the highest Kolmogorov-Smirnov probabilities occur for a power-law index α ≈ 4, indicating that rocky-metal planets dominate the planet population in this size range. A single population of gas-rich, low-density planets with α = 2 is ruled out unless our Doppler errors are >=5 m s-1, i.e., much larger than expected based on observations and stellar chromospheric emission. If small planets are a mix of γ rocky planets (α = 3.85) and 1 - γ gas-rich planets (α = 2), then γ > 0.5 unless Doppler errors are >=4 m s-1. Our comparison also suggests that Kepler's detection efficiency relative to ideal calculations is less than unity. One possible source of incompleteness is target stars that are misclassified subgiants or giants, for which the transits of small planets would be impossible to detect. Our results are robust to systematic effects, and plausible errors in the estimated radii of Kepler stars have only moderate impact. Some data were obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated by the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA, and made possible by the financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation.

  4. Where Kepler Sees

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-04-16

    This star chart illustrates the large patch of sky that NASA Kepler mission will stare at for the duration of its three-and-a-half-year lifetime. The planet hunter's full field of view occupies 100 square degrees of our Milky Way galaxy, in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. Kepler's focal plane, or the area where starlight is focused, is depicted on the star chart as a series of 42 vertical and horizontal rectangles. These rectangles represent the 95-megapixel camera's 42 charge-coupled devices, or CCDs. Scientists selected the orientation of the focal plane's field of view to avoid the region's brightest stars, which are shown as the largest black dots. Some of these bright stars can be seen falling in between the CCD modules, in areas that are not imaged. This was done so that the brightest stars will not saturate large portions of the detectors. Saturation causes signals from the bright stars to spill, or "bloom," into nearby planet-hunting territory. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11983

  5. Characterizing the Habitable Zone Planets of Kepler Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fischer, Debra

    Planet Hunters (PH) is a well-established and successful web interface that allows citizen scientists to search for transiting planets in the NASA Kepler public archive data. Over the past 3 years, our users have made more than 20 million light curve classifications. We now have more than 300,000 users around the world. However, more than half of the Kepler data has not yet been displayed to our volunteers. In June 2014 we are launching Planet Hunters v2.0. The backend of the site has been completely redesigned. The new website is more intuitive and faster; we have improved the real-time weighting algorithm that assigns transit scores for faster and more accurate extraction of the transit events from the database. With Planet Hunters v2.0, we expect that assessments will be ten times faster, so that we have the opportunity to complete the classifications for the backlog of Kepler light curve in the next three years. There are three goals for this project. First, we will data-mine the PH classifications to search for long period planets with fewer than 5 transit events. We have demonstrated that our volunteers are efficient at detecting planets with long periods and radii greater than a few REARTH. This region of parameter space is optimal for characterizing larger planets orbiting close to the habitable zone. To build upon the citizen science efforts, we will model the light curves, search for evidence of false positives, and contribute observations of stellar spectra to refine both the stellar and orbital parameters. Second, we will carry out a careful analysis of the fraction of transits that are missed (a function of planet radius and orbital period) to derive observational incompleteness factors. The incompleteness factors will be combined with geometrical detection factors to assess the planet occurrence rate for wide separations. This is a unique scientific contribution current studies of planet occurrence rate are either restricted to orbital periods shorter

  6. Kepler-424 b: A "Lonely" Hot Jupiter that Found a Companion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Endl, Michael; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Barclay, Thomas; Huber, Daniel; Isaacson, Howard; Buchhave, Lars A.; Brugamyer, Erik; Robertson, Paul; Cochran, William D.; MacQueen, Phillip J.; Havel, Mathieu; Lucas, Phillip; Howell, Steve B.; Fischer, Debra; Quintana, Elisa; Ciardi, David R.

    2014-11-01

    Hot Jupiter systems provide unique observational constraints for migration models in multiple systems and binaries. We report on the discovery of the Kepler-424 (KOI-214) two-planet system, which consists of a transiting hot Jupiter (Kepler-424b) in a 3.31 day orbit accompanied by a more massive outer companion in an eccentric (e = 0.3) 223 day orbit. The outer giant planet, Kepler-424c, is not detected transiting the host star. The masses of both planets and the orbital parameters for the second planet were determined using precise radial velocity (RV) measurements from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) and its High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS). In stark contrast to smaller planets, hot Jupiters are predominantly found to be lacking any nearby additional planets; they appear to be "lonely". This might be a consequence of these systems having a highly dynamical past. The Kepler-424 planetary system has a hot Jupiter in a multiple system, similar to \\upsilon Andromedae. We also present our results for Kepler-422 (KOI-22), Kepler-77 (KOI-127), Kepler-43 (KOI-135), and Kepler-423 (KOI-183). These results are based on spectroscopic data collected with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), the Keck 1 telescope, and HET. For all systems, we rule out false positives based on various follow-up observations, confirming the planetary nature of these companions. We performed a comparison with planetary evolutionary models which indicate that these five hot Jupiters have heavy element contents between 20 and 120 M ⊕. Based on observations obtained with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which is a joint project of the University of Texas at Austin, the Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

  7. Harmonical cosmology: Johannes Kepler and Athanasius Kircher. (German Title: Harmonikale Kosmologie: Johannes Kepler und Athanasius Kircher)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rebohm, Simon

    2011-08-01

    The connection between musical theory and astronomy is an aspect of Pythagorean cosmology, which still played a role in the 17th century, and was advanced at that time in very different ways: while Johannes Kepler conceives a proper geometrical system of harmonics and tries to connect it with accurate astronomical data, Athanasius Kircher, harshly criticising Kepler's ideas, sets a qualitative system against it, which is based on analogies. The reason for this discrepancy is not only found in the basically different systems of harmonics of both researchers, but also in the different positions that were taken by both within the controversy about the heliocentric system of the world.

  8. BEER ANALYSIS OF KEPLER AND CoRoT LIGHT CURVES. II. EVIDENCE FOR SUPERROTATION IN THE PHASE CURVES OF THREE KEPLER HOT JUPITERS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Faigler, S.; Mazeh, T.

    We analyzed the Kepler light curves of four transiting hot Jupiter systems—KOI-13, HAT-P-7, TrES-2, and Kepler-76, which show BEaming, Ellipsoidal, and Reflection (BEER) phase modulations. The mass of the four planets can be estimated from either the beaming or the ellipsoidal amplitude, given the mass and radius of their parent stars. For KOI-13, HAT-P-7, and Kepler-76 we find that the beaming-based planetary mass estimate is larger than the mass estimated from the ellipsoidal amplitude, consistent with previous studies. This apparent discrepancy may be explained by equatorial superrotation of the planet atmosphere, which induces an angle shift of the planet reflection/emissionmore » phase modulation, as was suggested for Kepler-76 in the first paper of this series. We propose a modified BEER model that supports superrotation, assuming either a Lambertian or geometric reflection/emission phase function, and provides a photometry-consistent estimate of the planetary mass. Our analysis shows that for Kepler-76 and HAT-P-7, the Lambertian superrotation BEER model is highly preferable over an unshifted null model, while for KOI-13 it is preferable only at a 1.4σ level. For TrES-2 we do not find such preference. For all four systems the Lambertian superrotation model mass estimates are in excellent agreement with the planetary masses derived from, or constrained by, radial velocity measurements. This makes the Lambertian superrotation BEER model a viable tool for estimating the masses of hot Jupiters from photometry alone. We conclude that hot Jupiter superrotation may be a common phenomenon that can be detected in the visual light curves of Kepler.« less

  9. Identifying Exoplanets with Deep Learning: A Five-planet Resonant Chain around Kepler-80 and an Eighth Planet around Kepler-90

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shallue, Christopher J.; Vanderburg, Andrew

    2018-02-01

    NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope was designed to determine the frequency of Earth-sized planets orbiting Sun-like stars, but these planets are on the very edge of the mission’s detection sensitivity. Accurately determining the occurrence rate of these planets will require automatically and accurately assessing the likelihood that individual candidates are indeed planets, even at low signal-to-noise ratios. We present a method for classifying potential planet signals using deep learning, a class of machine learning algorithms that have recently become state-of-the-art in a wide variety of tasks. We train a deep convolutional neural network to predict whether a given signal is a transiting exoplanet or a false positive caused by astrophysical or instrumental phenomena. Our model is highly effective at ranking individual candidates by the likelihood that they are indeed planets: 98.8% of the time it ranks plausible planet signals higher than false-positive signals in our test set. We apply our model to a new set of candidate signals that we identified in a search of known Kepler multi-planet systems. We statistically validate two new planets that are identified with high confidence by our model. One of these planets is part of a five-planet resonant chain around Kepler-80, with an orbital period closely matching the prediction by three-body Laplace relations. The other planet orbits Kepler-90, a star that was previously known to host seven transiting planets. Our discovery of an eighth planet brings Kepler-90 into a tie with our Sun as the star known to host the most planets.

  10. Mars Express Science Operations During Deep Eclipse: An Example of Adapting Science Operations On Aging Spacecraft

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Merritt, Donald R.; Cardesin Moinelo, Alejandro; Marin Yaseli de la Parra, Julia; Breitfellner, Michel; Blake, Rick; Castillo Fraile, Manuel; Grotheer, Emmanuel; Martin, Patrick; Titov, Dmitri

    2018-05-01

    This paper summarizes the changes required to the science planning of the Mars Express spacecraft to deal with the second-half of 2017, a very restrictive period that combined low power, low data rate and deep eclipses, imposing very limiting constraints for science operations. With this difficult operational constraint imposed, the ESAC Mars Express science planning team worked very hard with the ESOC flight control team and all science experiment teams to maintain a minimal level of science operations during this difficult operational period. This maintained the integrity and continuity of the long term science observations, which is a hallmark and highlight of such long-lived missions.

  11. Kepler Ground-Based Photometry Proof-of-Concept

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Brown, Timothy M.; Latham, D.; Howell, S.; Everett, M.

    2004-01-01

    We report on our efforts to evaluate the feasibility of using the 4-Shooter CCD camera on the 48-inch reflector at the Whipple Observatory to carry out a multi-band photometric survey of the Kepler target region. We also include recommendations for future work. We were assigned 36 nights with the &hooter during 2003 for this feasibility study. Most of the time during the first two dozen nights was dedicated to the development of procedures, test exposures, and a reconnaissance across the Kepler field. The final 12 nights in September and October 2003 were used for "production" observing in the middle of the Kepler field using the full complement of seven filters (SDSS u, g, r, i, z, plus our special Gred and D51 intermediate-band filters). Nine of these 12 nights were clear and photometric, and production observations were obtained at 109 pointings, corresponding to 14.6 square degrees.

  12. The Dynamics of Tightly-packed Planetary Systems in the Presence of an Outer Planet: Case Studies Using Kepler-11 and Kepler-90

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Granados Contreras, A. P.; Boley, A. C.

    2018-03-01

    We explore the effects of an undetected outer giant planet on the dynamics, observability, and stability of Systems with Tightly-packed Inner Planets (STIPs). We use direct numerical simulations along with secular theory and synthetic secular frequency spectra to analyze how analogues of Kepler-11 and Kepler-90 behave in the presence of a nearly co-planar, Jupiter-like outer perturber with semimajor axes between 1 and 5.2 au. Most locations of the outer perturber do not affect the evolution of the inner planetary systems, apart from altering precession frequencies. However, there are locations at which an outer planet causes system instability due to, in part, secular eccentricity resonances. In Kepler-90, there is a range of orbital distances for which the outer perturber drives planets b and c, through secular interactions, onto orbits with inclinations that are ∼16° away from the rest of the planets. Kepler-90 is stable in this configuration. Such secular resonances can thus affect the observed multiplicity of transiting systems. We also compare the synthetic apsidal and nodal precession frequencies with the secular theory and find some misalignment between principal frequencies, indicative of strong interactions between the planets (consistent with the system showing TTVs). First-order libration angles are calculated to identify MMRs in the systems, for which two near-MMRs are shown in Kepler-90, with a 5:4 between b and c, as well as a 3:2 between g and h.

  13. Kepler and the Star of Bethlehem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hansen, Rahlf

    Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a famous astronomer. But like other astronomers he had a problem to find work that would guarantee a regular income. So he was lucky to get work as "Styrian landscape mathematician" in Graz. One of his tasks was to write an annual calendar of weather forecasts and policital developments on the basis of astrological facts. He correctly predicted a conflict with the Osmanic Empire, although it is not clear whether the stars or the newspapers were the cause for that. Both his horoscope for Wallenstein and his book "Warnung an die Gegner der Astrologie" are well known. Kepler believed in some aspects of astrology, the influence of the planets for example. He deduced this front his ideas about physics. He neglected other aspects of astrology. e.g. the significance of the zodiac. In 1604 Kepler observed a new star and believed in a connection to a special and very rare planetary conjunction. After a Jupiter-Saturn-conjunction Jupiter met Mars. Kepler speculated that the star of Bethlehem might be a new star which was generated after a similar conjunction and recalculated it for 6/7 BC. Nowadays examples of both astronomical (and astrological) interpretations of the star of Bethlehem exist. The best known is the three time conjunction of 6/7 BC. But the interpretation of Martin (1980) for 213 BC seems equally excellent. Vardaman (1989) takes the Halley comet of 12 BC to be the star of Bethlehem. Other speculations arise from two Novae in the years 5 and 4 BC, tabulated in sources from the Far East. But historians tell us that there is no need fo a real star. The text in Matthew, book 2 is a legend. What is important in regard to the understanding of the star of Bethlehem is the "sidus Julium" the comet which could be seen in the sky during Caesar's funeral and the match of the King of Armenia Tiridates to Nero in Rome during. There was no real star over Bethlehem. All we have are interesting speculations, like those by Kepler.

  14. Synergies Between the Kepler, K2 and TESS Missions with the PLATO Mission (Revised)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.

    2017-01-01

    composed of 26 small telescopes in several 2232 square deg FOVs with a range of observation durations over a mission lifetime of up to eight years. This paper summarizes the findings of the KeplerK2 missions, previews the likely results from the TESS mission, and explores the lessons learned and to be learned from these prior missions that can be incorporated into the observation and data reduction strategy for the PLATO Mission so as to maximize the science return.

  15. Modelling linewidths of Kepler red giants in NGC 6819

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aarslev, Magnus J.; Houdek, Günter; Handberg, Rasmus; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jørgen

    2018-04-01

    We present a comparison between theoretical, frequency-dependent, damping rates and linewidths of radial-mode oscillations in red-giant stars located in the open cluster NGC 6819. The calculations adopt a time-dependent non-local convection model, with the turbulent pressure profile being calibrated to results of 3D hydrodynamical simulations of stellar atmospheres. The linewidths are obtained from extensive peakbagging of Kepler lightcurves. These observational results are of unprecedented quality owing to the long continuous observations by Kepler. The uniqueness of the Kepler mission also means that, for asteroseismic properties, this is the best data that will be available for a long time to come. We therefore take great care in modelling nine RGB stars in NGC 6819 using information from 3D simulations to obtain realistic temperature stratifications and calibrated turbulent pressure profiles. Our modelled damping rates reproduce well the Kepler observations, including the characteristic depression in the linewidths around the frequency of maximum oscillation power. Furthermore, we thoroughly test the sensitivity of the calculated damping rates to changes in the parameters of the nonlocal convection model.

  16. Modelling linewidths of Kepler red giants in NGC 6819

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aarslev, Magnus J.; Houdek, Günter; Handberg, Rasmus; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jørgen

    2018-07-01

    We present a comparison between theoretical, frequency-dependent, damping rates and linewidths of radial-mode oscillations in red giant stars located in the open cluster NGC 6819. The calculations adopt a time-dependent non-local convection model, with the turbulent pressure profile being calibrated to results of 3D hydrodynamical simulations of stellar atmospheres. The linewidths are obtained from extensive peakbagging of Kepler light curves. These observational results are of unprecedented quality owing to the long continuous observations by Kepler. The uniqueness of the Kepler mission also means that, for asteroseismic properties, this is the best data that will be available for a long time to come. We therefore take great care in modelling nine RGB stars in NGC 6819 using information from 3D simulations to obtain realistic temperature stratifications and calibrated turbulent pressure profiles. Our modelled damping rates reproduce well the Kepler observations, including the characteristic depression in the linewidths around the frequency of maximum oscillation power. Furthermore, we thoroughly test the sensitivity of the calculated damping rates to changes in the parameters of the non-local convection model.

  17. Fossil Cores In The Kepler Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackson, Brian

    Most gas giant exoplanets with orbital periods < few days are unstable against tidal decay and may be tidally disrupted before their host stars leave the main sequence. These gas giants probably contain rocky/icy cores, and so their cores will be stranded near their progenitor's Roche limit (few hours orbital period). These fossil cores will evade the Kepler mission's transit search because it is focused on periods > 0.5 days, but finding these fossil cores would provide unprecedented insights into planetary interiors and formation ? e.g., they would be a smoking gun favoring formation of gas giants via core accretion. We propose to search for and characterize fossil cores in the Kepler dataset. We will vet candidates using the Kepler photometry and auxiliary data, collect ground-based spectra of the host stars and radial-velocity (RV) and adaptive optics (AO) data to corroborate candidates. We will also constrain stellar tidal dissipation efficiencies (parameterized by Q) by determining our survey's completeness, elucidating dynamical origins and evolution of exoplanets even if we find no fossil cores. Our preliminary search has already found several dozen candidates, so the proposed survey has a high likelihood of success.

  18. Introducing Triquetrum, A Possible Future for Kepler and Ptolemy II

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brooks, Christopher; Billings, Jay Jay

    Triquetrum is an open platform for managing and executing scientific workflows that is under development as an Eclipse project. Both Triquetrum and Kepler use Ptolemy II as their execution engine. Triquetrum presents opportunities and risks for the Kepler community. The opportunities include a possibly larger community for interaction and a path for Kepler to move from Kepler's one-off ant-based build environment towards a more common OSGi-based environment and a way to maintain a stable Ptolemy II core. The risks include the fact that Triquetrum is a fork of Ptolemy II that would result in package name changes and other possiblemore » changes. In addition, Triquetrum is licensed under the Eclipse Public License v1.0, which includes a patent clause that could conflict with the University of California patent clause. This paper describes these opportunities and risks.« less

  19. The mass of the super-Earth orbiting the brightest Kepler planet hosting star

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lopez-Morales, Mercedes; HARPS-N Team

    2016-01-01

    HD 179070, aka Kepler-21, is a V = 8.25 oscillating F6IV star and the brightest exoplanet host discovered by Kepler. An early analysis of the Q0 - Q5 Kepler light curves by Howell et al. (2012) revealed transits of a planetary companion, Kepler-21b, with a radius of 1.6 R_Earth and an orbital period of 2.7857 days. However, they could not determine the mass of the planet from the initial radial velocity observations with Keck-HIRES, and were only able to impose a 2s upper limit of about 10 M_Earth. Here we present 82 new radial velocity observations of this system obtained with the HARPS-N spectrograph. We detect the Doppler shift signal of Kepler-21b at the 3.6s level, and measure a planetary mass of 5.9 ± 1.6 M_Earth. We also update the radius of the planet to 1.65 ± 0.08 R_Earth, using the now available Kepler Q0 - Q17 photometry for this target. The mass of Kepler-21b appears to fall on the apparent dividing line between super-Earths that have lost all the material in their outer layers and those that have retained a significant amount of volatiles. Based on our results Kepler-21b belongs to the first group. Acknowledgement: This work was supported by funding from the NASA XRP Program and the John Templeton Foundation.

  20. Using Kepler Light Curves for Astronomy Education and Public Outreach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cash, Jennifer; Rivers, S.; Eleby, J.; Gould, A.; Komatsu, T.

    2014-01-01

    We will present our efforts related to Education and Public Outreach activities using Kepler Light Curves. We are currently developing interactive web based activities to introduce the public to the general topic of Stellar Variability and Intrinsic Variable Stars in particular using the high quality light curves of over a dozen Kepler targets. Along with the public website, we are exploring areas to develop teacher guides to use Kepler Light Curves in the middle and high school classrooms. These efforts are supported through a NASA EPSCoR grant "South Carolina Joint Venture Program" via a subaward to SC State University.

  1. Size of Kepler Planet Candidates

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2013-01-07

    Kepler data has increased by 20 percent and now totals 2,740 potential planets orbiting 2,036 stars; dramatic increases are seen in the number of Earth-size and super Earth-size candidates discovered.

  2. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler planetary candidates. VII. 48-month (Coughlin+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Coughlin, J. L.; Mullally, F.; Thompson, S. E.; Rowe, J. F.; Burke, C. J.; Latham, D. W.; Batalha, N. M.; Ofir, A.; Quarles, B. L.; Henze, C. E.; Wolfgang, A.; Caldwell, D. A.; Bryson, S. T.; Shporer, A.; Catanzarite, J.; Akeson, R.; Barclay, T.; Borucki, W. J.; Boyajian, T. S.; Campbell, J. R.; Christiansen, J. L.; Girouard, F. R.; Haas, M. R.; Howell, S. B.; Huber, D.; Jenkins, J. M.; Li, J.; Patil-Sabale, A.; Quintana, E. V.; Ramirez, S.; Seader, S.; Smith, J. C.; Tenenbaum, P.; Twicken, J. D.; Zamudio, K. A.

    2016-07-01

    This catalog is based on Kepler's 24th data release (DR24), which includes the processing of all data utilizing version 9.2 of the Kepler pipeline (Jenkins et al. 2010ApJ...724.1108J). This marks the first time that all of the Kepler mission data have been processed consistently with the same version of the Kepler pipeline. Over a period of 48 months (2009 May 13 to 2013 May 11), subdivided into 17 quarters (Q1-Q17), a total of 198646 targets were observed. (7 data files).

  3. An independent planet search in the Kepler dataset. I. One hundred new candidates and revised Kepler objects of interest

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ofir, A.; Dreizler, S.

    2013-07-01

    Aims: We present first results of our efforts to re-analyze the Kepler photometric dataset, searching for planetary transits using an alternative processing pipeline to the one used by the Kepler mission Methods: The SARS pipeline was tried and tested extensively by processing all available CoRoT mission data. For this first paper of the series we used this pipeline to search for (additional) planetary transits only in a small subset of stars - the Kepler objects of interest (KOIs), which are already known to include at least one promising planet candidate. Results: Although less than 1% of the Kepler dataset are KOIs we are able to significantly update the overall statistics of planetary multiplicity: we find 84 new transit signals on 64 systems on these light curves (LCs) only, nearly doubling the number of transit signals in these systems. Forty-one of the systems were singly-transiting systems that are now multiply-transiting. This significantly reduces the chances of false positive in them. Notable among the new discoveries are KOI 435 as a new six-candidate system (of which kind only Kepler-11 was known before), KOI 277 (which includes two candidates in a 6:7 period commensurability that has anti-correlated transit timing variations) - all but validating the system, KOIs 719, 1574, and 1871 that have small planet candidates (1.15,2.05 and 1.71 R⊕) in the habitable zone of their host star, and KOI 1843 that exhibits the shortest period (4.25 h) and is among the smallest (0.63 R⊕) of all planet candidates. We are also able to reject 11 KOIs as eclipsing binaries based on photometry alone, update the ephemeris for five KOIs and otherwise discuss a number of other objects, which brings the total of new signals and revised KOIs in this study to more than one hundred. Interestingly, a large fraction, about ~1/3, of the newly detected candidates participate in period commensurabilities. Finally, we discuss the possible overestimation of parameter errors in the

  4. Kepler Eclipsing Binary Stars. I. Catalog and Principal Characterization of 1879 Eclipsing Binaries in the First Data Release

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prša, Andrej; Batalha, Natalie; Slawson, Robert W.; Doyle, Laurance R.; Welsh, William F.; Orosz, Jerome A.; Seager, Sara; Rucker, Michael; Mjaseth, Kimberly; Engle, Scott G.; Conroy, Kyle; Jenkins, Jon; Caldwell, Douglas; Koch, David; Borucki, William

    2011-03-01

    The Kepler space mission is devoted to finding Earth-size planets orbiting other stars in their habitable zones. Its large, 105 deg2 field of view features over 156,000 stars that are observed continuously to detect and characterize planet transits. Yet, this high-precision instrument holds great promise for other types of objects as well. Here we present a comprehensive catalog of eclipsing binary stars observed by Kepler in the first 44 days of operation, the data being publicly available through MAST as of 2010 June 15. The catalog contains 1879 unique objects. For each object, we provide its Kepler ID (KID), ephemeris (BJD0, P 0), morphology type, physical parameters (T eff, log g, E(B - V)), the estimate of third light contamination (crowding), and principal parameters (T 2/T 1, q, fillout factor, and sin i for overcontacts, and T 2/T 1, (R 1 + R 2)/a, esin ω, ecos ω, and sin i for detached binaries). We present statistics based on the determined periods and measure the average occurrence rate of eclipsing binaries to be ~1.2% across the Kepler field. We further discuss the distribution of binaries as a function of galactic latitude and thoroughly explain the application of artificial intelligence to obtain principal parameters in a matter of seconds for the whole sample. The catalog was envisioned to serve as a bridge between the now public Kepler data and the scientific community interested in eclipsing binary stars.

  5. SIRTF Science Operations System Design

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Green, William

    1999-01-01

    SIRTF Science Operations System Design William B. Green Manager, SIRTF Science Center California Institute of Technology M/S 310-6 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena CA 91125 (626) 395 8572 Fax (626) 568 0673 bgreen@ipac.caltech.edu. The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) will be launched in December 2001, and perform an extended series of science observations at wavelengths ranging from 20 to 160 microns for five years or more. The California Institute of Technology has been selected as the home for the SIRTF Science Center (SSC). The SSC will be responsible for evaluating and selecting observation proposals, providing technical support to the science community, performing mission planning and science observation scheduling activities, instrument calibration during operations and instrument health monitoring, production of archival quality data products, and management of science research grants. The science payload consists of three instruments delivered by instrument Principal Investigators located at University of Arizona, Cornell, and Harvard Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The SSC is responsible for design, development, and operation of the Science Operations System (SOS) which will support the functions assigned to the SSC by NASA. The SIRTF spacecraft, mission profile, and science instrument design have undergone almost ten years of refinement. SIRTF development and operations activities are highly cost constrained. The cost constraints have impacted the design of the SOS in several ways. The Science Operations System has been designed to incorporate a set of efficient, easy to use tools which will make it possible for scientists to propose observation sequences in a rapid and automated manner. The use of highly automated tools for requesting observations will simplify the long range observatory scheduling process, and the short term scheduling of science observations. Pipeline data processing will be highly automated and data

  6. A [Ce21] keplerate.

    PubMed

    Canaj, Angelos B; Siczek, Milosz; Lis, Tadeusz; Murrie, Mark; Brechin, Euan K; Milios, Constantinos J

    2017-06-28

    The solvothermal reaction between Ce(NO 3 ) 3 ·6H 2 O, 2-amino-isobutyric acid, 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde and 2-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol in MeOH, in the presence of base, leads to the formation of a unique [CeCe ] keplerate cage.

  7. Detecting planets in Kepler lightcurves using methods developed for CoRoT.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grziwa, S.; Korth, J.; Pätzold, M.

    2011-10-01

    Launched in March 2009, Kepler is the second space telescope dedicated to the search for extrasolar planets. NASA released 150.000 lightcurves to the public in 2010 and announced that Kepler has found 1.235 candidates. The Rhenish Institute for Environmental Research (RIU-PF) is one of the detection groups from the CoRoT space mission. RIU-PF developed the software package EXOTRANS for the detection of transits in stellar lightcurves. EXOTRANS is designed for the fast automated processing of huge amounts of data and was easily adapted to the analysis of Kepler lightcurves. The use of different techniques and philosophies helps to find more candidates and to rule out others. We present the analysis of the Kepler lightcurves with EXOTRANS. Results of our filter (trend, harmonic) and detection (dcBLS) techniques are compared with the techniques used by Kepler (PDC, TPS). The different approaches to rule out false positives are discussed and additional candidates found by EXOTRANS are presented.

  8. Validation and Initial Characterization of the Long-period Planet Kepler-1654 b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beichman, C. A.; Giles, H. A. C.; Akeson, R.; Ciardi, D.; Christiansen, J.; Isaacson, H.; Marcy, G. M.; Sinukoff, E.; Greene, T.; Fortney, J. J.; Crossfield, I.; Hu, R.; Howard, A. W.; Petigura, E. A.; Knutson, H. A.

    2018-04-01

    Fewer than 20 transiting Kepler planets have periods longer than one year. Our early search of the Kepler light curves revealed one such system, Kepler-1654b (originally KIC 8410697b), which shows exactly two transit events and whose second transit occurred only five days before the failure of the second of two reaction wheels brought the primary Kepler mission to an end. A number of authors have also examined light curves from the Kepler mission searching for long-period planets and identified this candidate. Starting in 2014 September, we began an observational program of imaging, reconnaissance spectroscopy, and precision radial velocity (RV) measurements that confirm with a high degree of confidence that Kepler-1654b is a bona fide transiting planet orbiting a mature G5V star (T eff = 5580 K, [Fe/H] = ‑0.08) with a semimajor axis of 2.03 au, a period of 1047.84 days, and a radius of 0.82 ± 0.02 R Jup. RV measurements using Keck’s HIRES spectrometer obtained over 2.5 years set a limit to the planet’s mass of <0.5 (3σ) M Jup. The bulk density of the planet is similar to that of Saturn or possibly lower. We assess the suitability of temperate gas giants like Kepler-1654b for transit spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope, as their relatively cold equilibrium temperatures (T pl ∼ 200 K) make them interesting from the standpoint of exoplanet atmospheric physics. Unfortunately, these low temperatures also make the atmospheric scale heights small and thus transmission spectroscopy challenging. Finally, the long time between transits can make scheduling JWST observations difficult—as is the case with Kepler-1654b.

  9. CHANGING PHASES OF ALIEN WORLDS: PROBING ATMOSPHERES OF KEPLER PLANETS WITH HIGH-PRECISION PHOTOMETRY

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Esteves, Lisa J.; Mooij, Ernst J. W. De; Jayawardhana, Ray, E-mail: esteves@astro.utoronto.ca, E-mail: demooij@astro.utoronto.ca, E-mail: rayjay@yorku.ca

    We present a comprehensive analysis of planetary phase variations, including possible planetary light offsets, using eighteen quarters of data from the Kepler space telescope. Our analysis found fourteen systems with significant detections in each of the phase curve components: planet’s phase function, secondary eclipse, Doppler boosting, and ellipsoidal variations. We model the full phase curve simultaneously, including primary and secondary transits, and derive albedos, day- and night-side temperatures and planet masses. Most planets manifest low optical geometric albedos (< 0.25), with the exception of Kepler-10b, Kepler-91b, and KOI-13b. We find that KOI-13b, with a small eccentricity of 0.0006 ± 0.0001,more » is the only planet for which an eccentric orbit is favored. We detect a third harmonic for HAT-P-7b for the first time, and confirm the third harmonic for KOI-13b reported in Esteves et al.: both could be due to their spin–orbit misalignments. For six planets, we report a planetary brightness peak offset from the substellar point: of those, the hottest two (Kepler-76b and HAT-P-7b) exhibit pre-eclipse shifts or on the evening-side, while the cooler four (Kepler-7b, Kepler-8b, Kepler-12b, and Kepler-41b) peak post-eclipse or on the morning-side. Our findings dramatically increase the number of Kepler planets with detected planetary light offsets, and provide the first evidence in the Kepler data for a correlation between the peak offset direction and the planet’s temperature. Such a correlation could arise if thermal emission dominates light from hotter planets that harbor hot spots shifted toward the evening-side, as theoretically predicted, while reflected light dominates cooler planets with clouds on the planet’s morning-side.« less

  10. Constraining the Radiation and Plasma Environment of the Kepler Circumbinary Habitable-zone Planets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zuluaga, Jorge I.; Mason, Paul A.; Cuartas-Restrepo, Pablo A.

    2016-02-01

    The discovery of many planets using the Kepler telescope includes 10 planets orbiting eight binary stars. Three binaries, Kepler-16, Kepler-47, and Kepler-453, have at least one planet in the circumbinary habitable zone (BHZ). We constrain the level of high-energy radiation and the plasma environment in the BHZ of these systems. With this aim, BHZ limits in these Kepler binaries are calculated as a function of time, and the habitability lifetimes are estimated for hypothetical terrestrial planets and/or moons within the BHZ. With the time-dependent BHZ limits established, a self-consistent model is developed describing the evolution of stellar activity and radiation properties as proxies for stellar aggression toward planetary atmospheres. Modeling binary stellar rotation evolution, including the effect of tidal interaction between stars in binaries, is key to establishing the environment around these systems. We find that Kepler-16 and its binary analogs provide a plasma environment favorable for the survival of atmospheres of putative Mars-sized planets and exomoons. Tides have modified the rotation of the stars in Kepler-47, making its radiation environment less harsh in comparison to the solar system. This is a good example of the mechanism first proposed by Mason et al. Kepler-453 has an environment similar to that of the solar system with slightly better than Earth radiation conditions at the inner edge of the BHZ. These results can be reproduced and even reparameterized as stellar evolution and binary tidal models progress, using our online tool http://bhmcalc.net.

  11. CONSTRAINING THE RADIATION AND PLASMA ENVIRONMENT OF THE KEPLER CIRCUMBINARY HABITABLE-ZONE PLANETS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zuluaga, Jorge I.; Mason, Paul A.; Cuartas-Restrepo, Pablo A.

    The discovery of many planets using the Kepler telescope includes 10 planets orbiting eight binary stars. Three binaries, Kepler-16, Kepler-47, and Kepler-453, have at least one planet in the circumbinary habitable zone (BHZ). We constrain the level of high-energy radiation and the plasma environment in the BHZ of these systems. With this aim, BHZ limits in these Kepler binaries are calculated as a function of time, and the habitability lifetimes are estimated for hypothetical terrestrial planets and/or moons within the BHZ. With the time-dependent BHZ limits established, a self-consistent model is developed describing the evolution of stellar activity and radiation propertiesmore » as proxies for stellar aggression toward planetary atmospheres. Modeling binary stellar rotation evolution, including the effect of tidal interaction between stars in binaries, is key to establishing the environment around these systems. We find that Kepler-16 and its binary analogs provide a plasma environment favorable for the survival of atmospheres of putative Mars-sized planets and exomoons. Tides have modified the rotation of the stars in Kepler-47, making its radiation environment less harsh in comparison to the solar system. This is a good example of the mechanism first proposed by Mason et al. Kepler-453 has an environment similar to that of the solar system with slightly better than Earth radiation conditions at the inner edge of the BHZ. These results can be reproduced and even reparameterized as stellar evolution and binary tidal models progress, using our online tool http://bhmcalc.net.« less

  12. An Introduction to Exoplanets and the Kepler Mission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lissauer, Jack

    2014-01-01

    A quarter century ago, the only planets known to humanity were the familiar objects that orbit our Sun. But improved observational techniques allowed astronomers to begin detecting planets around other stars in the 1990s. The first extrasolar planets (often referred to as exoplanets) to be discovered were quite exotic and unfamiliar objects. Most were giant objects that are hundreds of times as massive as the Earth and orbit so close to their star that they are hotter than pizza ovens. But as observational capabilities improved, smaller and cooler planets were found. The most capable planet-hunting tool developed to date is NASA's Kepler telescope, which was launched in 2009. Kepler has found that planets similar in size to our Earth are quite abundant within our galaxy. Results of Kepler's research will be summarized and placed into context within the new and growing discipline of exoplanet studies.

  13. DSMS science operations concept

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Connally, M. J.; Kuiper, T. B.

    2001-01-01

    The Deep Space Mission System (DSMS) Science Operations Concept describes the vision for enabling the use of the DSMS, particularly the Deep Space Network (DSN) for direct science observations in the areas of radio astronomy, planetary radar, radio science and VLBI.

  14. THE POSSIBLE MOON OF KEPLER-90g IS A FALSE POSITIVE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kipping, D. M.; Torres, G.; Buchhave, L. A.

    2015-01-20

    The discovery of an exomoon would provide deep insights into planet formation and the habitability of planetary systems, with transiting examples being particularly sought after. Of the hundreds of Kepler planets now discovered, the seven-planet system Kepler-90 is unusual for exhibiting an unidentified transit-like signal in close proximity to one of the transits of the long-period gas-giant Kepler-90g, as noted by Cabrera et al. As part of the ''Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler'' project, we investigate this possible exomoon signal and find it passes all conventional photometric, dynamical, and centroid diagnostic tests. However, pixel-level light curves indicate that the moon-like signalmore » occurs on nearly all of the target's pixels, which we confirm using a novel way of examining pixel-level data which we dub the ''transit centroid''. This test reveals that the possible exomoon to Kepler-90g is likely a false positive, perhaps due to a cosmic ray induced sudden pixel sensitivity dropout. This work highlights the extreme care required for seeking non-periodic low-amplitude transit signals, such as exomoons.« less

  15. No Timing Variations Observed in Third Transit of Snow-line Exoplanet Kepler-421b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dalba, Paul A.; Muirhead, Philip S.

    2016-07-01

    We observed Kepler-421 during the anticipated third transit of the snow-line exoplanet Kepler-421b in order to constrain the existence and extent of transit timing variations (TTVs). Previously, the Kepler spacecraft only observed two transits of Kepler-421b, leaving the planet’s transit ephemeris unconstrained. Our visible light, time-series observations from the 4.3 m Discovery Channel Telescope were designed to capture pre-transit baseline and the partial transit of Kepler-421b, barring significant TTVs. We use the light curves to assess the probabilities of various transit models using both the posterior odds ratio and the Bayesian Information Criterion, and find that a transit model with no TTVs is favored to 3.6σ confidence. These observations suggest that Kepler-421b is either alone in its system or is only experiencing minor dynamic interactions with an unseen companion. With the Kepler-421b ephemeris constrained, we calculate future transit times and discuss the opportunity to characterize the atmosphere of this cold, long-period exoplanet via transmission spectroscopy. Our investigation emphasizes the difficulties associated with observing long-period exoplanet transits and the consequences that arise from failing to refine transit ephemerides.

  16. STUDYING ATMOSPHERE-DOMINATED HOT JUPITER KEPLER PHASE CURVES: EVIDENCE THAT INHOMOGENEOUS ATMOSPHERIC REFLECTION IS COMMON

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shporer, Avi; Hu, Renyu

    2015-10-15

    We identify three Kepler transiting planets, Kepler-7b, Kepler-12b, and Kepler-41b, whose orbital phase-folded light curves are dominated by planetary atmospheric processes including thermal emission and reflected light, while the impact of non-atmospheric (i.e., gravitational) processes, including beaming (Doppler boosting) and tidal ellipsoidal distortion, is negligible. Therefore, those systems allow a direct view of their atmospheres without being hampered by the approximations used in the inclusion of both atmospheric and non-atmospheric processes when modeling the phase-curve shape. We present here the analysis of Kepler-12b and Kepler-41b atmosphere based on their Kepler phase curve, while the analysis of Kepler-7b was already presentedmore » elsewhere. The model we used efficiently computes reflection and thermal emission contributions to the phase curve, including inhomogeneous atmospheric reflection due to longitudinally varying cloud coverage. We confirm Kepler-12b and Kepler-41b show a westward phase shift between the brightest region on the planetary surface and the substellar point, similar to Kepler-7b. We find that reflective clouds located on the west side of the substellar point can explain the phase shift. The existence of inhomogeneous atmospheric reflection in all three of our targets, selected due to their atmosphere-dominated Kepler phase curve, suggests this phenomenon is common. Therefore, it is also likely to be present in planetary phase curves that do not allow a direct view of the planetary atmosphere as they contain additional orbital processes. We discuss the implications of a bright-spot shift on the analysis of phase curves where both atmospheric and gravitational processes appear, including the mass discrepancy seen in some cases between the companion’s mass derived from the beaming and ellipsoidal photometric amplitudes. Finally, we discuss the potential detection of non-transiting but otherwise similar planets, whose mass is

  17. SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN LOW-LUMINOSITY RED GIANTS: FIRST RESULTS FROM KEPLER

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bedding, T. R.; Huber, D.; Stello, D.

    2010-04-20

    We have measured solar-like oscillations in red giants using time-series photometry from the first 34 days of science operations of the Kepler Mission. The light curves, obtained with 30 minute sampling, reveal clear oscillations in a large sample of G and K giants, extending in luminosity from the red clump down to the bottom of the giant branch. We confirm a strong correlation between the large separation of the oscillations ({delta}{nu}) and the frequency of maximum power ({nu}{sub max}). We focus on a sample of 50 low-luminosity stars ({nu}{sub max} > 100 {mu}Hz, L {approx}< 30 L {sub sun}) havingmore » high signal-to-noise ratios and showing the unambiguous signature of solar-like oscillations. These are H-shell-burning stars, whose oscillations should be valuable for testing models of stellar evolution and for constraining the star formation rate in the local disk. We use a new technique to compare stars on a single echelle diagram by scaling their frequencies and find well-defined ridges corresponding to radial and non-radial oscillations, including clear evidence for modes with angular degree l = 3. Measuring the small separation between l = 0 and l = 2 allows us to plot the so-called C-D diagram of {delta}{nu}{sub 02} versus {delta}{nu}. The small separation {delta}{nu}{sub 01} of l = 1 from the midpoint of adjacent l = 0 modes is negative, contrary to the Sun and solar-type stars. The ridge for l = 1 is notably broadened, which we attribute to mixed modes, confirming theoretical predictions for low-luminosity giants. Overall, the results demonstrate the tremendous potential of Kepler data for asteroseismology of red giants.« less

  18. Kepler Planet Detection Metrics: Per-Target Detection Contours for Data Release 25

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Burke, Christopher J.; Catanzarite, Joseph

    2017-01-01

    A necessary input to planet occurrence calculations is an accurate model for the pipeline completeness (Burke et al., 2015). This document describes the use of the Kepler planet occurrence rate products in order to calculate a per-target detection contour for the measured Data Release 25 (DR25) pipeline performance. A per-target detection contour measures for a given combination of orbital period, Porb, and planet radius, Rp, what fraction of transit signals are recoverable by the Kepler pipeline (Twicken et al., 2016; Jenkins et al., 2017). The steps for calculating a detection contour follow the procedure outlined in Burke et al. (2015), but have been updated to provide improved accuracy enabled by the substantially larger database of transit injection and recovery tests that were performed on the final version (i.e., SOC 9.3) of the Kepler pipeline (Christiansen, 2017; Burke Catanzarite, 2017a). In the following sections, we describe the main inputs to the per-target detection contour and provide a worked example of the python software released with this document (Kepler Planet Occurrence Rate Tools KeplerPORTs)1 that illustrates the generation of a detection contour in practice. As background material for this document and its nomenclature, we recommend the reader be familiar with the previous method of calculating a detection contour (Section 2 of Burke et al.,2015), input parameters relevant for describing the data quantity and quality of Kepler targets (Burke Catanzarite, 2017b), and the extensive new transit injection and recovery tests of the Kepler pipeline (Christiansen et al., 2016; Burke Catanzarite, 2017a; Christiansen, 2017).

  19. VizieR Online Data Catalog: New Kepler planetary candidates (Ofir+, 2013)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ofir, A.; Dreizler, S.

    2013-10-01

    We present first results of our efforts to re-analyze the Kepler photometric dataset, searching for planetary transits using an alternative processing pipeline to the one used by the Kepler mission The SARS pipeline was tried and tested extensively by processing all available CoRoT mission data. For this first paper of the series we used this pipeline to search for (additional) planetary transits only in a small subset of stars - the Kepler objects of interest (KOIs), which are already known to include at least one promising planet candidate. (2 data files).

  20. THE ALBEDOS OF KEPLER'S CLOSE-IN SUPER-EARTHS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Demory, Brice-Olivier, E-mail: bod21@cam.ac.uk

    Exoplanet research focusing on the characterization of super-Earths is currently limited to the handful of targets orbiting bright stars that are amenable to detailed study. This Letter proposes to look at alternative avenues to probe the surface and atmospheric properties of this category of planets, known to be ubiquitous in our galaxy. I conduct Markov Chain Monte Carlo light-curves analyses for 97 Kepler close-in R{sub P} ≲ 2.0 R {sub ⊕} super-Earth candidates with the aim of detecting their occultations at visible wavelengths. Brightness temperatures and geometric albedos in the Kepler bandpass are constrained for 27 super-Earth candidates. A hierarchicalmore » Bayesian modeling approach is then employed to characterize the population-level reflective properties of these close-in super-Earths. I find median geometric albedos A{sub g} in the Kepler bandpass ranging between 0.16 and 0.30, once decontaminated from thermal emission. These super-Earth geometric albedos are statistically larger than for hot Jupiters, which have medians A{sub g} ranging between 0.06 and 0.11. A subset of objects, including Kepler-10b, exhibit significantly larger albedos (A{sub g} ≳ 0.4). I argue that a better understanding of the incidence of stellar irradation on planetary surface and atmospheric processes is key to explain the diversity in albedos observed for close-in super-Earths.« less

  1. A SEMI-ANALYTICAL MODEL OF VISIBLE-WAVELENGTH PHASE CURVES OF EXOPLANETS AND APPLICATIONS TO KEPLER- 7 B AND KEPLER- 10 B

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hu, Renyu; Demory, Brice-Olivier; Seager, Sara

    2015-03-20

    Kepler has detected numerous exoplanet transits by measuring stellar light in a single visible-wavelength band. In addition to detection, the precise photometry provides phase curves of exoplanets, which can be used to study the dynamic processes on these planets. However, the interpretation of these observations can be complicated by the fact that visible-wavelength phase curves can represent both thermal emission and scattering from the planets. Here we present a semi-analytical model framework that can be applied to study Kepler and future visible-wavelength phase curve observations of exoplanets. The model efficiently computes reflection and thermal emission components for both rocky andmore » gaseous planets, considering both homogeneous and inhomogeneous surfaces or atmospheres. We analyze the phase curves of the gaseous planet Kepler- 7 b and the rocky planet Kepler- 10 b using the model. In general, we find that a hot exoplanet’s visible-wavelength phase curve having a significant phase offset can usually be explained by two classes of solutions: one class requires a thermal hot spot shifted to one side of the substellar point, and the other class requires reflective clouds concentrated on the same side of the substellar point. Particularly for Kepler- 7 b, reflective clouds located on the west side of the substellar point can best explain its phase curve. The reflectivity of the clear part of the atmosphere should be less than 7% and that of the cloudy part should be greater than 80%, and the cloud boundary should be located at 11° ± 3° to the west of the substellar point. We suggest single-band photometry surveys could yield valuable information on exoplanet atmospheres and surfaces.« less

  2. Precision Astrophysics Experiments with the Kepler Satellite

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jackiewicz, Jason

    2012-10-01

    Long photometric observations from space of tens of thousands of stars, such as those provided by Kepler, offer unique opportunities to carry out ensemble astrophysics as well as detailed studies of individual objects. One of the primary tools at our disposal for understanding pulsating stars is asteroseismology, which uses observed stellar oscillation frequencies to determine interior properties. This can provide very strict constraints on theories of stellar evolution, structure, and the population characteristics of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. This talk will focus on several of the exciting insights Kepler has enabled through asteroseismology of stars across the H-R diagram.

  3. Towards a Fundamental Understanding of Short Period Eclipsing Binary Systems Using Kepler Data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prsa, Andrej

    -to-primary light ratio regime of ~1-2% for the circumbinary host system Kepler-16. Semi-detached binaries are ideal targets to study the dynamical processes such as mass flow and accretion, and the associated thermal processes such as intensity variation due to distortion of the lobe-filling component and material inflow collisions with accretion disks. Overcontact binaries are very abundant, yet their evolution and radiative properties are poorly understood and conflicting theories exist to explain their population frequency and structure. In addition, we will measure eclipse timing variations for all program binaries that attest to the presence of perturbing third bodies (stellar and substellar!) or dynamical interaction between the components. By a dedicated, detailed, manual modeling of these sets of targets, we will be able to use Kepler's ultra-high precision photometry to a rewarding scientific end. Thanks to the unprecedented quality of Kepler data, this will be a highly focused effort that maximizes the scientific yield and the reliability of the results. Our team has ample experience dealing with Kepler data (PI Prsa serves as chair of the Eclipsing Binary Working Group in the Kepler Science Team), spectroscopic follow-up (Co-Is Mahadevan and Bender both have experience with radial velocity instrumentation and large spectroscopic surveys), and eclipsing binary modeling (PI Prsa and Co-I Devinney both have a long record of theoretical and computational development of modeling tools). The bulk of funding we are requesting is for two postdoctoral research fellows to conduct this work at 0.5 FTE/year each, for the total of 2 years.

  4. The Fruits of Kepler's Struggle.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Belonuchkin, B. E.

    1992-01-01

    Presents six learning activities dealing with planetary motion, the launching of satellites, and Halley's comet, all of which utilize the three laws of Johannes Kepler. These three laws are discussed in detail, and answers to the activities are provided. (KR)

  5. Kepler's theory of force and his medical sources.

    PubMed

    Regier, Jonathan

    2014-01-01

    Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) makes extensive use of souls and spiritus in his natural philosophy. Recent studies have highlighted their importance in his accounts of celestial generation and astrology. In this study, I would like to address two pressing issues. The first is Kepler's context. The biological side of his natural philosophy is not naively Aristotelian. Instead, he is up to date with contemporary discussions in medically flavored natural philosophy. I will examine his relationship to Melanchthon's anatomical-theological Liber de anima (1552) and to Jean Femel's very popular Physiologia (1567), two Galenic sources with a noticeable impact on how he understands the functions of life. The other issue that will direct my article is force at a distance. Medical ideas deeply inform Kepler's theories of light and solar force (virtus motrix). It will become clear that they are not a hindrance even to the hardcore of his celestial physics. Instead, he makes use of soul and spiritus in order to develop a fully mathematized dynamics.

  6. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler Mission. VII. Eclipsing binaries in DR3 (Kirk+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kirk, B.; Conroy, K.; Prsa, A.; Abdul-Masih, M.; Kochoska, A.; Matijevic, G.; Hambleton, K.; Barclay, T.; Bloemen, S.; Boyajian, T.; Doyle, L. R.; Fulton, B. J.; Hoekstra, A. J.; Jek, K.; Kane, S. R.; Kostov, V.; Latham, D.; Mazeh, T.; Orosz, J. A.; Pepper, J.; Quarles, B.; Ragozzine, D.; Shporer, A.; Southworth, J.; Stassun, K.; Thompson, S. E.; Welsh, W. F.; Agol, E.; Derekas, A.; Devor, J.; Fischer, D.; Green, G.; Gropp, J.; Jacobs, T.; Johnston, C.; Lacourse, D. M.; Saetre, K.; Schwengeler, H.; Toczyski, J.; Werner, G.; Garrett, M.; Gore, J.; Martinez, A. O.; Spitzer, I.; Stevick, J.; Thomadis, P. C.; Vrijmoet, E. H.; Yenawine, M.; Batalha, N.; Borucki, W.

    2016-07-01

    The Kepler Eclipsing Binary Catalog lists the stellar parameters from the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC) augmented by: primary and secondary eclipse depth, eclipse width, separation of eclipse, ephemeris, morphological classification parameter, and principal parameters determined by geometric analysis of the phased light curve. The previous release of the Catalog (Paper II; Slawson et al. 2011, cat. J/AJ/142/160) contained 2165 objects, through the second Kepler data release (Q0-Q2). In this release, 2878 objects are identified and analyzed from the entire data set of the primary Kepler mission (Q0-Q17). The online version of the Catalog is currently maintained at http://keplerEBs.villanova.edu/. A static version of the online Catalog associated with this paper is maintained at MAST https://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/eclipsing_binaries.html. (10 data files).

  7. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalog of Kepler flare stars (Van Doorsselaere+, 2017)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Doorsselaere, T.; Shariati, H.; Debosscher, J.

    2017-11-01

    With an automated detection method, we have identified stellar flares in the long cadence observations of Kepler during quarter 15. We list each flare time for the respective Kepler objects. Furthermore, we list the flare amplitude and decay time after fitting the flare light curve with an exponential decay. Flare start times in long cadence data of Kepler during quarter 15. (1 data file).

  8. KEPLER ECLIPSING BINARY STARS. I. CATALOG AND PRINCIPAL CHARACTERIZATION OF 1879 ECLIPSING BINARIES IN THE FIRST DATA RELEASE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Prsa, Andrej; Engle, Scott G.; Conroy, Kyle

    2011-03-15

    The Kepler space mission is devoted to finding Earth-size planets orbiting other stars in their habitable zones. Its large, 105 deg{sup 2} field of view features over 156,000 stars that are observed continuously to detect and characterize planet transits. Yet, this high-precision instrument holds great promise for other types of objects as well. Here we present a comprehensive catalog of eclipsing binary stars observed by Kepler in the first 44 days of operation, the data being publicly available through MAST as of 2010 June 15. The catalog contains 1879 unique objects. For each object, we provide its Kepler ID (KID),more » ephemeris (BJD{sub 0}, P{sub 0}), morphology type, physical parameters (T{sub eff}, log g, E(B - V)), the estimate of third light contamination (crowding), and principal parameters (T{sub 2}/T{sub 1}, q, fillout factor, and sin i for overcontacts, and T{sub 2}/T{sub 1}, (R{sub 1} + R{sub 2})/a, esin {omega}, ecos {omega}, and sin i for detached binaries). We present statistics based on the determined periods and measure the average occurrence rate of eclipsing binaries to be {approx}1.2% across the Kepler field. We further discuss the distribution of binaries as a function of galactic latitude and thoroughly explain the application of artificial intelligence to obtain principal parameters in a matter of seconds for the whole sample. The catalog was envisioned to serve as a bridge between the now public Kepler data and the scientific community interested in eclipsing binary stars.« less

  9. NO TIMING VARIATIONS OBSERVED IN THIRD TRANSIT OF SNOW-LINE EXOPLANET KEPLER-421b

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dalba, Paul A.; Muirhead, Philip S., E-mail: pdalba@bu.edu

    2016-07-20

    We observed Kepler-421 during the anticipated third transit of the snow-line exoplanet Kepler-421b in order to constrain the existence and extent of transit timing variations (TTVs). Previously, the Kepler spacecraft only observed two transits of Kepler-421b, leaving the planet’s transit ephemeris unconstrained. Our visible light, time-series observations from the 4.3 m Discovery Channel Telescope were designed to capture pre-transit baseline and the partial transit of Kepler-421b, barring significant TTVs. We use the light curves to assess the probabilities of various transit models using both the posterior odds ratio and the Bayesian Information Criterion, and find that a transit model withmore » no TTVs is favored to 3.6 σ confidence. These observations suggest that Kepler-421b is either alone in its system or is only experiencing minor dynamic interactions with an unseen companion. With the Kepler-421b ephemeris constrained, we calculate future transit times and discuss the opportunity to characterize the atmosphere of this cold, long-period exoplanet via transmission spectroscopy. Our investigation emphasizes the difficulties associated with observing long-period exoplanet transits and the consequences that arise from failing to refine transit ephemerides.« less

  10. The classical dynamic symmetry for the U(1) -Kepler problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouarroudj, Sofiane; Meng, Guowu

    2018-01-01

    For the Jordan algebra of hermitian matrices of order n ≥ 2, we let X be its submanifold consisting of rank-one semi-positive definite elements. The composition of the cotangent bundle map πX: T∗ X → X with the canonical map X → CP n - 1 (i.e., the map that sends a given hermitian matrix to its column space), pulls back the Kähler form of the Fubini-Study metric on CP n - 1 to a real closed differential two-form ωK on T∗ X. Let ωX be the canonical symplectic form on T∗ X and μ a real number. A standard fact says that ωμ ≔ωX + 2 μωK turns T∗ X into a symplectic manifold, hence a Poisson manifold with Poisson bracket {,}μ. In this article we exhibit a Poisson realization of the simple real Lie algebra su(n , n) on the Poisson manifold (T∗ X ,{,}μ) , i.e., a Lie algebra homomorphism from su(n , n) to (C∞(T∗ X , R) ,{,}μ). Consequently one obtains the Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector for the classical U(1) -Kepler problem of level n and magnetic charge μ. Since the McIntosh-Cisneros-Zwanziger-Kepler problems (MICZ-Kepler Problems) are the U(1) -Kepler problems of level 2, the work presented here is a direct generalization of the work by A. Barut and G. Bornzin (1971) on the classical dynamic symmetry for the MICZ-Kepler problems.

  11. Are we alone? Stories from the frontline of Kepler's search for Earth's twin (Presentation Video)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon

    2013-10-01

    Kepler vaulted into the heavens on March 7, 2009, initiating NASA's search for Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars in the habitable zone, where liquid water could exist on the planetary surface and support alien biology. Never before has there been a photometer capable of reaching a precision near 20 ppm in 6.5 hours while conducting nearly continuous and uninterrupted observations for several years. The flood of exquisite photometric data over the last 4 years on 190,000+ stars has provoked a watershed of results. Over 2,700+ candidate planets have been identified of which an astounding 1171 orbit 467 stars. Over 120+ planets have confirmed or validated and the data have also led to a resounding revolution in asteroseismology. Recent discoveries include Kepler-62 with 5 planets total of which 2 are in the habitable zone, and are 1.4 and 1.7 times the radius of the Earth. Designing and building the Kepler photometer and the software systems that process and analyze the resulting data presented a daunting set of challenges, including how to manage the large data volume, how to detect miniscule transit signatures against stellar variability and instrumental effects, and how to review hundreds of diagnostics produced for each of ~20,000 candidate transit signatures. The challenges continue into flight operations, as the photometer and spacecraft have experienced aging and changes in hardware performance over the course of time. The success of Kepler sets the stage for TESS, NASA's next mission to detect Earth's closest cousins.

  12. Using Kepler for Tool Integration in Microarray Analysis Workflows.

    PubMed

    Gan, Zhuohui; Stowe, Jennifer C; Altintas, Ilkay; McCulloch, Andrew D; Zambon, Alexander C

    Increasing numbers of genomic technologies are leading to massive amounts of genomic data, all of which requires complex analysis. More and more bioinformatics analysis tools are being developed by scientist to simplify these analyses. However, different pipelines have been developed using different software environments. This makes integrations of these diverse bioinformatics tools difficult. Kepler provides an open source environment to integrate these disparate packages. Using Kepler, we integrated several external tools including Bioconductor packages, AltAnalyze, a python-based open source tool, and R-based comparison tool to build an automated workflow to meta-analyze both online and local microarray data. The automated workflow connects the integrated tools seamlessly, delivers data flow between the tools smoothly, and hence improves efficiency and accuracy of complex data analyses. Our workflow exemplifies the usage of Kepler as a scientific workflow platform for bioinformatics pipelines.

  13. Exoplanet orbital eccentricities derived from LAMOST-Kepler analysis.

    PubMed

    Xie, Ji-Wei; Dong, Subo; Zhu, Zhaohuan; Huber, Daniel; Zheng, Zheng; De Cat, Peter; Fu, Jianning; Liu, Hui-Gen; Luo, Ali; Wu, Yue; Zhang, Haotong; Zhang, Hui; Zhou, Ji-Lin; Cao, Zihuang; Hou, Yonghui; Wang, Yuefei; Zhang, Yong

    2016-10-11

    The nearly circular (mean eccentricity [Formula: see text]) and coplanar (mean mutual inclination [Formula: see text]) orbits of the solar system planets motivated Kant and Laplace to hypothesize that planets are formed in disks, which has developed into the widely accepted theory of planet formation. The first several hundred extrasolar planets (mostly Jovian) discovered using the radial velocity (RV) technique are commonly on eccentric orbits ([Formula: see text]). This raises a fundamental question: Are the solar system and its formation special? The Kepler mission has found thousands of transiting planets dominated by sub-Neptunes, but most of their orbital eccentricities remain unknown. By using the precise spectroscopic host star parameters from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) observations, we measure the eccentricity distributions for a large (698) and homogeneous Kepler planet sample with transit duration statistics. Nearly half of the planets are in systems with single transiting planets (singles), whereas the other half are multiple transiting planets (multiples). We find an eccentricity dichotomy: on average, Kepler singles are on eccentric orbits with [Formula: see text] 0.3, whereas the multiples are on nearly circular [Formula: see text] and coplanar [Formula: see text] degree) orbits similar to those of the solar system planets. Our results are consistent with previous studies of smaller samples and individual systems. We also show that Kepler multiples and solar system objects follow a common relation [[Formula: see text](1-2)[Formula: see text

  14. Kepler-432 b: a massive planet in a highly eccentric orbit transiting a red giant

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ciceri, S.; Lillo-Box, J.; Southworth, J.; Mancini, L.; Henning, Th.; Barrado, D.

    2015-01-01

    We report the first disclosure of the planetary nature of Kepler-432 b (aka Kepler object of interest KOI-1299.01). We accurately constrained its mass and eccentricity by high-precision radial velocity measurements obtained with the CAFE spectrograph at the CAHA 2.2-m telescope. By simultaneously fitting these new data and Kepler photometry, we found that Kepler-432 b is a dense transiting exoplanet with a mass of Mp = 4.87 ± 0.48MJup and radius of Rp = 1.120 ± 0.036RJup. The planet revolves every 52.5 d around a K giant star that ascends the red giant branch, and it moves on a highly eccentric orbit with e = 0.535 ± 0.030. By analysing two near-IR high-resolution images, we found that a star is located at 1.1'' from Kepler-432, but it is too faint to cause significant effects on the transit depth. Together with Kepler-56 and Kepler-91, Kepler-432 occupies an almost-desert region of parameter space, which is important for constraining the evolutionary processes of planetary systems. RV data (Table A.1) are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/573/L5

  15. Transiting Planet Search in the Kepler Pipeline

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.; Chandrasekaran, Hema; McCauliff, Sean D.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Tenebaum, Peter; Li, Jie; Klaus, Todd C.; Cote, Mile T.; Middour, Christopher

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler Mission simultaneously measures the brightness of more than 160,000 stars every 29.4 minutes over a 3.5-year mission to search for transiting planets. Detecting transits is a signal-detection problem where the signal of interest is a periodic pulse train and the predominant noise source is non-white, non-stationary (1/f) type process of stellar variability. Many stars also exhibit coherent or quasi-coherent oscillations. The detection algorithm first identifies and removes strong oscillations followed by an adaptive, wavelet-based matched filter. We discuss how we obtain super-resolution detection statistics and the effectiveness of the algorithm for Kepler flight data.

  16. A Search for Lost Planets in the Kepler Multi-Planet Systems and the Discovery of the Long-Period, Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Kepler-150 f

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schmitt, Joseph R.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Fischer, Debra A.

    2017-01-01

    The vast majority of the 4700 confirmed planets and planet candidates discovered by the Kepler space telescope were first found by the Kepler pipeline. In the pipeline, after a transit signal is found, all data points associated with those transits are removed, creating a Swiss cheese-like light curve full of holes, which is then used for subsequent transit searches. These holes could render an additional planet undetectable (or lost). We examine a sample of 114 stars with 3+ confirmed planets to see the effect that this Swiss cheesing may have. A simulation determined that the probability that a transiting planet is lost due to the transit masking is low, but non-neglible, reaching a plateau at approximately 3.3% lost in the period range of P = 400 - 500 days. We then model the transits in all quarters of each star and subtract out the transit signals, restoring the in-transit data points, and use the Kepler pipeline to search the transit-subtracted (i.e., transit-cleaned) light curves. However, the pipeline did not discover any credible new transit signals. This demonstrates the validity and robustness of the Kepler pipelines choice to use transit masking over transit subtraction. However, a follow-up visual search through all the transit-subtracted data, which allows for easier visual identification of new transits, revealed the existence of a new, Neptune-sized exoplanet. Kepler-150 f (P = 637.2 days, RP = 3.86 R earth) is confirmed using a combination of false positive probability analysis, transit duration analysis, and the planet multiplicity argument.

  17. A SEARCH FOR LOST PLANETS IN THE KEPLER MULTI-PLANET SYSTEMS AND THE DISCOVERY OF A LONG PERIOD, NEPTUNE-SIZED EXOPLANET KEPLER-150 F.

    PubMed

    Schmitt, Joseph R; Jenkins, Jon M; Fischer, Debra A

    2017-04-01

    The vast majority of the 4700 confirmed planets and planet candidates discovered by the Kepler space telescope were first found by the Kepler pipeline. In the pipeline, after a transit signal is found, all data points associated with those transits are removed, creating a "Swiss cheese"-like light curve full of holes, which is then used for subsequent transit searches. These holes could render an additional planet undetectable (or "lost"). We examine a sample of 114 stars with 3+ confirmed planets to see the effect that this "Swiss cheesing" may have. A simulation determined that the probability that a transiting planet is lost due to the transit masking is low, but non-neglible, reaching a plateau at ~3.3% lost in the period range of P = 400 - 500 days. We then model the transits in all quarters of each star and subtract out the transit signals, restoring the in-transit data points, and use the Kepler pipeline to search the transit-subtracted (i.e., transit-cleaned) light curves. However, the pipeline did not discover any credible new transit signals. This demonstrates the validity and robustness of the Kepler pipeline's choice to use transit masking over transit subtraction. However, a follow-up visual search through all the transit-subtracted data, which allows for easier visual identification of new transits, revealed the existence of a new, Neptune-sized exoplanet. Kepler-150 f ( P = 637.2 days, R P = 3.86 R ⊕ ) is confirmed using a combination of false positive probability analysis, transit duration analysis, and the planet multiplicity argument.

  18. A SEARCH FOR LOST PLANETS IN THE KEPLER MULTI-PLANET SYSTEMS AND THE DISCOVERY OF A LONG PERIOD, NEPTUNE-SIZED EXOPLANET KEPLER-150 F

    PubMed Central

    Schmitt, Joseph R.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Fischer, Debra A.

    2018-01-01

    The vast majority of the 4700 confirmed planets and planet candidates discovered by the Kepler space telescope were first found by the Kepler pipeline. In the pipeline, after a transit signal is found, all data points associated with those transits are removed, creating a “Swiss cheese”-like light curve full of holes, which is then used for subsequent transit searches. These holes could render an additional planet undetectable (or “lost”). We examine a sample of 114 stars with 3+ confirmed planets to see the effect that this “Swiss cheesing” may have. A simulation determined that the probability that a transiting planet is lost due to the transit masking is low, but non-neglible, reaching a plateau at ~3.3% lost in the period range of P = 400 – 500 days. We then model the transits in all quarters of each star and subtract out the transit signals, restoring the in-transit data points, and use the Kepler pipeline to search the transit-subtracted (i.e., transit-cleaned) light curves. However, the pipeline did not discover any credible new transit signals. This demonstrates the validity and robustness of the Kepler pipeline’s choice to use transit masking over transit subtraction. However, a follow-up visual search through all the transit-subtracted data, which allows for easier visual identification of new transits, revealed the existence of a new, Neptune-sized exoplanet. Kepler-150 f (P = 637.2 days, RP = 3.86 R⊕) is confirmed using a combination of false positive probability analysis, transit duration analysis, and the planet multiplicity argument. PMID:29375142

  19. Kepler Planet Detection Mission: Introduction and First Results

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Borucki, William; Koch, David; Basri, Gibor; Batalha, Natalie; Brown, Timothy; Lissauer, Jack J.; Morrison, David; Rowe, Jason; Bryson, Stephen T.; Dotson, Jessie; hide

    2010-01-01

    The Kepler Mission is designed to determine the frequency of Earth-size and rocky planets in and near the habitable zone (HZ) of solar-like stars. The HZ is defined to be the region of space where a rocky planet could maintain liquid water on its surface. Kepler is the 10th competitively-selected Discovery Mission and was launched on March 6, 2009. Since completing its commissioning, Kepler has observed over 156,000 stars simultaneously and near continuously to search for planets that periodically pass in front of their host star (transit). The photometric precision is approximately 23 ppm for 50% of the 12th magnitude dwarf stars for an integration period of 6.5 hours. During the first 3 months of operation the photometer detected transit-like signatures from more than 200 stars. Careful examination shows that many of these events are false-positives such as small stars orbiting large stars or blends of target stars with eclipsing binary stars. Ground-based follow-up observations confirm the discovery of five new exoplanets with sizes between 0.37 andl.6 Jupiter radii (R(sub J)) and orbital periods ranging from 3.2 to 4.9 days. Ground-based observations with the Keck 1, Hobby-Ebberly, Hale, WIYN, MMT, Tillinghast, Shane, and Nordic Optical Telescopes are used to vet the planetary candidates and measure the masses of the putative planets. Observations of occultations and phase variations of hot, short-period planets such as HT-P-7b provide a probe of atmospheric properties. Asteroseismic analysis already shows the presence of p-mode oscillations in several stars. Such observations will be used to measure the mean stellar density and infer the stellar size and age. For stars too dim to permit asteroseismology, observations of the centroid motion of target stars will be used to measure the parallax and be combined with photometric measurements to estimate stellar sizes. Four open clusters are being observed to determine stellar rotation rates as a function of age and

  20. Quantum Chemical Calculations Using Accelerators: Migrating Matrix Operations to the NVIDIA Kepler GPU and the Intel Xeon Phi.

    PubMed

    Leang, Sarom S; Rendell, Alistair P; Gordon, Mark S

    2014-03-11

    Increasingly, modern computer systems comprise a multicore general-purpose processor augmented with a number of special purpose devices or accelerators connected via an external interface such as a PCI bus. The NVIDIA Kepler Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) and the Intel Phi are two examples of such accelerators. Accelerators offer peak performances that can be well above those of the host processor. How to exploit this heterogeneous environment for legacy application codes is not, however, straightforward. This paper considers how matrix operations in typical quantum chemical calculations can be migrated to the GPU and Phi systems. Double precision general matrix multiply operations are endemic in electronic structure calculations, especially methods that include electron correlation, such as density functional theory, second order perturbation theory, and coupled cluster theory. The use of approaches that automatically determine whether to use the host or an accelerator, based on problem size, is explored, with computations that are occurring on the accelerator and/or the host. For data-transfers over PCI-e, the GPU provides the best overall performance for data sizes up to 4096 MB with consistent upload and download rates between 5-5.6 GB/s and 5.4-6.3 GB/s, respectively. The GPU outperforms the Phi for both square and nonsquare matrix multiplications.

  1. Attack Helicopter Operations: Art or Science

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-05-13

    ATTACK HELICOPTER OPERATIONS: ART OR SCIENCE ? BY LIEUTENANT COLONEL JAN CALLEN United States Army DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release...TASK IWORK UNIT ELEMENT NO. NO. NO. ACCESSION NC 11. TITLE (Include Socurity Classification) Attack Helicopter Operations: Art or Science ? 12. PERSONAL...OPERATIONS: ART OR SCIENCE ? AN INDIVIDUAL STUDY PROJECT by Lieutenant Colonel Jan Callen United States Army Colonel Greg Snelgrove Project Adviser U.S

  2. Accurate parameters of the oldest known rocky-exoplanet hosting system: Kepler-10 revisited

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fogtmann-Schulz, Alexandra; Hinrup, Brian; Van Eylen, Vincent

    2014-02-01

    Since the discovery of Kepler-10, the system has received considerable interest because it contains a small, rocky planet which orbits the star in less than a day. The system's parameters, announced by the Kepler team and subsequently used in further research, were based on only five months of data. We have reanalyzed this system using the full span of 29 months of Kepler photometric data, and obtained improved information about its star and the planets. A detailed asteroseismic analysis of the extended time series provides a significant improvement on the stellar parameters: not only can we state that Kepler-10 ismore » the oldest known rocky-planet-harboring system at 10.41 ± 1.36 Gyr, but these parameters combined with improved planetary parameters from new transit fits gives us the radius of Kepler-10b to within just 125 km. A new analysis of the full planetary phase curve leads to new estimates on the planetary temperature and albedo, which remain degenerate in the Kepler band. Our modeling suggests that the flux level during the occultation is slightly lower than at the transit wings, which would imply that the nightside of this planet has a non-negligible temperature.« less

  3. A PSF photometry tool for NASA's Kepler, K2, and TESS missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cardoso, Jose Vinicius De Miranda; Barentsen, Geert; Hedges, Christina L.; Gully-Santiago, Michael A.; Cody, Ann Marie; Montet, Ben

    2018-01-01

    NASA's Kepler and K2 missions have impacted all areas of astrophysics in unique and important ways by delivering high-precision time series data on asteroids, stars, and galaxies. For example, both the official Kepler pipeline and the various community-owned pipelines have been successful at discovering a myriad of transiting exoplanets around a wide range of stellar types. However, the existing pipelines tend to focus on studying isolated stars using simple aperture photometry, and often perform sub-optimally in crowded fields where objects are blended. To address this issue, we present a Point Spread Function (PSF) photometry toolkit for Kepler and K2 which is able to extract light curves from crowded regions, such as the Beehive Cluster, the Lagoon Nebula, and the M67 globular cluster, which were all recently observed by Kepler. We present a detailed discussion on the theory, the practical use, and demonstrate our tool on various levels of crowding. Finally, we discuss the future use of the tool on data from the TESS mission. The code is open source and available on GitHub as part of the PyKE toolkit for Kepler/K2 data analysis.

  4. A 1.9 Earth Radius Rocky Planet and the Discovery of a Non-transiting Planet in the Kepler-20 System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buchhave, Lars A.; Dressing, Courtney D.; Dumusque, Xavier; Rice, Ken; Vanderburg, Andrew; Mortier, Annelies; Lopez-Morales, Mercedes; Lopez, Eric; Lundkvist, Mia S.; Kjeldsen, Hans; Affer, Laura; Bonomo, Aldo S.; Charbonneau, David; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Cosentino, Rosario; Figueira, Pedro; Fiorenzano, Aldo F. M.; Harutyunyan, Avet; Haywood, Raphaëlle D.; Johnson, John Asher; Latham, David W.; Lovis, Christophe; Malavolta, Luca; Mayor, Michel; Micela, Giusi; Molinari, Emilio; Motalebi, Fatemeh; Nascimbeni, Valerio; Pepe, Francesco; Phillips, David F.; Piotto, Giampaolo; Pollacco, Don; Queloz, Didier; Sasselov, Dimitar; Ségransan, Damien; Sozzetti, Alessandro; Udry, Stéphane; Watson, Chris

    2016-12-01

    Kepler-20 is a solar-type star (V = 12.5) hosting a compact system of five transiting planets, all packed within the orbital distance of Mercury in our own solar system. A transition from rocky to gaseous planets with a planetary transition radius of ˜1.6 {R}\\oplus has recently been proposed by several articles in the literature. Kepler-20b ({R}p ˜ 1.9 {R}\\oplus ) has a size beyond this transition radius; however, previous mass measurements were not sufficiently precise to allow definite conclusions to be drawn regarding its composition. We present new mass measurements of three of the planets in the Kepler-20 system that are facilitated by 104 radial velocity measurements from the HARPS-N spectrograph and 30 archival Keck/HIRES observations, as well as an updated photometric analysis of the Kepler data and an asteroseismic analysis of the host star ({M}\\star = 0.948+/- 0.051 {M}⊙ and {R}\\star = 0.964+/- 0.018 {R}⊙ ). Kepler-20b is a {1.868}-0.034+0.066 {R}\\oplus planet in a 3.7 day period with a mass of {9.70}-1.44+1.41 {M}\\oplus , resulting in a mean density of {8.2}-1.3+1.5 {{g}} {{cm}}-3, indicating a rocky composition with an iron-to-silicate ratio consistent with that of the Earth. This makes Kepler-20b the most massive planet with a rocky composition found to date. Furthermore, we report the discovery of an additional non-transiting planet with a minimum mass of {19.96}-3.61+3.08 {M}\\oplus and an orbital period of ˜34 days in the gap between Kepler-20f (P ˜ 11 days) and Kepler-20d (P ˜ 78 days). Based on observations made with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) operated on the island of La Palma by the Fundación Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofísica) at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.

  5. MARVELS Radial Velocity Solutions to Seven Kepler Eclipsing Binaries

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heslar, Michael Francis; Thomas, Neil B.; Ge, Jian; Ma, Bo; Herczeg, Alec; Reyes, Alan; SDSS-III MARVELS Team

    2016-01-01

    Eclipsing binaries serve momentous purposes to improve the basis of understanding aspects of stellar astrophysics, such as the accurate calculation of the physical parameters of stars and the enigmatic mass-radius relationship of M and K dwarfs. We report the investigation results of 7 eclipsing binary candidates, initially identified by the Kepler mission, overlapped with the radial velocity observations from the SDSS-III Multi-Object APO Radial-Velocity Exoplanet Large-Area Survey (MARVELS). The RV extractions and spectroscopic solutions of these eclipsing binaries were generated by the University of Florida's 1D data pipeline with a median RV precision of ~60-100 m/s, which was utilized for the DR12 data release. We performed the cross-reference fitting of the MARVELS RV data and the Kepler photometric fluxes obtained from the Kepler Eclipsing Binary Catalog (V2) and modelled the 7 eclipsing binaries in the BinaryMaker3 and PHOEBE programs. This analysis accurately determined the absolute physical and orbital parameters of each binary. Most of the companion stars were determined to have masses of K and M dwarf stars (0.3-0.8 M⊙), and allowed for an investigation into the mass-radius relationship of M and K dwarfs. Among the cases are KIC 9163796, a 122.2 day period "heartbeat star", a recently-discovered class of eccentric binaries known for tidal distortions and pulsations, with a high eccentricity (e~0.75) and KIC 11244501, a 0.29 day period, contact binary with a double-lined spectrum and mass ratio (q~0.45). We also report on the possible reclassification of 2 Kepler eclipsing binary candidates as background eclipsing binaries based on the analysis of the flux measurements, flux ratios of the spectroscopic and photometric solutions, the differences in the FOVs, the image processing of Kepler, and RV and spectral analysis of MARVELS.

  6. Metal Abundances, Radial Velocities, and Other Physical Characteristics for the RR Lyrae Stars in The Kepler Field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nemec, James M.; Cohen, Judith G.; Ripepi, Vincenzo; Derekas, Aliz; Moskalik, Pawel; Sesar, Branimir; Chadid, Merieme; Bruntt, Hans

    2013-08-01

    Spectroscopic iron-to-hydrogen ratios, radial velocities, atmospheric parameters, and new photometric analyses are presented for 41 RR Lyrae stars (and one probable high-amplitude δ Sct star) located in the field-of-view of the Kepler space telescope. Thirty-seven of the RR Lyrae stars are fundamental-mode pulsators (i.e., RRab stars) of which sixteen exhibit the Blazhko effect. Four of the stars are multiperiodic RRc pulsators oscillating primarily in the first-overtone mode. Spectroscopic [Fe/H] values for the 34 stars for which we were able to derive estimates range from -2.54 ± 0.13 (NR Lyr) to -0.05 ± 0.13 dex (V784 Cyg), and for the 19 Kepler-field non-Blazhko stars studied by Nemec et al. the abundances agree will with their photometric [Fe/H] values. Four non-Blazhko RR Lyrae stars that they identified as metal-rich (KIC 6100702, V2470 Cyg, V782 Cyg and V784 Cyg) are confirmed as such, and four additional stars (V839 Cyg, KIC 5520878, KIC 8832417, KIC 3868420) are also shown here to be metal-rich. Five of the non-Blazhko RRab stars are found to be more metal-rich than [Fe/H] ~-0.9 dex while all of the 16 Blazhko stars are more metal-poor than this value. New P-\\phi _31^s-[Fe/H] relationships are derived based on ~970 days of quasi-continuous high-precision Q0-Q11 long- and short-cadence Kepler photometry. With the exception of some Blazhko stars, the spectroscopic and photometric [Fe/H] values are in good agreement. Several stars with unique photometric characteristics are identified, including a Blazhko variable with the smallest known amplitude and frequency modulations (V838 Cyg). Based in part on observations made at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Keck Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation. Also, based in part on

  7. Flare Activity of Wide Binary Stars with Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clarke, Riley W.; Davenport, James R. A.; Covey, Kevin R.; Baranec, Christoph

    2018-01-01

    We present an analysis of flare activity in wide binary stars using a combination of value-added data sets from the NASA Kepler mission. The target list contains a set of previously discovered wide binary star systems identified by proper motions in the Kepler field. We cross-matched these systems with estimates of flare activity for ∼200,000 stars in the Kepler field, allowing us to compare relative flare luminosity between stars in coeval binaries. From a sample of 184 previously known wide binaries in the Kepler field, we find 58 with detectable flare activity in at least 1 component, 33 of which are similar in mass (q > 0.8). Of these 33 equal-mass binaries, the majority display similar (±1 dex) flare luminosity between both stars, as expected for stars of equal mass and age. However, we find two equal-mass pairs where the secondary (lower mass) star is more active than its counterpart, and two equal-mass pairs where the primary star is more active. The stellar rotation periods are also anomalously fast for stars with elevated flare activity. Pairs with discrepant rotation and activity qualitatively seem to have lower mass ratios. These outliers may be due to tidal spin-up, indicating these wide binaries could be hierarchical triple systems. We additionally present high-resolution adaptive optics images for two wide binary systems to test this hypothesis. The demographics of stellar rotation and magnetic activity between stars in wide binaries may be useful indicators for discerning the formation scenarios of these systems.

  8. NASA KEPLER OPENS THE STUDY OF THE GALAXY’S PLANET POPULATION

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-06-20

    NASA's Kepler mission released its eighth Kepler Candidate Catalog, which contains the best measured and most reliable planet candidates from the space telescope's final survey of the Cygnus Field. In the data are 219 new planet candidates, of which 10 are less than twice the size of the Earth and orbit in the habitable zone.

  9. The KMTNet/K2-C9 (Kepler) Data Release

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, H.-W.; Hwang, K.-H.; Kim, D.-J.; Albrow, M. D.; Cha, S.-M.; Chung, S.-J.; Gould, A.; Han, C.; Jung, Y. K.; Kim, S.-L.; Lee, C.-U.; Lee, D.-J.; Lee, Y.; Park, B.-G.; Pogge, R. W.; Ryu, Y.-H.; Shin, I.-G.; Shvartzvald, Y.; Yee, J. C.; Zang, W.; Zhu, W.; KMTNet Collaboration

    2018-05-01

    We present Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) light curves for microlensing-event candidates in the Kepler K2 C9 field having peaks within three effective timescales of the Kepler observations. These include 181 “clear microlensing” and 84 “possible microlensing” events found by the KMTNet event finder, plus 56 other events found by OGLE and/or MOA that were not found by KMTNet. All data for the first two classes are immediately available for public use without restriction.

  10. KIC2569073, A second Cepheid in the Kepler FOV

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Drury, Jason A.; Kuehn, Charles A.; Bellamy, Beau R.; Stello, Dennis; Bedding, Timothy R.

    2015-09-01

    One particularly interesting new variable discovered via Kepler's 200x200 pixel superstamp images is KIC2569073. With a period of 14.66 days and 0.04mag variability it is only the second Cepheid in the Kepler field, or a rotationally modulated variable. We discuss its classification as a Type II W Virginis Class Cepheid, and present the cycle-to-cycle period variations of this star, as well as the first direct observations of granulation noise within a Cepheid.

  11. Rotational Synchronization May Enhance Habitability for Circumbinary Planets: Kepler Binary Case Studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mason, Paul A.; Zuluaga, Jorge I.; Clark, Joni M.; Cuartas-Restrepo, Pablo A.

    2013-09-01

    We report a mechanism capable of reducing (or increasing) stellar activity in binary stars, thereby potentially enhancing (or destroying) circumbinary habitability. In single stars, stellar aggression toward planetary atmospheres causes mass-loss, which is especially detrimental for late-type stars, because habitable zones are very close and activity is long lasting. In binaries, tidal rotational breaking reduces magnetic activity, thus reducing harmful levels of X-ray and ultraviolet (XUV) radiation and stellar mass-loss that are able to erode planetary atmospheres. We study this mechanism for all confirmed circumbinary (p-type) planets. We find that main sequence twins provide minimal flux variation and in some cases improved environments if the stars rotationally synchronize within the first Gyr. Solar-like twins, like Kepler 34 and Kepler 35, provide low habitable zone XUV fluxes and stellar wind pressures. These wide, moist, habitable zones may potentially support multiple habitable planets. Solar-type stars with lower mass companions, like Kepler 47, allow for protected planets over a wide range of secondary masses and binary periods. Kepler 38 and related binaries are marginal cases. Kepler 64 and analogs have dramatically reduced stellar aggression due to synchronization of the primary, but are limited by the short lifetime. Kepler 16 appears to be inhospitable to planets due to extreme XUV flux. These results have important implications for estimates of the number of stellar systems containing habitable planets in the Galaxy and allow for the selection of binaries suitable for follow-up searches for habitable planets.

  12. ROTATIONAL SYNCHRONIZATION MAY ENHANCE HABITABILITY FOR CIRCUMBINARY PLANETS: KEPLER BINARY CASE STUDIES

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mason, Paul A.; Zuluaga, Jorge I.; Cuartas-Restrepo, Pablo A.

    2013-09-10

    We report a mechanism capable of reducing (or increasing) stellar activity in binary stars, thereby potentially enhancing (or destroying) circumbinary habitability. In single stars, stellar aggression toward planetary atmospheres causes mass-loss, which is especially detrimental for late-type stars, because habitable zones are very close and activity is long lasting. In binaries, tidal rotational breaking reduces magnetic activity, thus reducing harmful levels of X-ray and ultraviolet (XUV) radiation and stellar mass-loss that are able to erode planetary atmospheres. We study this mechanism for all confirmed circumbinary (p-type) planets. We find that main sequence twins provide minimal flux variation and in somemore » cases improved environments if the stars rotationally synchronize within the first Gyr. Solar-like twins, like Kepler 34 and Kepler 35, provide low habitable zone XUV fluxes and stellar wind pressures. These wide, moist, habitable zones may potentially support multiple habitable planets. Solar-type stars with lower mass companions, like Kepler 47, allow for protected planets over a wide range of secondary masses and binary periods. Kepler 38 and related binaries are marginal cases. Kepler 64 and analogs have dramatically reduced stellar aggression due to synchronization of the primary, but are limited by the short lifetime. Kepler 16 appears to be inhospitable to planets due to extreme XUV flux. These results have important implications for estimates of the number of stellar systems containing habitable planets in the Galaxy and allow for the selection of binaries suitable for follow-up searches for habitable planets.« less

  13. Transit Recovery of Kepler-167e: Providing JWST with an Unprecedented Jupiter-analog Exoplanet Target

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dalba, Paul; Muirhead, Philip; Tamburo, Patrick

    2018-05-01

    The Kepler Mission has uncovered a handful of long-period transiting exoplanets that orbit in the cold outer reaches of their systems, despite their low transit probabilities. Recent work suggests that cold gas giant exoplanet atmospheres are amenable to transmission spectroscopy (the analysis of the transit depth versus wavelength) enabling novel tests of planetary formation and evolution theories. Of particular scientific interest is Kepler-167e, a low-eccentricity Jupiter-analog exoplanet with a 1,071-day orbital period residing well beyond the snow-line. Transmission spectroscopy of Kepler-167e from JWST can reveal the composition of this planet's atmosphere, constrain its heavy-element abundance, and identify atmospheric photochemical processes. JWST characterization also enables unprecedented direct comparison with Jupiter and Saturn, which show a striking diversity in physical properties that is best investigated through comparative exoplanetology. Since Kepler only observed two transits of Kepler-167e, it is not known if this exoplanet exhibits transit timing variations (TTVs). About half of Kepler's long-period exoplanets have TTVs of up to 40 hours. Such a large uncertainty jeopardizes attempts to characterize the atmosphere of this unique Jovian exoplanet with JWST. To mitigate this risk, the upcoming third transit of Kepler-167e must be observed to test for TTVs. We propose a simple 10-hour, single-channel observation to capture ingress or egress of the next transit of Kepler-167e in December 2018. In the absence of TTVs, our observation will reduce the ephemeris uncertainty from an unknown value to approximately 3 minutes, thereby removing the risk in future transit observations with JWST. The excellent photometric precision of Spitzer is sufficient to identify the transit of Kepler-167e. Given the timing and nature of this program, Spitzer is the only observatory--on the ground or in space--that can make this pivotal observation.

  14. Mars mission science operations facilities design

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Norris, Jeffrey S.; Wales, Roxana; Powell, Mark W.; Backes, Paul G.; Steinke, Robert C.

    2002-01-01

    A variety of designs for Mars rover and lander science operations centers are discussed in this paper, beginning with a brief description of the Pathfinder science operations facility and its strengths and limitations. Particular attention is then paid to lessons learned in the design and use of operations facilities for a series of mission-like field tests of the FIDO prototype Mars rover. These lessons are then applied to a proposed science operations facilities design for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission. Issues discussed include equipment selection, facilities layout, collaborative interfaces, scalability, and dual-purpose environments. The paper concludes with a discussion of advanced concepts for future mission operations centers, including collaborative immersive interfaces and distributed operations. This paper's intended audience includes operations facility and situation room designers and the users of these environments.

  15. Target Charaterization and Follow-Up Observations in Support of the Kepler Mission

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Latham, David W.

    2004-01-01

    This report covers work carried out at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory during the period 1 December 2003 to 30 November 2004 to support efforts to prepare the Kepler Input Catalog. The Catalog will be used to select the targets observed for planetary transits by Kepler.

  16. Characterization of the planetary system Kepler-101 with HARPS-N. A hot super-Neptune with an Earth-sized low-mass companion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bonomo, A. S.; Sozzetti, A.; Lovis, C.; Malavolta, L.; Rice, K.; Buchhave, L. A.; Sasselov, D.; Cameron, A. C.; Latham, D. W.; Molinari, E.; Pepe, F.; Udry, S.; Affer, L.; Charbonneau, D.; Cosentino, R.; Dressing, C. D.; Dumusque, X.; Figueira, P.; Fiorenzano, A. F. M.; Gettel, S.; Harutyunyan, A.; Haywood, R. D.; Horne, K.; Lopez-Morales, M.; Mayor, M.; Micela, G.; Motalebi, F.; Nascimbeni, V.; Phillips, D. F.; Piotto, G.; Pollacco, D.; Queloz, D.; Ségransan, D.; Szentgyorgyi, A.; Watson, C.

    2014-12-01

    We characterize the planetary system Kepler-101 by performing a combined differential evolution Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis of Kepler data and forty radial velocities obtained with the HARPS-N spectrograph. This system was previously validated and is composed of a hot super-Neptune, Kepler-101b, and an Earth-sized planet, Kepler-101c. These two planets orbit the slightly evolved and metal-rich G-type star in 3.49 and 6.03 days, respectively. With mass Mp = 51.1-4.7+ 5.1 M⊕, radius Rp = 5.77-0.79+ 0.85 R⊕, and density ρp = 1.45-0.48+ 0.83 g cm-3, Kepler-101b is the first fully characterized super-Neptune, and its density suggests that heavy elements make up a significant fraction of its interior; more than 60% of its total mass. Kepler-101c has a radius of 1.25-0.17+ 0.19 R⊕, which implies the absence of any H/He envelope, but its mass could not be determined because of the relative faintness of the parent star for highly precise radial-velocity measurements (Kp = 13.8) and the limited number of radial velocities. The 1σ upper limit, Mp< 3.8 M⊕, excludes a pure iron composition with a probability of 68.3%. The architecture of the planetary system Kepler-101 - containing a close-in giant planet and an outer Earth-sized planet with a period ratio slightly larger than the 3:2 resonance - is certainly of interest for scenarios of planet formation and evolution. This system does not follow thepreviously reported trend that the larger planet has the longer period in the majority of Kepler systems of planet pairs with at least one Neptune-sized or larger planet. Based on observations made with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) operated on the island of La Palma by the Fundación Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.Table 2 is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  17. Validating An Analytic Completeness Model for Kepler Target Stars Based on Flux-level Transit Injection Experiments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Catanzarite, Joseph; Burke, Christopher J.; Li, Jie; Seader, Shawn; Haas, Michael R.; Batalha, Natalie; Henze, Christopher; Christiansen, Jessie; Kepler Project, NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division

    2016-06-01

    compare our detection efficiency curves with those derived from the associated pixel-level transit injection experiments.Kepler was selected as the 10th mission of the Discovery Program. Funding for this mission is provided by NASA, Science Mission Directorate.

  18. Canonical Transformations of Kepler Trajectories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mostowski, Jan

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, canonical transformations generated by constants of motion in the case of the Kepler problem are discussed. It is shown that canonical transformations generated by angular momentum are rotations of the trajectory. Particular attention is paid to canonical transformations generated by the Runge-Lenz vector. It is shown that these…

  19. Kepler-62 and the Solar System

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2013-04-18

    This diagram compares the planets of the inner solar system to Kepler-62, a five-planet system about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. At seven billion years old, the star is somewhat older than the sun.

  20. Kepler-444 Planetary System Artist Concept

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2015-01-28

    The tightly packed system, named Kepler-444, is home to five small planets in very compact orbits. The planets were detected from the dimming that occurs when they transit the disk of their parent star, as shown in this artist conception.

  1. Kepler's Use of Archetypes in his defence against Aristotelian Scepticism

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martens, Rhonda M.

    In 1621, looking back over an impresive career, Johannes Kepler commented that "almost every book on astronomy which I have published since that time could be referred to one or another of the important chapters set out in this little book (the Mysterium Cosmographicum) and would contain either an illustration or a completion of it". Kepler viewed the Mysterium, his first book, as the genesis of hist later works; Here the author is focusing on the conceptual foundations it provided for his approach to physical astronomy and the Aristotelian dominant during his time. It turns out that despite Kepler's arowedly Platonic and Pythagorean sympathies, his physical astronomy comports with Aristotle's directives in the Posterior Analytics. Perhaps paradoxically, his arhetypal cosmology as expressed in the Mysterium enabled the merging Platonic and Aristotelian intuitions in his construction of the new astronomy.

  2. Stability of the Kepler-11 system and its origin

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mahajan, Nikhil; Wu, Yanqin

    2014-11-01

    A significant fraction of Kepler systems are closely packed, largely coplanar, and circular. We study the stability of a six-planet system, Kepler-11, to gain insights on the dynamics and formation history of such systems. Using a technique called 'frequency maps' as fast indicators of long-term stability, we explore the stability of the Kepler-11 system by analyzing the neighborhood space around its orbital parameters. Frequency maps provide a visual representation of chaos and stability, and their dependence on orbital parameters. We find that the current system is stable, but lies within a few percent of several dynamically dangerous two-body mean-motion resonances.more » Planet eccentricities are restricted below a small value, ∼0.04, for long-term stability, but planet masses can be more than twice their reported values (thus allowing for the possibility of mass loss by past photoevaporation). Based on our frequency maps, we speculate on the origin of instability in closely packed systems. We then proceed to investigate how the system could have been assembled. The stability constraints on Kepler-11 (mainly eccentricity constraints) suggest that if the system were assembled in situ, a dissipation mechanism must have been at work to neutralize the eccentricity excitation. On the other hand, if migration was responsible for assembling the planets, there has to be little differential migration among the planets to avoid them either getting trapped into mean motion resonances, or crashing into each other.« less

  3. KEPLER Mission: development and overview

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borucki, William J.

    2016-03-01

    The Kepler Mission is a space observatory launched in 2009 by NASA to monitor 170 000 stars over a period of four years to determine the frequency of Earth-size and larger planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars, the size and orbital distributions of these planets, and the types of stars they orbit. Kepler is the tenth in the series of NASA Discovery Program missions that are competitively-selected, PI-directed, medium-cost missions. The Mission concept and various instrument prototypes were developed at the Ames Research Center over a period of 18 years starting in 1983. The development of techniques to do the 10 ppm photometry required for Mission success took years of experimentation, several workshops, and the exploration of many ‘blind alleys’ before the construction of the flight instrument. Beginning in 1992 at the start of the NASA Discovery Program, the Kepler Mission concept was proposed five times before its acceptance for mission development in 2001. During that period, the concept evolved from a photometer in an L2 orbit that monitored 6000 stars in a 50 sq deg field-of-view (FOV) to one that was in a heliocentric orbit that simultaneously monitored 170 000 stars with a 105 sq deg FOV. Analysis of the data to date has detected over 4600 planetary candidates which include several hundred Earth-size planetary candidates, over a thousand confirmed planets, and Earth-size planets in the habitable zone (HZ). These discoveries provide the information required for estimates of the frequency of planets in our galaxy. The Mission results show that most stars have planets, many of these planets are similar in size to the Earth, and that systems with several planets are common. Although planets in the HZ are common, many are substantially larger than Earth.

  4. KEPLER Mission: development and overview.

    PubMed

    Borucki, William J

    2016-03-01

    The Kepler Mission is a space observatory launched in 2009 by NASA to monitor 170,000 stars over a period of four years to determine the frequency of Earth-size and larger planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars, the size and orbital distributions of these planets, and the types of stars they orbit. Kepler is the tenth in the series of NASA Discovery Program missions that are competitively-selected, PI-directed, medium-cost missions. The Mission concept and various instrument prototypes were developed at the Ames Research Center over a period of 18 years starting in 1983. The development of techniques to do the 10 ppm photometry required for Mission success took years of experimentation, several workshops, and the exploration of many 'blind alleys' before the construction of the flight instrument. Beginning in 1992 at the start of the NASA Discovery Program, the Kepler Mission concept was proposed five times before its acceptance for mission development in 2001. During that period, the concept evolved from a photometer in an L2 orbit that monitored 6000 stars in a 50 sq deg field-of-view (FOV) to one that was in a heliocentric orbit that simultaneously monitored 170,000 stars with a 105 sq deg FOV. Analysis of the data to date has detected over 4600 planetary candidates which include several hundred Earth-size planetary candidates, over a thousand confirmed planets, and Earth-size planets in the habitable zone (HZ). These discoveries provide the information required for estimates of the frequency of planets in our galaxy. The Mission results show that most stars have planets, many of these planets are similar in size to the Earth, and that systems with several planets are common. Although planets in the HZ are common, many are substantially larger than Earth.

  5. ATV 2 Johannes Kepler docked

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-24

    ISS026-E-029294 (24 Feb. 2011) --- Backdropped by the blackness of space, the European Space Agency's "Johannes Kepler" Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2) docks to the aft end of the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module. Docking of the two spacecraft occurred at 10:59 a.m. (EST) on Feb. 24, 2011.

  6. The California- Kepler Survey. II. Precise Physical Properties of 2025 Kepler Planets and Their Host Stars

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Johnson, John Asher; Cargile, Phillip A.; Sinukoff, Evan

    We present stellar and planetary properties for 1305 Kepler Objects of Interest hosting 2025 planet candidates observed as part of the California- Kepler Survey. We combine spectroscopic constraints, presented in Paper I, with stellar interior modeling to estimate stellar masses, radii, and ages. Stellar radii are typically constrained to 11%, compared to 40% when only photometric constraints are used. Stellar masses are constrained to 4%, and ages are constrained to 30%. We verify the integrity of the stellar parameters through comparisons with asteroseismic studies and Gaia parallaxes. We also recompute planetary radii for 2025 planet candidates. Because knowledge of planetarymore » radii is often limited by uncertainties in stellar size, we improve the uncertainties in planet radii from typically 42% to 12%. We also leverage improved knowledge of stellar effective temperature to recompute incident stellar fluxes for the planets, now precise to 21%, compared to a factor of two when derived from photometry.« less

  7. Kepler Planetary Systems in Motion Artist Concept

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-01-26

    This artist concept shows an overhead view of the orbital position of the planets in systems with multiple transiting planets discovered by NASA Kepler mission. All the colored planets have been verified.

  8. Kepler-47: A Three-Planet Circumbinary System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Welsh, William; Orosz, Jerome; Quarles, Billy; Haghighipour, Nader

    2015-12-01

    Kepler-47 is the most interesting of the known circumbinary planets. In the discovery paper by Orosz et al. (2012) two planets were detected, with periods of 49.5 and 303 days around the 7.5-day binary. In addition, a single "orphan" transit of a possible third planet was noticed. Since then, five additional transits by this planet candidate have been uncovered, leading to the unambiguous confirmation of a third transiting planet in the system. The planet has a period of 187 days, and orbits in between the previously detected planets. It lies on the inner edge of the optimistic habitable zone, while its outer sibling falls within the conservative habitable zone. The orbit of this new planet is precessing, causing its transits to become significantly deeper over the span of the Kepler observations. Although the planets are not massive enough to measurably perturb the binary, they are sufficiently massive to interact with each other and cause mild transit timing variations (TTVs). This enables our photodynamical model to estimate their masses. We find that all three planets have very low-density and are on remarkably co-planar orbits: all 4 orbits (the binary and three planets) are within ~2 degrees of one another. Thus the Kepler-47 system puts interesting constraints on circumbinary planet formation and migration scenarios.

  9. A Three-Body Simulation of Kepler-91: A Potential Trojan System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Angelo, Bryan Daniel

    This paper presents a three-body simulation of Kepler-91 (KIC 8219268) using parameters generated by the EXONEST software package. EXONEST uses Bayesian model testing and Bayesian parameter estimation to model photometric variations and three-body motion. A close examination of the Kepler-91 light curve reveals what appears to be a third dimming event that occurs 60° out of phase with the primary transit of the conrmed planet Kepler-91b, which makes a Trojan planet in the L4 or L5 Lagrange point an enticing explanation. EXONEST is also used to model the radial velocity of Kepler-91 based on the three-body motion. The three-body analysis by EXONEST predicts a Jovian planet with mass 2:54 +/- 0:27MJ and radius 2:37 +/- 0:25RJ , and Trojan planet with mass 0:44 +/- 0:26MJ and radius 0:86 +/- 0:14R J that orbits an average of 60:39 +/- 3:74° out of phase with the Jovian, with a maximum separation angle of 68:4 +/- 43:74° and minimum separation angle of 52:33 +/- 3:74°. Both planets are predicted to have an inclination angle of 67:76 +/- 2:26° and eccentricity 0:073 +/- 0:004. The three-body motion predicts Kepler-91 to have a radial velocity semi-amplitude of 66:75 +/- 38:22 m/s and reduced mass times the sine of the inclination angle (mu sin i) of 0:732 +/- 0:385MJ.

  10. Advances in the Kepler Transit Search Engine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jenkins, Jon M.

    2016-10-01

    Twenty years ago, no planets were known outside our own solar system. Since then, the discoveries of ~1500 exoplanets have radically altered our views of planets and planetary systems. This revolution is due in no small part to the Kepler Mission, which has discovered >1000 of these planets and >4000 planet candidates. While Kepler has shown that small rocky planets and planetary systems are quite common, the quest to find Earth's closest cousins and characterize their atmospheres presses forward with missions such as NASA Explorer Program's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) slated for launch in 2017 and ESA's PLATO mission scheduled for launch in 2024. These future missions pose daunting data processing challenges in terms of the number of stars, the amount of data, and the difficulties in detecting weak signatures of transiting small planets against a roaring background. These complications include instrument noise and systematic effects as well as the intrinsic stellar variability of the subjects under scrutiny. In this paper we review recent developments in the Kepler transit search pipeline improving both the yield and reliability of detected transit signatures. Many of the phenomena in light curves that represent noise can also trigger transit detection algorithms. The Kepler Mission has expended great effort in suppressing false positives from its planetary candidate catalogs. Over 18,000 transit-like signatures can be identified for a search across 4 years of data. Most of these signatures are artifacts, not planets. Vetting all such signatures historically takes several months' effort by many individuals. We describe the application of machine learning approaches for the automated vetting and production of planet candidate catalogs. These algorithms can improve the efficiency of the human vetting effort as well as quantifying the likelihood that each candidate is truly a planet. This information is crucial for obtaining valid planet occurrence

  11. Robotic laser adaptive optics imaging of 715 Kepler exoplanet candidates using Robo-AO

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Law, Nicholas M.; Ziegler, Carl; Morton, Tim

    2014-08-10

    The Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey is observing every Kepler planet candidate host star with laser adaptive optics imaging to search for blended nearby stars, which may be physically associated companions and/or responsible for transit false positives. In this paper, we present the results from the 2012 observing season, searching for stars close to 715 Kepler planet candidate hosts. We find 53 companions, 43 of which are new discoveries. We detail the Robo-AO survey data reduction methods including a method of using the large ensemble of target observations as mutual point-spread-function references, along with a new automated companion-detection algorithm designedmore » for large adaptive optics surveys. Our survey is sensitive to objects from ≈0.''15 to 2.''5 separation, with magnitude differences up to Δm ≈ 6. We measure an overall nearby-star probability for Kepler planet candidates of 7.4% ± 1.0%, and calculate the effects of each detected nearby star on the Kepler-measured planetary radius. We discuss several Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) of particular interest, including KOI-191 and KOI-1151, which are both multi-planet systems with detected stellar companions whose unusual planetary system architecture might be best explained if they are 'coincident multiple' systems, with several transiting planets shared between the two stars. Finally, we find 98% confidence evidence that short-period giant planets are two to three times more likely than longer-period planets to be found in wide stellar binaries.« less

  12. Kepler-1649b: An Exo-Venus in the Solar Neighborhood

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Angelo, Isabel; Rowe, Jason F.; Huber, Daniel

    The Kepler mission has revealed that Earth-sized planets are common, and dozens have been discovered to orbit in or near their host star’s habitable zone. A major focus in astronomy is to determine which of these exoplanets are likely to have Earth-like properties that are amenable to follow-up with both ground- and future space-based surveys, with an ultimate goal of probing their atmospheres to look for signs of life. Venus-like atmospheres will be of particular interest in these surveys. While Earth and Venus evolved to have similar sizes and densities, it remains unclear what factors led to the dramatic divergencemore » of their atmospheres. Studying analogs to both Earth and Venus can thus shed light on the limits of habitability and the potential for life on known exoplanets. Here, we present the discovery and confirmation of Kepler-1649b, an Earth-sized planet orbiting a nearby M5V star that receives incident flux at a level similar to that of Venus. We present our methods for characterizing the star, using a combination of point-spread function photometry, ground-based spectroscopy, and imaging, to confirm the planetary nature of Kepler-1649b. Planets like Kepler-1649b will be prime candidates for atmospheric and habitability studies in the next generation of space missions.« less

  13. High Resolution Active Optics Observations from the Kepler Follow-up Observation Program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gautier, Thomas N.; Ciardi, D. R.; Marcy, G. W.; Hirsch, L.

    2014-01-01

    The ground based follow-up observation program for candidate exoplanets discovered with the Kepler observatory has supported a major effort for high resolution imaging of candidate host stars using adaptive optics wave-front correction (AO), speckle imaging and lucky imaging. These images allow examination of the sky as close as a few tenths of an arcsecond from the host stars to detect background objects that might be the source of the Kepler transit signal instead of the host star. This poster reports on the imaging done with AO cameras on the Keck, Palomar 5m and Shane 3m (Lick Observatory) which have been used to obtain high resolution images of over 500 Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) exoplanet candidate host stars. All observations were made at near infrared wavelengths in the J, H and K bands, mostly using the host target star as the AO guide star. Details of the sensitivity to background objects actually attained by these observations and the number of background objects discovered are presented. Implications to the false positive rate of the Kepler candidates are discussed.

  14. Secure Mass Measurements from Transit Timing: 10 Kepler Exoplanets between 3 and 8 M⊕ with Diverse Densities and Incident Fluxes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jontof-Hutter, Daniel; Ford, Eric B.; Rowe, Jason F.; Lissauer, Jack J.; Fabrycky, Daniel C.; Van Laerhoven, Christa; Agol, Eric; Deck, Katherine M.; Holczer, Tomer; Mazeh, Tsevi

    2016-03-01

    We infer dynamical masses in eight multiplanet systems using transit times measured from Kepler's complete data set, including short-cadence data where available. Of the 18 dynamical masses that we infer, 10 pass multiple tests for robustness. These are in systems Kepler-26 (KOI-250), Kepler-29 (KOI-738), Kepler-60 (KOI-2086), Kepler-105 (KOI-115), and Kepler-307 (KOI-1576). Kepler-105 c has a radius of 1.3 R⊕ and a density consistent with an Earth-like composition. Strong transit timing variation (TTV) signals were detected from additional planets, but their inferred masses were sensitive to outliers or consistent solutions could not be found with independently measured transit times, including planets orbiting Kepler-49 (KOI-248), Kepler-57 (KOI-1270), Kepler-105 (KOI-115), and Kepler-177 (KOI-523). Nonetheless, strong upper limits on the mass of Kepler-177 c imply an extremely low density of ˜0.1 g cm-3. In most cases, individual orbital eccentricities were poorly constrained owing to degeneracies in TTV inversion. For five planet pairs in our sample, strong secular interactions imply a moderate to high likelihood of apsidal alignment over a wide range of possible eccentricities. We also find solutions for the three planets known to orbit Kepler-60 in a Laplace-like resonance chain. However, nonlibrating solutions also match the transit timing data. For six systems, we calculate more precise stellar parameters than previously known, enabling useful constraints on planetary densities where we have secure mass measurements. Placing these exoplanets on the mass-radius diagram, we find that a wide range of densities is observed among sub-Neptune-mass planets and that the range in observed densities is anticorrelated with incident flux.

  15. Exoplanet orbital eccentricities derived from LAMOST-Kepler analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xie, Ji-Wei; Dong, Subo; Zhu, Zhaohuan; Huber, Daniel; Zheng, Zheng; De Cat, Peter; Fu, Jianning; Liu, Hui-Gen; Luo, Ali; Wu, Yue; Zhang, Haotong; Zhang, Hui; Zhou, Ji-Lin; Cao, Zihuang; Hou, Yonghui; Wang, Yuefei; Zhang, Yong

    2016-10-01

    The nearly circular (mean eccentricity e¯≈0.06) and coplanar (mean mutual inclination i¯≈3°) orbits of the solar system planets motivated Kant and Laplace to hypothesize that planets are formed in disks, which has developed into the widely accepted theory of planet formation. The first several hundred extrasolar planets (mostly Jovian) discovered using the radial velocity (RV) technique are commonly on eccentric orbits (e¯≈0.3). This raises a fundamental question: Are the solar system and its formation special? The Kepler mission has found thousands of transiting planets dominated by sub-Neptunes, but most of their orbital eccentricities remain unknown. By using the precise spectroscopic host star parameters from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) observations, we measure the eccentricity distributions for a large (698) and homogeneous Kepler planet sample with transit duration statistics. Nearly half of the planets are in systems with single transiting planets (singles), whereas the other half are multiple transiting planets (multiples). We find an eccentricity dichotomy: on average, Kepler singles are on eccentric orbits with e¯≈0.3, whereas the multiples are on nearly circular (e¯=0.04-0.04+0.03) and coplanar (i¯=1.4-1.1+0.8 degree) orbits similar to those of the solar system planets. Our results are consistent with previous studies of smaller samples and individual systems. We also show that Kepler multiples and solar system objects follow a common relation [×i¯] between mean eccentricities and mutual inclinations. The prevalence of circular orbits and the common relation may imply that the solar system is not so atypical in the galaxy after all.

  16. Exoplanet orbital eccentricities derived from LAMOST–Kepler analysis

    PubMed Central

    Xie, Ji-Wei; Dong, Subo; Zhu, Zhaohuan; Huber, Daniel; Zheng, Zheng; De Cat, Peter; Fu, Jianning; Liu, Hui-Gen; Luo, Ali; Wu, Yue; Zhang, Haotong; Zhang, Hui; Zhou, Ji-Lin; Cao, Zihuang; Hou, Yonghui; Wang, Yuefei; Zhang, Yong

    2016-01-01

    The nearly circular (mean eccentricity e¯≈0.06) and coplanar (mean mutual inclination i¯≈3°) orbits of the solar system planets motivated Kant and Laplace to hypothesize that planets are formed in disks, which has developed into the widely accepted theory of planet formation. The first several hundred extrasolar planets (mostly Jovian) discovered using the radial velocity (RV) technique are commonly on eccentric orbits (e¯≈0.3). This raises a fundamental question: Are the solar system and its formation special? The Kepler mission has found thousands of transiting planets dominated by sub-Neptunes, but most of their orbital eccentricities remain unknown. By using the precise spectroscopic host star parameters from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) observations, we measure the eccentricity distributions for a large (698) and homogeneous Kepler planet sample with transit duration statistics. Nearly half of the planets are in systems with single transiting planets (singles), whereas the other half are multiple transiting planets (multiples). We find an eccentricity dichotomy: on average, Kepler singles are on eccentric orbits with e¯≈ 0.3, whereas the multiples are on nearly circular (e¯=0.04−0.04+0.03) and coplanar (i¯=1.4−1.1+0.8 degree) orbits similar to those of the solar system planets. Our results are consistent with previous studies of smaller samples and individual systems. We also show that Kepler multiples and solar system objects follow a common relation [e¯≈(1–2)×i¯] between mean eccentricities and mutual inclinations. The prevalence of circular orbits and the common relation may imply that the solar system is not so atypical in the galaxy after all. PMID:27671635

  17. Kepler Team Marks Five Years in Space

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-03-07

    On March 6, 2009, NASA Kepler Space Telescope rocketed into the night skies above Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to find planets around other stars, called exoplanets, in search of potentially habitable worlds.

  18. Hubble Observations of the Exomoon Candidate Kepler-1625b I

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Teachey, Alexander; Kipping, David; Torres, Guillermo; Bakos, Gaspar A.; Nesvorný, David; Buchhave, Lars; Huang, Chelsea Xu; Hartman, Joel D.

    2018-01-01

    The exomoon candidate Kepler-1625b I was identified by the Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler (HEK) collaboration in August 2016 following an extensive program to characterize the occurrence rate of exomoons. Follow-up observations of the candidate for the purpose of validating the existence of the moon and constraining its properties were carried out on the Hubble Space Telescope on October 28th-29th 2017, using slitless spectroscopy on Wide Field Camera 3. We report preliminary results of that observation.

  19. A Search for Refraction in the Kepler Gas Giant Data Set

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sheets, Holly; Jacob, Laurent; Cowan, Nicolas; Deming, Drake

    2018-01-01

    I will present the results of the first systematic search for refraction in the atmospheres of giant planets in the Kepler data set. We used the approximations of Sidis and Sari (ApJ, 2010, 720, 904S) to select the best candidates from the Kepler planet catalog for the search. We set limits on the strength of the effect, and I will relate these limits to other, more recent modeling methods.

  20. Adiabiatic invariants of the Kepler problem: an elementary treatment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borghi, Riccardo

    2013-09-01

    An elementary introduction to the adiabatic invariants of the Kepler problem is proposed. Unlike the other didactical expositions already present in the literature, which are based on the Hamilton-Jacobi theory of mechanics, our derivation is suitable to be grasped even by first-year undergraduates. A central role in the present analysis is played by an elementary proof of the virial theorem for the Kepler problem which is based on the chain rule for derivatives. As a byproduct of our analysis, an interpretation of Keplerian orbit eccentricities in terms of the time average of the position vector direction is also provided.

  1. Empirically Calibrated Asteroseismic Masses and Radii for Red Giants in the Kepler Fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pinsonneault, Marc; Elsworth, Yvonne; Silva Aguirre, Victor; Chaplin, William J.; Garcia, Rafael A.; Hekker, Saskia; Holtzman, Jon; Huber, Daniel; Johnson, Jennifer; Kallinger, Thomas; Mosser, Benoit; Mathur, Savita; Serenelli, Aldo; Shetrone, Matthew; Stello, Dennis; Tayar, Jamie; Zinn, Joel; APOGEE Team, KASC Team, APOKASC Team

    2018-01-01

    We report on the joint asteroseismic and spectroscopic properties of a sample of 6048 evolved stars in the fields originally observed by the Kepler satellite. We use APOGEE spectroscopic data taken from Data Release 13 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, combined with asteroseismic data analyzed by members of the Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium. With high statistical significance, the different pipelines do not have relative zero points that are the same as the solar values, and red clump stars do not have the same empirical relative zero points as red giants. We employ theoretically motivated corrections to the scaling relation for the large frequency spacing, and adjust the zero point of the frequency of maximum power scaling relation to be consistent with masses and radii for members of star clusters. The scatter in calibrator masses is consistent with our error estimation. Systematic and random mass errors are explicitly separated and identified. The measurement scatter, and random uncertainties, are three times larger for red giants where one or more technique failed to return a value than for targets where all five methods could do so, and this is a substantial fraction of the sample (20% of red giants and 25% of red clump stars). Overall trends and future prospects are discussed.

  2. LGS-AO Imaging of Every Kepler Planet Candidate: the Robo-AO KOI Survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baranec, Christoph; Law, Nicholas; Morton, Timothy; Ziegler, Carl; Nofi, Larissa; Atkinson, Dani; Riddle, Reed

    2015-12-01

    The Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey is observing every Kepler planet candidate host star with laser adaptive optics imaging, to search for blended nearby stars which may be physically associated companions and/or responsible for transit false positives. We will present the results from searching for companions around over 3,000 Kepler planet hosts in 2012-2015. We will describe our first data release covering 715 planet candidate hosts, and give a preview of ongoing results including improved statistics on the likelihood of false positive planet detections in the Kepler dataset, many new planets in multiple star systems, and new exotic multiple star systems containing Kepler planets. We will also describe the automated Robo-AO survey data reduction methods, including a method of using the large ensemble of target observations as mutual point-spread-function references, along with a new automated companion-detection algorithm designed for extremely large adaptive optics surveys. Our first data release covered 715 objects, searching for companions from 0.15” to 2.5” separation with contrast up to 6 magnitudes. We measured the overall nearby-star-probability for Kepler planet candidates to be 7.4+/-1.0%, and we will detail the variations in this number with stellar host parameters. We will also discuss plans to extend the survey to other transiting planet missions such as K2 and TESS as Robo-AO is in the process of being re-deployed to the 2.1-m telescope at Kitt Peak for 3 years and a higher-contrast Robo-AO system is being developed for the 2.2-m UH telescope on Maunakea.

  3. TRANSIT TIMING OBSERVATIONS FROM KEPLER. VI. POTENTIALLY INTERESTING CANDIDATE SYSTEMS FROM FOURIER-BASED STATISTICAL TESTS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Steffen, Jason H.; Ford, Eric B.; Rowe, Jason F.

    2012-09-10

    We analyze the deviations of transit times from a linear ephemeris for the Kepler Objects of Interest (KOI) through quarter six of science data. We conduct two statistical tests for all KOIs and a related statistical test for all pairs of KOIs in multi-transiting systems. These tests identify several systems which show potentially interesting transit timing variations (TTVs). Strong TTV systems have been valuable for the confirmation of planets and their mass measurements. Many of the systems identified in this study should prove fruitful for detailed TTV studies.

  4. Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: VII. Potentially interesting candidate systems from Fourier-based statistical tests

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Steffen, Jason H.; /Fermilab; Ford, Eric B.

    2012-01-01

    We analyze the deviations of transit times from a linear ephemeris for the Kepler Objects of Interest (KOI) through Quarter six (Q6) of science data. We conduct two statistical tests for all KOIs and a related statistical test for all pairs of KOIs in multi-transiting systems. These tests identify several systems which show potentially interesting transit timing variations (TTVs). Strong TTV systems have been valuable for the confirmation of planets and their mass measurements. Many of the systems identified in this study should prove fruitful for detailed TTV studies.

  5. VizieR Online Data Catalog: The hot Jupiter Kepler-13Ab planet's occultation (Shporer+, 2014)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shporer, A.; O'Rourke, J. G.; Knutson, H. A.; Szabo, G. M.; Zhao, M.; Burrows, A.; Fortney, J.; Agol, E.; Cowan, N. B.; Desert, J.-M.; Howard, A. W.; Isaacson, H.; Lewis, N. K.; Showman, A. P.; Todorov, K. O.

    2017-07-01

    Here we carry out an atmospheric characterization of Kepler-13Ab by measuring its occultation in four different wavelength bands, from the infrared (IR; Spitzer/Infrared array camera (IRAC) 4.5 um and 3.6 um), through the near-IR (NIR; Ks band), to the optical (Kepler). We also analyze the Kepler phase curve and obtain Keck/high-resolution echelle spectrometer (HIRES) spectra that result in revised parameters for the objects in the system. (4 data files).

  6. Science Orders Systems and Operations Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kriz, Harry M.

    This manual describes the implementation and operation of SCIENCE ORDERS, an online orders management system used by the Science and Technology Department of Newman Library at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Operational since January 1985, the system is implemented using the SPIRES database management system and is used to (1)…

  7. Variables separation and superintegrability of the nine-dimensional MICZ-Kepler problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phan, Ngoc-Hung; Le, Dai-Nam; Thoi, Tuan-Quoc N.; Le, Van-Hoang

    2018-03-01

    The nine-dimensional MICZ-Kepler problem is of recent interest. This is a system describing a charged particle moving in the Coulomb field plus the field of a SO(8) monopole in a nine-dimensional space. Interestingly, this problem is equivalent to a 16-dimensional harmonic oscillator via the Hurwitz transformation. In the present paper, we report on the multiseparability, a common property of superintegrable systems, and the superintegrability of the problem. First, we show the solvability of the Schrödinger equation of the problem by the variables separation method in different coordinates. Second, based on the SO(10) symmetry algebra of the system, we construct explicitly a set of seventeen invariant operators, which are all in the second order of the momentum components, satisfying the condition of superintegrability. The found number 17 coincides with the prediction of (2n - 1) law of maximal superintegrability order in the case n = 9. Until now, this law is accepted to apply only to scalar Hamiltonian eigenvalue equations in n-dimensional space; therefore, our results can be treated as evidence that this definition of superintegrability may also apply to some vector equations such as the Schrödinger equation for the nine-dimensional MICZ-Kepler problem.

  8. Variable Stars with the Kepler Space Telescope

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Molnár, L.; Szabó, R.; Plachy, E.

    2016-12-01

    The Kepler space telescope has revolutionized our knowledge about exoplanets and stars and is continuing to do so in the K2 mission. The exquisite photometric precision, together with the long, uninterrupted observations opened up a new way to investigate the structure and evolution of stars. Asteroseismology, the study of stellar oscillations, allowed us to investigate solar-like stars, and to peer into the insides of red giants and massive stars. But many discoveries have been made about classical variable stars, too, ranging from pulsators like Cepheids and RR Lyraes to eclipsing binary stars and cataclysmic variables, and even supernovae. In this review, which is far from an exhaustive summary of all results obtained with Kepler, we collected some of the most interesting discoveries, and ponder on the role for amateur observers in this golden era of stellar astrophysics.

  9. Dynamic Black-Level Correction and Artifact Flagging in the Kepler Data Pipeline

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clarke, B. D.; Kolodziejczak, J. J.; Caldwell, D. A.

    2013-01-01

    Instrument-induced artifacts in the raw Kepler pixel data include time-varying crosstalk from the fine guidance sensor (FGS) clock signals, manifestations of drifting moiré pattern as locally correlated nonstationary noise and rolling bands in the images which find their way into the calibrated pixel time series and ultimately into the calibrated target flux time series. Using a combination of raw science pixel data, full frame images, reverse-clocked pixel data and ancillary temperature data the Keplerpipeline models and removes the FGS crosstalk artifacts by dynamically adjusting the black level correction. By examining the residuals to the model fits, the pipeline detects and flags spatial regions and time intervals of strong time-varying blacklevel (rolling bands ) on a per row per cadence basis. These flags are made available to downstream users of the data since the uncorrected rolling band artifacts could complicate processing or lead to misinterpretation of instrument behavior as stellar. This model fitting and artifact flagging is performed within the new stand-alone pipeline model called Dynablack. We discuss the implementation of Dynablack in the Kepler data pipeline and present results regarding the improvement in calibrated pixels and the expected improvement in cotrending performances as a result of including FGS corrections in the calibration. We also discuss the effectiveness of the rolling band flagging for downstream users and illustrate with some affected light curves.

  10. The Kepler Follow-up Observation Program. I. A Catalog of Companions to Kepler Stars from High-Resolution Imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Furlan, E.; Ciardi, D. R.; Everett, M. E.; Saylors, M.; Teske, J. K.; Horch, E. P.; Howell, S. B.; van Belle, G. T.; Hirsch, L. A.; Gautier, T. N., III; Adams, E. R.; Barrado, D.; Cartier, K. M. S.; Dressing, C. D.; Dupree, A. K.; Gilliland, R. L.; Lillo-Box, J.; Lucas, P. W.; Wang, J.

    2017-02-01

    We present results from high-resolution, optical to near-IR imaging of host stars of Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs), identified in the original Kepler field. Part of the data were obtained under the Kepler imaging follow-up observation program over six years (2009-2015). Almost 90% of stars that are hosts to planet candidates or confirmed planets were observed. We combine measurements of companions to KOI host stars from different bands to create a comprehensive catalog of projected separations, position angles, and magnitude differences for all detected companion stars (some of which may not be bound). Our compilation includes 2297 companions around 1903 primary stars. From high-resolution imaging, we find that ˜10% (˜30%) of the observed stars have at least one companion detected within 1″ (4″). The true fraction of systems with close (≲4″) companions is larger than the observed one due to the limited sensitivities of the imaging data. We derive correction factors for planet radii caused by the dilution of the transit depth: assuming that planets orbit the primary stars or the brightest companion stars, the average correction factors are 1.06 and 3.09, respectively. The true effect of transit dilution lies in between these two cases and varies with each system. Applying these factors to planet radii decreases the number of KOI planets with radii smaller than 2 {R}\\oplus by ˜2%-23% and thus affects planet occurrence rates. This effect will also be important for the yield of small planets from future transit missions such as TESS.

  11. Operational Design that Synthesizes Art and Science

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-05-04

    FINAL 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) Feb - May 2011 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE OPERATIONAL DESIGN THAT SYNTHESIZES ART AND SCIENCE 5a...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Operational Design That Synthesizes Art And Science 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR...proponents of EBO view warfare as only a science and not a combination of art and science . 9 Another main point of contention centered on the term

  12. The Kepler Mission: A Photometric Search for Earthlike Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lissauer, Jack J.; Borucki, William; Koch, David; Young, Richard E. (Technical Monitor)

    1998-01-01

    If Earth lies in or near the orbital plane of an extrasolar planet, that planet passes in front of the disk of its star once each orbit as viewed from Earth. Precise photometry can reveal such transits, which can be distinguished from rotationally-modulated starspots and intrinsic stellar variability by their periodicity, square-well shapes and relative spectral neutrality. Transit observations would provide the size and orbital period of the detected planet. Although geometrical considerations limit the fraction of planets detectable by this technique, many stars can be surveyed within the field of view of one telescope, so transit photometry is quite efficient. Scintillation in and variability of Earth's atmosphere limit photometric precision to roughly one-thousandth of a magnitude, allowing detection of transits by Jupiter-sized planets but not by Earth-sized planets from the ground. The COROT spacecraft will be able to detect Uranus-sized planets orbiting near stars. The Kepler Mission, which is being proposed to NASA's Discovery Program this year, will have a photometer with a larger aperture (1 meter) than will COROT, so it will be able to detect transits by planets as small as Earth. Moreover, the Kepler mission will examine the same star field for four years, allowing confirmation of planets with orbital periods of a year. If the Sun's planetary system is typical for single stars, Kepler should detect approximately 480 terrestrial planets. Assuming the statistics from radial velocity surveys are typical, Kepler should also detect transits of 150 inner giant planets and reflected light variations of 1400 giant planets with orbital periods of less than one week.

  13. ROTATING STARS FROM KEPLER OBSERVED WITH GAIA DR1

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Davenport, James R. A.

    2017-01-20

    Astrometric data from the recent Gaia Data Release 1 have been matched against the sample of stars from Kepler with known rotation periods. A total of 1299 bright rotating stars were recovered from the subset of Gaia sources with good astrometric solutions, most with temperatures above 5000 K. From these sources, 894 were selected as lying near the main sequence using their absolute G -band magnitudes. These main-sequence stars show a bimodality in their rotation period distribution, centered roughly around a 600 Myr rotation isochrone. This feature matches the bimodal period distribution found in cooler stars with Kepler , butmore » was previously undetected for solar-type stars due to sample contamination by subgiants. A tenuous connection between the rotation period and total proper motion is found, suggesting that the period bimodality is due to the age distribution of stars within ∼300 pc of the Sun, rather than a phase of rapid angular momentum loss. This work emphasizes the unique power for understanding stellar populations that is created by combining temporal monitoring from Kepler with astrometric data from Gaia .« less

  14. Kepler Mission: Detecting Earth-sized Planets in Habitable Zones

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kondo, Yoji; Fisher, Richard R. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    The Kepler Mission, which is presently in Phase A, is being proposed for launch in 5 years for a 4-year mission to determine the frequency of Earth-sized or larger planets in habitable zones in our galaxy. Kepler will be placed in an Earth-trailing orbit to provide stable physical environments for the sensitive scientific instruments. The satellite is equipped with a photometric system with the precision of 10E-5, which should be sufficient for detecting the transits of Earth-sized or larger planets in front of dwarf stars similar to the Sun. Approximately 100,000 or more sun-like stars brighter than the 14th apparently magnitude will be monitored continuously for 4 years in a preselected region of the sky, which is about 100 square degrees in size. In addition, Kepler will have a participating scientist program that will enable research in intrinsic variable stars, interacting binaries including cataclysmic stars and X-ray binaries, and a large number of solar analogs in our galaxy. Several ten thousand additional stars may be investigated in the guest observer program open to the whole world.

  15. Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) 2010 science operations: Operational approaches and lessons learned for managing science during human planetary surface missions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eppler, Dean; Adams, Byron; Archer, Doug; Baiden, Greg; Brown, Adrian; Carey, William; Cohen, Barbara; Condit, Chris; Evans, Cindy; Fortezzo, Corey; Garry, Brent; Graff, Trevor; Gruener, John; Heldmann, Jennifer; Hodges, Kip; Hörz, Friedrich; Hurtado, Jose; Hynek, Brian; Isaacson, Peter; Juranek, Catherine; Klaus, Kurt; Kring, David; Lanza, Nina; Lederer, Susan; Lofgren, Gary; Marinova, Margarita; May, Lisa; Meyer, Jonathan; Ming, Doug; Monteleone, Brian; Morisset, Caroline; Noble, Sarah; Rampe, Elizabeth; Rice, James; Schutt, John; Skinner, James; Tewksbury-Christle, Carolyn M.; Tewksbury, Barbara J.; Vaughan, Alicia; Yingst, Aileen; Young, Kelsey

    2013-10-01

    Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) is a multi-year series of hardware and operations tests carried out annually in the high desert of Arizona on the San Francisco Volcanic Field. These activities are designed to exercise planetary surface hardware and operations in conditions where long-distance, multi-day roving is achievable, and they allow NASA to evaluate different mission concepts and approaches in an environment less costly and more forgiving than space. The results from the RATS tests allow selection of potential operational approaches to planetary surface exploration prior to making commitments to specific flight and mission hardware development. In previous RATS operations, the Science Support Room has operated largely in an advisory role, an approach that was driven by the need to provide a loose science mission framework that would underpin the engineering tests. However, the extensive nature of the traverse operations for 2010 expanded the role of the science operations and tested specific operational approaches. Science mission operations approaches from the Apollo and Mars-Phoenix missions were merged to become the baseline for this test. Six days of traverse operations were conducted during each week of the 2-week test, with three traverse days each week conducted with voice and data communications continuously available, and three traverse days conducted with only two 1-hour communications periods per day. Within this framework, the team evaluated integrated science operations management using real-time, tactical science operations to oversee daily crew activities, and strategic level evaluations of science data and daily traverse results during a post-traverse planning shift. During continuous communications, both tactical and strategic teams were employed. On days when communications were reduced to only two communications periods per day, only a strategic team was employed. The Science Operations Team found that, if

  16. Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) 2010 Science Operations: Operational Approaches and Lessons Learned for Managing Science during Human Planetary Surface Missions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Eppler, Dean; Adams, Byron; Archer, Doug; Baiden, Greg; Brown, Adrian; Carey, William; Cohen, Barbara; Condit, Chris; Evans, Cindy; Fortezzo, Corey; hide

    2012-01-01

    Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) is a multi-year series of hardware and operations tests carried out annually in the high desert of Arizona on the San Francisco Volcanic Field. These activities are designed to exercise planetary surface hardware and operations in conditions where long-distance, multi-day roving is achievable, and they allow NASA to evaluate different mission concepts and approaches in an environment less costly and more forgiving than space.The results from the RATS tests allows election of potential operational approaches to planetary surface exploration prior to making commitments to specific flight and mission hardware development. In previous RATS operations, the Science Support Room has operated largely in an advisory role, an approach that was driven by the need to provide a loose science mission framework that would underpin the engineering tests. However, the extensive nature of the traverse operations for 2010 expanded the role of the science operations and tested specific operational approaches. Science mission operations approaches from the Apollo and Mars-Phoenix missions were merged to become the baseline for this test. Six days of traverse operations were conducted during each week of the 2-week test, with three traverse days each week conducted with voice and data communications continuously available, and three traverse days conducted with only two 1-hour communications periods per day. Within this framework, the team evaluated integrated science operations management using real-time, tactical science operations to oversee daily crew activities, and strategic level evaluations of science data and daily traverse results during a post-traverse planning shift. During continuous communications, both tactical and strategic teams were employed. On days when communications were reduced to only two communications periods per day, only a strategic team was employed. The Science Operations Team found that, if

  17. Had the Planet Mars Not Existed: Kepler's Equant Model and Its Physical Consequences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bracco, C.; Provost, J.P.

    2009-01-01

    We examine the equant model for the motion of planets, which was the starting point of Kepler's investigations before he modified it because of Mars observations. We show that, up to first order in eccentricity, this model implies for each orbit a velocity, which satisfies Kepler's second law and Hamilton's hodograph, and a centripetal…

  18. Lifting Transit Signals from the Kepler Noise Floor. I. Discovery of a Warm Neptune

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kunimoto, Michelle; Matthews, Jaymie M.; Rowe, Jason F.; Hoffman, Kelsey

    2018-01-01

    Light curves from the 4-year Kepler exoplanet hunting mission have been searched for transits by NASA’s Kepler team and others, but there are still important discoveries to be made. We have searched the light curves of 400 Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) to find transit signals down to signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) ∼ 6, which is under the limit of S/N ∼ 7.1 that has been commonly adopted as a strict threshold to distinguish between a transit candidate and false alarm. We detect four new and convincing planet candidates ranging in radius from near-Mercury-size to slightly larger than Neptune. We highlight the discovery of KOI-408.05 (period = 637 days; radius = 4.9 R ⊕ incident flux = 0.6 S ⊕), a planet candidate within its host star’s Habitable Zone. We dub this planet a “warm Neptune,” a likely volatile-rich world that deserves closer inspection. KOI-408.05 joins 21 other confirmed and candidate planets in the current Kepler sample with semimajor axes a > 1.4 au. These discoveries are significant as a demonstration that the S/N threshold for detection used by the Kepler project is open to debate.

  19. Planet Hunters: Kepler by Eye

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwamb, Megan E.; Lintott, C.; Fischer, D.; Smith, A. M.; Boyajian, T. S.; Brewer, J. M.; Giguere, M. J.; Lynn, S.; Parrish, M.; Schawinski, K.; Schmitt, J.; Simpson, R.; Wang, J.

    2014-01-01

    Planet Hunters (http://www.planethunters.org), part of the Zooniverse's (http://www.zooniverse.org) collection of online citizen science projects, uses the World Wide Web to enlist the general public to identify transits in the pubic Kepler light curves. Planet Hunters utilizes human pattern recognition to identify planet transits that may be missed by automated detection algorithms looking for periodic events. Referred to as ‘crowdsourcing’ or ‘citizen science’, the combined assessment of many non-expert human classifiers with minimal training can often equal or best that of a trained expert and in many cases outperform the best machine-learning algorithm. Visitors to the Planet Hunters' website are presented with a randomly selected ~30-day light curve segment from one of Kepler’s ~160,000 target stars and are asked to draw boxes to mark the locations of visible transits in the web interface. 5-10 classifiers review each 30-day light curve segment. Since December 2010, more than 260,000 volunteers world wide have participated, contributing over 20 million classifications. We have demonstrated the success of a citizen science approach with the project’s more than 20 planet candidates, the discovery of PH1b, a transiting circumbinary planet in a quadruple star system, and the discovery of PH2-b, a confirmed Jupiter-sized planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. I will provide an overview of Planet Hunters, highlighting several of project's most recent exoplanet and astrophysical discoveries. Acknowledgements: MES was supported in part by a NSF AAPF under award AST-1003258 and a American Philosophical Society Franklin Grant. We acknowledge support from NASA ADAP12-0172 grant to PI Fischer.

  20. Amplitude Variability in gamma Dor and delta Sct Stars Observed by Kepler

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Guzik, Joyce Ann; Kosak, Mary Katherine; Bradley, Paul Andrew

    2015-08-17

    The NASA Kepler spacecraft data revealed a large number of new multimode nonradially pulsating gamma Dor and delta Sct variable stars. The Kepler high-precision long time-series photometry makes it possible to study amplitude variations of the frequencies, and recent literature on amplitude and frequency variations in nonradially pulsating variables is summarized. Several methods are applied to study amplitude variability in about a dozen gamma Doradus or delta Scuti candidate variable stars observed for several quarters as part of the Kepler Guest Observer program. The magnitude and timescale of the amplitude variations are discussed, along with the presence or absence ofmore » correlations between amplitude variations for different frequencies of a given star. Proposed causes of amplitude spectrum variability that will require further investigation are also discussed.« less

  1. Validating the Presence of a Moon Orbiting Kepler-1625b

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Teachey, Alex

    2017-08-01

    The Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler (HEK) project has been engaged in the search for exomoons for the past several years, but so far no reliable exomoon detection can be found in the literature. After our largest survey to date, we have recently detected a strong candidate moon signal in the light curve of Kepler-1625b. The planet exhibits three transits in the Kepler data (P 287 days), in which we detect out-of-transit flux dips consistent with the presence of a large moon to greater than 4 sigma confidence. We propose to observe the next transit of the planet, which will occur October 29th, 2017 (Cycle-25), in the near-infrared using the Wide Field Camera 3 instrument on HST. We request 26 orbits of the telescope, which will allow us to capture the full planet-moon transit event and provide an opportunity to measure the transmission spectra of both the planet and the moon. We anticipate that the proposed measurements would be sufficient to confirm the first unambiguous detection of a moon beyond our Solar System.

  2. About 30% of Sun-like Stars Have Kepler-like Planetary Systems: A Study of Their Intrinsic Architecture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Wei; Petrovich, Cristobal; Wu, Yanqin; Dong, Subo; Xie, Jiwei

    2018-06-01

    We constrain the intrinsic architecture of Kepler planetary systems by modeling the observed multiplicities of the transiting planets (tranets) and their transit timing variations (TTVs). We robustly determine that the fraction of Sun-like stars with Kepler-like planets, η Kepler, is 30 ± 3%. Here, Kepler-like planets are planets that have radii R p ≳ R ⊕ and orbital periods P < 400 days. Our result thus significantly revises previous claims that more than 50% of Sun-like stars have such planets. Combined with the average number of Kepler planets per star (∼0.9), we obtain that on average each planetary system has 3.0 ± 0.3 planets within 400 days. We also find that the dispersion in orbital inclinations of planets within a given planetary system, σ i,k , is a steep function of its number of planets, k. This can be parameterized as {σ }i,k\\propto {k}α and we find that ‑4 < α < ‑2 at the 2σ level. Such a distribution well describes the observed multiplicities of both transits and TTVs with no excess of single-tranet systems. Therefore we do not find evidence supporting the so-called “Kepler dichotomy.” Together with a previous study on orbital eccentricities, we now have a consistent picture: the fewer planets in a system, the hotter it is dynamically. We discuss briefly possible scenarios that lead to such a trend. Despite our solar system not belonging to the Kepler club, it is interesting to notice that the solar system also has three planets within 400 days and that the inclination dispersion is similar to Kepler systems of the same multiplicity.

  3. The mathematics of the Area Law: Kepler's successful proof in Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae (1621)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, A. E. L.

    2003-07-01

    After the discovery of his three laws, Kepler invented a way of proving the Area Law when applied to the path of a primary planet (the ellipse with one focus at the Sun). The law states that the area swept out by the line joining the planet to the Sun measures the time taken: Kepler was therefore dealing with a restricted version of Newton's general area-proposition. Kepler's demonstration was set out in Epitome V (1621), and consisted of matching an element of area to an element of time, where each was mathematically determined. His treatment of the area depended solely on the geometry of Euclid's Elements, involving only straight-line and circle propositions - so we have to account for his deliberate avoidance of the sophisticated conic-geometry associated with Apollonius. We show also how his proof could have been made watertight according to modern standards, using methods that lay entirely within his power. The greatest innovation, however, occurred in Kepler's fresh formulation of the measure of time. We trace this concept in relation to early astronomy and conclude that Kepler's treatment unexpectedly entailed the assumption that time varied nonuniformly; meanwhile, a geometrical measure provided the independent variable. Even more surprisingly, this approach turns out to be entirely sound when assessed in present-day terms. Kepler himself attributed the cause of the motion of a single planet around the Sun to a set of 'physical' suppositions which represented his religious as well as his Copernican convictions; and we have pared to a minimum - down to four - the number he actually required to achieve this. In the Appendix we use modern mathematics to emphasize the simplicity, both geometrical and kinematical, that objectively characterizes the Sun-focused ellipse as an orbit. Meanwhile we highlight the subjective simplicity of Kepler's own techniques (most of them extremely traditional, some newly created). These two approaches complement each other to

  4. BIRTH LOCATIONS OF THE KEPLER CIRCUMBINARY PLANETS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Silsbee, Kedron; Rafikov, Roman R., E-mail: ksilsbee@astro.princeton.edu

    2015-07-20

    The Kepler mission has discovered about a dozen circumbinary planetary systems, all containing planets on ∼1 AU orbits. We place bounds on the locations in the circumbinary protoplanetary disk, where these planets could have formed through collisional agglomeration starting from small (kilometer-sized or less) planetesimals. We first present a model of secular planetesimal dynamics that accounts for the (1) perturbation due to the eccentric precessing binary, as well as the (2) gravity and (3) gas drag from a precessing eccentric disk. Their simultaneous action leads to rich dynamics, with (multiple) secular resonances emerging in the disk. We derive analytic resultsmore » for size-dependent planetesimal eccentricity and demonstrate the key role of the disk gravity for circumbinary dynamics. We then combine these results with a simple model for collisional outcomes and find that in systems like Kepler-16, planetesimal growth starting with 10–100 m planetesimals is possible outside a few AU. The exact location exterior to which this happens is sensitive to disk eccentricity, density, and precession rate, as well as to the size of the first generation of planetesimals. Strong perturbations from the binary in the inner part of the disk, combined with a secular resonance at a few AU, inhibit the growth of kilometer-sized planetesimals within 2–4 AU of the binary. In situ planetesimal growth in the Kepler circumbinary systems is possible only starting from large initial planetesimals (few-kilometer-sized even assuming favorable disk properties, i.e., low surface density)« less

  5. NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Its Smallest Habitable Zone Planets (Reporter Pkg)

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2013-04-18

    NASA's Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the 'habitable zone,' the range of distance from a star where the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water. Scientists do not know whether life could exist on the newfound planets, but their discovery signals we are another step closer to finding a world similar to Earth around a star like our sun. Kepler-62 and -69 systems

  6. Irregular Variability In Kepler Photometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schlecker, Martin

    2016-12-01

    The transit method is the most successful tool for exoplanet discovery to date. With more than half of all known exoplanets discovered by Kepler using this method, the mission also revealed a number of objects with dimming events that defy the common explanations, the most prominent being KIC 8462852 aka ``Tabby's star''. I embarked on a search for objects with such irregular transit signatures in the data of K2, the two-wheeled successor mission of Kepler. My method is a combination of automated pre-selection of targets showing downward flux excursions and visual light curve inspection of the selected subset comprising about SI{1.5}% of the initial sample. In addition, I developed a tool to constrain the effective temperature of a planet-hosting star from photometry alone. This software finds broad application in any science case where a photometric spectral type estimate is necessary. I used existing transit models and Bayesian inference to perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis of a planetary candidate I discovered. This putative gas giant is in a SI{1.32}day circular orbit with an exceptionally tight orbital radius of a ≈ 0.012 AU. My analysis revealed a scaled planetary radius of R_{p}/R_star = 0.0927±0.0026 and an edge-on orientation with an inclination i=89.8+3.0-3.4. EPIC 217393088.01 is one of the closest-orbiting exoplanets ever detected and the first giant planet with such a small orbital radius. An additional major finding of my search is EPIC 220262993, which exhibits aperiodic, asymmetric dips in flux with rapid dimming rates and up to SI{˜25}% depth, lasting for SIrange{2}{4} day. In previous works based on optical and mid-infrared photometry, this object was inconsistently classified as a possible quasar or a white dwarf. We conducted follow-up observations both photometrically with GROND on the MPI/ESO SI{2.2} meter telescope in La Silla (Chile) and spectroscopically with FIRE on the Magellan/Baade SI{6.5} meter telescope. With

  7. Kepler, Horrocks and the Transit of Venus in 1639

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Posch, Thomas; Kerschbaum, Franz

    2004-08-01

    Kepler was the first astronomer to predict a transit of Venus in his 'Admonitio' from 1629. This prediction was based on his 'Rudolphine Tables', published three years before. Even though both works - making use of his ground-breaking new theory of the planetary motions - and the message of his 'Admonitio' are a great achievement, it turned out some years later that the latter contained some views that needed to be corrected. First of all, there was a small but -- for European observers -- fatal error concerning the exact time of the Venus transit of 1631, leading to its non-observation in Paris. Second, Kepler failed to predict the 1639 Venus transit. It was the English astronomer Horrocks who first recognized this and who did indeed observe the latter. Third, Kepler's ideas about the size of the solar system (and, hence, the apparent diameters of the planets) were substantially wrong. In our contribution, we analyze the historical background to these errors of a genius, based on his original texts, as well as Horrocks' and Hevelius' views and discoveries on the subject. It seems that Hevelius' annotated edition of Horrocks' account 'Venus in sole visa' has scarcely been studied in the way it would deserve -- which is maybe due to the fact that only a few libraries are still in possession of this book. There is little doubt that Kepler, had he lived until 1639, would have had to change his views on the proportions of our solar system dramatically. At the same time, it should be stressed that his predition and Horrocks' observations demonstrate that knowing the mechanism of the planetary motions is by far more important than knowing the actual size of the planetary orbits and planetary bodies.

  8. Finding Kepler's Exoearths

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petigura, Erik; Marcy, G.

    2012-05-01

    With its unprecedented photometric precision and duty cycle, the Kepler mission offers the first opportunity to detect Earth analog planets. Detecting transits with depths of 0.01%, periods of 1 year, and durations of 10 hours pose a novel challenge, prompting an optimization of both the detrending of the photometry and of the transit search algorithm. We present TERRA, the Transiting Exoearth Robust Reduction Algorithm, designed specifically to find earth analogs. TERRA carefully treats systematic effects with timescales comparable to an exoearth transit and removes features that are not important from the perspective of transit detection. We demonstrate TERRA's detection power through an extensive transit injection and recovery experiment.

  9. Oscillating Red Giants Observed during Campaign 1 of the Kepler K2 Mission: New Prospects for Galactic Archaeology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stello, Dennis; Huber, Daniel; Sharma, Sanjib; Johnson, Jennifer; Lund, Mikkel N.; Handberg, Rasmus; Buzasi, Derek L.; Silva Aguirre, Victor; Chaplin, William J.; Miglio, Andrea; Pinsonneault, Marc; Basu, Sarbani; Bedding, Tim R.; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Casagrande, Luca; Davies, Guy; Elsworth, Yvonne; Garcia, Rafael A.; Mathur, Savita; Di Mauro, Maria Pia; Mosser, Benoit; Schneider, Donald P.; Serenelli, Aldo; Valentini, Marica

    2015-08-01

    NASA’s re-purposed Kepler mission—dubbed K2—has brought new scientific opportunities that were not anticipated for the original Kepler mission. One science goal that makes optimal use of K2's capabilities, in particular its 360° ecliptic field of view, is galactic archaeology—the study of the evolution of the Galaxy from the fossil stellar record. The thrust of this research is to exploit high-precision, time-resolved photometry from K2 in order to detect oscillations in red giant stars. This asteroseismic information can provide estimates of stellar radius (hence distance), mass, and age of vast numbers of stars across the Galaxy. Here we present the initial analysis of a subset of red giants, observed toward the north galactic gap, during the mission’s first full science campaign. We investigate the feasibility of using K2 data for detecting oscillations in red giants that span a range in apparent magnitude and evolutionary state (hence intrinsic luminosity). We demonstrate that oscillations are detectable for essentially all cool giants within the {log}g range ˜1.9-3.2. Our detection is complete down to {\\text{Kp}} ˜ 14.5, which results in a seismic sample with little or no detection bias. This sample is ideally suited to stellar population studies that seek to investigate potential shortcomings of contemporary Galaxy models.

  10. Kepler's Third Law Without a Calculator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruiz, Michael J.

    2004-12-01

    At the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNC-A) we have used Kepler's third law in a liberal-arts conceptual astronomy course to help students sharpen their quantitative skills without using a calculator. Doing quantitative physics without a calculator represents one of the many ways we can study the physical world. Furthermore, it is fun.

  11. Remote Science Operation Center research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Banks, P. M.

    1986-01-01

    Progress in the following areas is discussed: the design, planning and operation of a remote science payload operations control center; design and planning of a data link via satellite; and the design and prototyping of an advanced workstation environment for multi-media (3-D computer aided design/computer aided engineering, voice, video, text) communications and operations.

  12. A Blind Survey for AGN in the Kepler Field through Optical Variability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olling, Robert; Shaya, E. J.; Mushotzky, R.

    2013-01-01

    We present an initial analysis of three quarters of Kepler LLC time series of 400 small galaxies. The Kepler LLC data is sampled about twice per hour, and allows us to investigate variability on time scales between about one day and one month. The calibrated Kepler LLC light curves still contain many instrumental effects that can not be taken out in a robust manner. Instead, our analysis relies on the similarity of variability measures in the three independent quarters to decide if an galaxy shows variability, or not. We estimate that roughly 15% of our small galaxies shows variability at levels exceeding several parts per thousand (mmag) on timescales of days to weeks. However, this estimate is probably uncertain by a factor of two. Our data is more sensitive by several factors of ten as compared to extant data sets.

  13. An Accurate Mass Determination for Kepler-1655b, a Moderately Irradiated World with a Significant Volatile Envelope

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haywood, Raphaëlle D.; Vanderburg, Andrew; Mortier, Annelies; Giles, Helen A. C.; López-Morales, Mercedes; Lopez, Eric D.; Malavolta, Luca; Charbonneau, David; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Coughlin, Jeffrey L.; Dressing, Courtney D.; Nava, Chantanelle; Latham, David W.; Dumusque, Xavier; Lovis, Christophe; Molinari, Emilio; Pepe, Francesco; Sozzetti, Alessandro; Udry, Stéphane; Bouchy, François; Johnson, John A.; Mayor, Michel; Micela, Giusi; Phillips, David; Piotto, Giampaolo; Rice, Ken; Sasselov, Dimitar; Ségransan, Damien; Watson, Chris; Affer, Laura; Bonomo, Aldo S.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Ciardi, David R.; Fiorenzano, Aldo F.; Harutyunyan, Avet

    2018-05-01

    We present the confirmation of a small, moderately irradiated (F = 155 ± 7 F ⊕) Neptune with a substantial gas envelope in a P = 11.8728787 ± 0.0000085 day orbit about a quiet, Sun-like G0V star Kepler-1655. Based on our analysis of the Kepler light curve, we determined Kepler-1655b’s radius to be 2.213 ± 0.082 R ⊕. We acquired 95 high-resolution spectra with Telescopio Nazionale Galileo/HARPS-N, enabling us to characterize the host star and determine an accurate mass for Kepler-1655b of 5.0{+/- }2.83.1 {M}\\oplus via Gaussian-process regression. Our mass determination excludes an Earth-like composition with 98% confidence. Kepler-1655b falls on the upper edge of the evaporation valley, in the relatively sparsely occupied transition region between rocky and gas-rich planets. It is therefore part of a population of planets that we should actively seek to characterize further.

  14. Had the planet Mars not existed: Kepler's equant model and its physical consequences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bracco, C.; Provost, J.-P.

    2009-09-01

    We examine the equant model for the motion of planets, which was the starting point of Kepler's investigations before he modified it because of Mars observations. We show that, up to first order in eccentricity, this model implies for each orbit a velocity, which satisfies Kepler's second law and Hamilton's hodograph, and a centripetal acceleration with an r-2 dependence on the distance to the Sun. If this dependence is assumed to be universal, Kepler's third law follows immediately. This elementary exercise in kinematics for undergraduates emphasizes the proximity of the equant model coming from ancient Greece with our present knowledge. It adds to its historical interest a didactical relevance concerning, in particular, the discussion of the Aristotelian or Newtonian conception of motion.

  15. Direct measurement and calibration of the Kepler CCD Pixel Response Function for improved photometry and astrometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ninkov, Zoran

    Stellar images taken with telescopes and detectors in space are usually undersampled, and to correct for this, an accurate pixel response function is required. The standard approach for HST and KEPLER has been to measure the telescope PSF combined ("convolved") with the actual pixel response function, super-sampled by taking into account dithered or offset observed images of many stars (Lauer [1999]). This combined response function has been called the "PRF" (Bryson et al. [2011]). However, using such results has not allowed astrometry from KEPLER to reach its full potential (Monet et al. [2010], [2014]). Given the precision of KEPLER photometry, it should be feasible to use a pre-determined detector pixel response function (PRF) and an optical point spread function (PSF) as separable quantities to more accurately correct photometry and astrometry for undersampling. Wavelength (i.e. stellar color) and instrumental temperature should be affecting each of these differently. Discussion of the PRF in the "KEPLER Instrument Handbook" is limited to an ad-hoc extension of earlier measurements on a quite different CCD. It is known that the KEPLER PSF typically has a sharp spike in the middle, and the main bulk of the PSF is still small enough to be undersampled, so that any substructure in the pixel may interact significantly with the optical PSF. Both the PSF and PRF are probably asymmetric. We propose to measure the PRF for an example of the CCD sensors used on KEPLER at sufficient sampling resolution to allow significant improvement of KEPLER photometry and astrometry, in particular allowing PSF fitting techniques to be used on the data archive.

  16. Prediction of transits of Solar system objects in Kepler/K2 images: an extension of the Virtual Observatory service SkyBoT

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berthier, J.; Carry, B.; Vachier, F.; Eggl, S.; Santerne, A.

    2016-05-01

    All the fields of the extended space mission Kepler/K2 are located within the ecliptic. Many Solar system objects thus cross the K2 stellar masks on a regular basis. We aim at providing to the entire community a simple tool to search and identify Solar system objects serendipitously observed by Kepler. The sky body tracker (SkyBoT) service hosted at Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides provides a Virtual Observatory compliant cone search that lists all Solar system objects present within a field of view at a given epoch. To generate such a list in a timely manner, ephemerides are pre-computed, updated weekly, and stored in a relational data base to ensure a fast access. The SkyBoT web service can now be used with Kepler. Solar system objects within a small (few arcminutes) field of view are identified and listed in less than 10 s. Generating object data for the entire K2 field of view (14°) takes about a minute. This extension of the SkyBoT service opens new possibilities with respect to mining K2 data for Solar system science, as well as removing Solar system objects from stellar photometric time series.

  17. Ensemble asteroseismology of solar-type stars with the NASA Kepler mission.

    PubMed

    Chaplin, W J; Kjeldsen, H; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J; Basu, S; Miglio, A; Appourchaux, T; Bedding, T R; Elsworth, Y; García, R A; Gilliland, R L; Girardi, L; Houdek, G; Karoff, C; Kawaler, S D; Metcalfe, T S; Molenda-Żakowicz, J; Monteiro, M J P F G; Thompson, M J; Verner, G A; Ballot, J; Bonanno, A; Brandão, I M; Broomhall, A-M; Bruntt, H; Campante, T L; Corsaro, E; Creevey, O L; Doğan, G; Esch, L; Gai, N; Gaulme, P; Hale, S J; Handberg, R; Hekker, S; Huber, D; Jiménez, A; Mathur, S; Mazumdar, A; Mosser, B; New, R; Pinsonneault, M H; Pricopi, D; Quirion, P-O; Régulo, C; Salabert, D; Serenelli, A M; Silva Aguirre, V; Sousa, S G; Stello, D; Stevens, I R; Suran, M D; Uytterhoeven, K; White, T R; Borucki, W J; Brown, T M; Jenkins, J M; Kinemuchi, K; Van Cleve, J; Klaus, T C

    2011-04-08

    In addition to its search for extrasolar planets, the NASA Kepler mission provides exquisite data on stellar oscillations. We report the detections of oscillations in 500 solar-type stars in the Kepler field of view, an ensemble that is large enough to allow statistical studies of intrinsic stellar properties (such as mass, radius, and age) and to test theories of stellar evolution. We find that the distribution of observed masses of these stars shows intriguing differences to predictions from models of synthetic stellar populations in the Galaxy.

  18. Eta-Sub-Earth Projection from Kepler Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Traub, Wesley A.

    2012-01-01

    Outline of talk: (1) The Kepler database (2) Biases (3) The radius distribution (4) The period distribution (5) Projecting from the sam ple to the population (6) Extrapolating the period distribution (7) The Habitable Zone (8) Calculating the number of terrestrial, HZ plan ets (10) Conclusions

  19. Kepler Planet Detection Metrics: Pixel-Level Transit Injection Tests of Pipeline Detection Efficiency for Data Release 25

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Christiansen, Jessie L.

    2017-01-01

    This document describes the results of the fourth pixel-level transit injection experiment, which was designed to measure the detection efficiency of both the Kepler pipeline (Jenkins 2002, 2010; Jenkins et al. 2017) and the Robovetter (Coughlin 2017). Previous transit injection experiments are described in Christiansen et al. (2013, 2015a,b, 2016).In order to calculate planet occurrence rates using a given Kepler planet catalogue, produced with a given version of the Kepler pipeline, we need to know the detection efficiency of that pipeline. This can be empirically determined by injecting a suite of simulated transit signals into the Kepler data, processing the data through the pipeline, and examining the distribution of successfully recovered transits. This document describes the results for the pixel-level transit injection experiment performed to accompany the final Q1-Q17 Data Release 25 (DR25) catalogue (Thompson et al. 2017)of the Kepler Objects of Interest. The catalogue was generated using the SOC pipeline version 9.3 and the DR25 Robovetter acting on the uniformly processed Q1-Q17 DR25 light curves (Thompson et al. 2016a) and assuming the Q1-Q17 DR25 Kepler stellar properties (Mathur et al. 2017).

  20. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler pipeline transit signal recovery. III. (Christiansen+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Christiansen, J. L.; Clarke, B. D.; Burke, C. J.; Jenkins, J. M.; Bryson, S. T.; Coughlin, J. L.; Mullally, F.; Thompson, S. E.; Twicken, J. D.; Batalha, N. M.; Haas, M. R.; Catanzarite, J.; Campbell, J. R.; Uddin, A. K.; Zamudio, K.; Smith, J. C.; Henze, C. E.

    2018-03-01

    Here we describe the third transit injection experiment, which tests the entire Kepler observing baseline (Q1-Q17) for the first time across all 84 CCD channels. It was performed to measure the sensitivity of the Kepler pipeline used to generate the Q1-Q17 Data Release 24 (DR24) catalog of Kepler Objects of Interest (Coughlin et al. 2016, J/ApJS/224/12) available at the NASA Exoplanet Archive (Akeson et al. 2013PASP..125..989A). The average detection efficiency describes the likelihood that the Kepler pipeline would successfully recover a given transit signal. To measure this property we perform a Monte Carlo experiment where we inject the signatures of simulated transiting planets around 198154 target stars, one per star, across the focal plane starting with the Q1-Q17 DR24 calibrated pixels. The simulated transits are generated using the Mandel & Agol (2002ApJ...580L.171M) model. Of the injections, 159013 resulted in three or more injected transits (the minimum required for detection by the pipeline) and were used for the subsequent analysis. (1 data file).

  1. Assessing the Effect of Stellar Companions from High-resolution Imaging of Kepler Objects of Interest

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hirsch, Lea A.; Ciardi, David R.; Howard, Andrew W.; Everett, Mark E.; Furlan, Elise; Saylors, Mindy; Horch, Elliott P.; Howell, Steve B.; Teske, Johanna; Marcy, Geoffrey W.

    2017-03-01

    We report on 176 close (<2″) stellar companions detected with high-resolution imaging near 170 hosts of Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs). These Kepler targets were prioritized for imaging follow-up based on the presence of small planets, so most of the KOIs in these systems (176 out of 204) have nominal radii <6 {R}\\oplus . Each KOI in our sample was observed in at least two filters with adaptive optics, speckle imaging, lucky imaging, or the Hubble Space Telescope. Multi-filter photometry provides color information on the companions, allowing us to constrain their stellar properties and assess the probability that the companions are physically bound. We find that 60%-80% of companions within 1″ are bound, and the bound fraction is >90% for companions within 0.″5 the bound fraction decreases with increasing angular separation. This picture is consistent with simulations of the binary and background stellar populations in the Kepler field. We also reassess the planet radii in these systems, converting the observed differential magnitudes to a contamination in the Kepler bandpass and calculating the planet radius correction factor, X R = R p (true)/R p (single). Under the assumption that planets in bound binaries are equally likely to orbit the primary or secondary, we find a mean radius correction factor for planets in stellar multiples of X R = 1.65. If stellar multiplicity in the Kepler field is similar to the solar neighborhood, then nearly half of all Kepler planets may have radii underestimated by an average of 65%, unless vetted using high-resolution imaging or spectroscopy.

  2. Stubborn Mars is in search of a domicile. Johannes Kepler to Christian II. elector of Saxony - a rediscovery. (German Title: Der halsstarrige Mars sucht sich eine Wohnung. Johannes Kepler an Kurfürst Christian II. von Sachsen - Eine Wiederentdeckung)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kothmann, Hella

    2011-08-01

    The rediscovery of a missing autograph of Johannes Kepler - a dedication letter presenting his "New Astronomy" to the elector of Saxony - was possible through a series of fortunate coincidences. Kepler's most important work "Astronomia Nova", in which he proclaimed the first two planetary laws, has been published at the end of 1609. According to the Latin dedication to emperor Rudolf II., Kepler compares the long period of calculations and observations as a crusade against the planet Mars. Finally he succeeds in defeating him, now he supports his opponent to find a new home. The letter is an extraordinary document of Kepler's ingenious and humorous language, it also proofs the relationship to Dresden and the Saxon court.

  3. High-resolution multi-band imaging for validation and characterization of small Kepler planets

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Everett, Mark E.; Silva, David R.; Barclay, Thomas

    2015-02-01

    High-resolution ground-based optical speckle and near-infrared adaptive optics images are taken to search for stars in close angular proximity to host stars of candidate planets identified by the NASA Kepler Mission. Neighboring stars are a potential source of false positive signals. These stars also blend into Kepler light curves, affecting estimated planet properties, and are important for an understanding of planets in multiple star systems. Deep images with high angular resolution help to validate candidate planets by excluding potential background eclipsing binaries as the source of the transit signals. A study of 18 Kepler Object of Interest stars hosting amore » total of 28 candidate and validated planets is presented. Validation levels are determined for 18 planets against the likelihood of a false positive from a background eclipsing binary. Most of these are validated at the 99% level or higher, including five newly validated planets in two systems: Kepler-430 and Kepler-431. The stellar properties of the candidate host stars are determined by supplementing existing literature values with new spectroscopic characterizations. Close neighbors of seven of these stars are examined using multi-wavelength photometry to determine their nature and influence on the candidate planet properties. Most of the close neighbors appear to be gravitationally bound secondaries, while a few are best explained as closely co-aligned field stars. Revised planet properties are derived for each candidate and validated planet, including cases where the close neighbors are the potential host stars.« less

  4. Long-term Photometric Variability in Kepler Full-frame Images: Magnetic Cycles of Sun–like Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montet, Benjamin T.; Tovar, Guadalupe; Foreman-Mackey, Daniel

    2017-12-01

    Photometry from the Kepler mission is optimized to detect small, short-duration signals like planet transits at the expense of long-term trends. This long-term variability can be recovered in photometry from the full-frame images (FFIs), a set of calibration data collected approximately monthly during the Kepler mission. Here we present f3, an open-source package to perform photometry on the Kepler FFIs in order to detect changes in the brightness of stars in the Kepler field of view over long time baselines. We apply this package to a sample of 4000 Sun–like stars with measured rotation periods. We find that ≈10% of these targets have long-term variability in their observed flux. For the majority of targets, we find that the luminosity variations are either correlated or anticorrelated with the short-term variability due to starspots on the stellar surface. We find a transition between anticorrelated (starspot-dominated) variability and correlated (facula-dominated) variability between rotation periods of 15 and 25 days, suggesting the transition between the two modes is complete for stars at the age of the Sun. We also identify a sample of stars with apparently complete cycles, as well as a collection of short-period binaries with extreme photometric variation over the Kepler mission.

  5. Spacing of Kepler Planets: Sculpting by Dynamical Instability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pu, Bonan; Wu, Yanqin

    2015-07-01

    We study the orbital architecture of multi-planet systems detected by the Kepler transit mission using N-body simulations, focusing on the orbital spacing between adjacent planets in systems showing four or more transiting planets. We find that the observed spacings are tightly clustered around 12 mutual Hill radii, when transit geometry and sensitivity limits are accounted for. In comparison, dynamical integrations reveal that the minimum spacing required for systems of similar masses to survive dynamical instability for as long as 1 billion yr is ∼10 if all orbits are circular and coplanar and ∼12 if planetary orbits have eccentricities of ∼0.02 (a value suggested by studies of planet transit-time variations). This apparent coincidence, between the observed spacing and the theoretical stability threshold, leads us to propose that typical planetary systems were formed with even tighter spacing, but most, except for the widest ones, have undergone dynamical instability, and are pared down to a more anemic version of their former selves, with fewer planets and larger spacings. So while the high-multiple systems (five or more transiting planets) are primordial systems that remain stable, the single or double planetary systems, abundantly discovered by the Kepler mission, may be the descendants of more closely packed high-multiple systems. If this hypothesis is correct, we infer that the formation environment of Kepler systems should be more dissipative than that of the terrestrial planets.

  6. ACTIVITY ANALYSES FOR SOLAR-TYPE STARS OBSERVED WITH KEPLER. I. PROXIES OF MAGNETIC ACTIVITY

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    He, Han; Wang, Huaning; Yun, Duo, E-mail: hehan@nao.cas.cn

    2015-11-15

    Light curves of solar-type stars often show gradual fluctuations due to rotational modulation by magnetic features (starspots and faculae) on stellar surfaces. Two quantitative measures of modulated light curves are employed as the proxies of magnetic activity for solar-type stars observed with Kepler telescope. The first is named autocorrelation index i{sub AC}, which describes the degree of periodicity of the light curve; the second is the effective fluctuation range of the light curve R{sub eff}, which reflects the depth of rotational modulation. The two measures are complementary and depict different aspects of magnetic activities on solar-type stars. By using themore » two proxies i{sub AC} and R{sub eff}, we analyzed activity properties of two carefully selected solar-type stars observed with Kepler (Kepler ID: 9766237 and 10864581), which have distinct rotational periods (14.7 versus 6.0 days). We also applied the two measures to the Sun for a comparative study. The result shows that both the measures can reveal cyclic activity variations (referred to as i{sub AC}-cycle and R{sub eff}-cycle) on the two Kepler stars and the Sun. For the Kepler star with the faster rotation rate, i{sub AC}-cycle and R{sub eff}-cycle are in the same phase, while for the Sun (slower rotator), they are in the opposite phase. By comparing the solar light curve with simultaneous photospheric magnetograms, it is identified that the magnetic feature that causes the periodic light curve during solar minima is the faculae of the enhanced network region, which can also be a candidate of magnetic features that dominate the periodic light curves on the two Kepler stars.« less

  7. DISCOVERY AND ATMOSPHERIC CHARACTERIZATION OF GIANT PLANET KEPLER-12b: AN INFLATED RADIUS OUTLIER

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fortney, Jonathan J.; Nutzman, Philip; Demory, Brice-Olivier

    We report the discovery of planet Kepler-12b (KOI-20), which at 1.695 {+-} 0.030 R{sub J} is among the handful of planets with super-inflated radii above 1.65 R{sub J}. Orbiting its slightly evolved G0 host with a 4.438 day period, this 0.431 {+-} 0.041 M{sub J} planet is the least irradiated within this largest-planet-radius group, which has important implications for planetary physics. The planet's inflated radius and low mass lead to a very low density of 0.111 {+-} 0.010 g cm{sup -3}. We detect the occultation of the planet at a significance of 3.7{sigma} in the Kepler bandpass. This yields amore » geometric albedo of 0.14 {+-} 0.04; the planetary flux is due to a combination of scattered light and emitted thermal flux. We use multiple observations with Warm Spitzer to detect the occultation at 7{sigma} and 4{sigma} in the 3.6 and 4.5 {mu}m bandpasses, respectively. The occultation photometry timing is consistent with a circular orbit at e < 0.01 (1{sigma}) and e < 0.09 (3{sigma}). The occultation detections across the three bands favor an atmospheric model with no dayside temperature inversion. The Kepler occultation detection provides significant leverage, but conclusions regarding temperature structure are preliminary, given our ignorance of opacity sources at optical wavelengths in hot Jupiter atmospheres. If Kepler-12b and HD 209458b, which intercept similar incident stellar fluxes, have the same heavy-element masses, the interior energy source needed to explain the large radius of Kepler-12b is three times larger than that of HD 209458b. This may suggest that more than one radius-inflation mechanism is at work for Kepler-12b or that it is less heavy-element rich than other transiting planets.« less

  8. The Kepler-10 planetary system revisited by HARPS-N: A hot rocky world and a solid Neptune-mass planet

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dumusque, Xavier; Buchhave, Lars A.; Latham, David W.

    Kepler-10b was the first rocky planet detected by the Kepler satellite and confirmed with radial velocity follow-up observations from Keck-HIRES. The mass of the planet was measured with a precision of around 30%, which was insufficient to constrain models of its internal structure and composition in detail. In addition to Kepler-10b, a second planet transiting the same star with a period of 45 days was statistically validated, but the radial velocities were only good enough to set an upper limit of 20 M{sub ⊕} for the mass of Kepler-10c. To improve the precision on the mass for planet b, themore » HARPS-N Collaboration decided to observe Kepler-10 intensively with the HARPS-N spectrograph on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo on La Palma. In total, 148 high-quality radial-velocity measurements were obtained over two observing seasons. These new data allow us to improve the precision of the mass determination for Kepler-10b to 15%. With a mass of 3.33 ± 0.49 M{sub ⊕} and an updated radius of 1.47{sub −0.02}{sup +0.03} R{sub ⊕}, Kepler-10b has a density of 5.8 ± 0.8 g cm{sup –3}, very close to the value predicted by models with the same internal structure and composition as the Earth. We were also able to determine a mass for the 45-day period planet Kepler-10c, with an even better precision of 11%. With a mass of 17.2 ± 1.9 M{sub ⊕} and radius of 2.35{sub −0.04}{sup +0.09} R{sub ⊕}, Kepler-10c has a density of 7.1 ± 1.0 g cm{sup –3}. Kepler-10c appears to be the first strong evidence of a class of more massive solid planets with longer orbital periods.« less

  9. Autonomous Science Operations Technologies for Deep Space Gateway

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barnes, P. K.; Haddock, A. T.; Cruzen, C. A.

    2018-02-01

    Autonomous Science Operations Technologies for Deep Space Gateway (DSG) is an overview of how the DSG would benefit from autonomous systems utilizing proven technologies performing telemetry monitoring and science operations.

  10. RADIAL VELOCITY MONITORING OF KEPLER HEARTBEAT STARS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shporer, Avi; Fuller, Jim; Isaacson, Howard

    2016-09-20

    Heartbeat stars (HB stars) are a class of eccentric binary stars with close periastron passages. The characteristic photometric HB signal evident in their light curves is produced by a combination of tidal distortion, heating, and Doppler boosting near orbital periastron. Many HB stars continue to oscillate after periastron and along the entire orbit, indicative of the tidal excitation of oscillation modes within one or both stars. These systems are among the most eccentric binaries known, and they constitute astrophysical laboratories for the study of tidal effects. We have undertaken a radial velocity (RV) monitoring campaign of Kepler HB stars inmore » order to measure their orbits. We present our first results here, including a sample of 22 Kepler HB systems, where for 19 of them we obtained the Keplerian orbit and for 3 other systems we did not detect a statistically significant RV variability. Results presented here are based on 218 spectra obtained with the Keck/HIRES spectrograph during the 2015 Kepler observing season, and they have allowed us to obtain the largest sample of HB stars with orbits measured using a single instrument, which roughly doubles the number of HB stars with an RV measured orbit. The 19 systems measured here have orbital periods from 7 to 90 days and eccentricities from 0.2 to 0.9. We show that HB stars draw the upper envelope of the eccentricity–period distribution. Therefore, HB stars likely represent a population of stars currently undergoing high eccentricity migration via tidal orbital circularization, and they will allow for new tests of high eccentricity migration theories.« less

  11. LAMOST OBSERVATIONS IN THE KEPLER FIELD: SPECTRAL CLASSIFICATION WITH THE MKCLASS CODE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gray, R. O.; Corbally, C. J.; Cat, P. De

    2016-01-15

    The LAMOST-Kepler project was designed to obtain high-quality, low-resolution spectra of many of the stars in the Kepler field with the Large Sky Area Multi Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) spectroscopic telescope. To date 101,086 spectra of 80,447 objects over the entire Kepler field have been acquired. Physical parameters, radial velocities, and rotational velocities of these stars will be reported in other papers. In this paper we present MK spectral classifications for these spectra determined with the automatic classification code MKCLASS. We discuss the quality and reliability of the spectral types and present histograms showing the frequency of the spectralmore » types in the main table organized according to luminosity class. Finally, as examples of the use of this spectral database, we compute the proportion of A-type stars that are Am stars, and identify 32 new barium dwarf candidates.« less

  12. Flare Rate and Statistics for the M Dwarf GJ 1243 With Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, Emily; Davenport, James R. A.; Hawley, Suzanne L.

    2015-01-01

    Light curve data taken from the Kepler space telescope have been used to detect stellar flares. These data are a valuable resource for the study of flare rates and morphology, but currently flare samples must be validated by hand. FBEye (Flares By Eye) is an interactive program created to detect and manually validate these flares, with the goal of removing the need for human input. As a first year undergraduate student, I participated in this project by analyzing Kepler light curves and vetting stellar flares. Using 11 months of one-minute cadence data from GJ 1243, an M dwarf star, we classified each flare by energy and morphology. This work has been used to refine the FBEye program, which will eventually be applied to the entire catalogue of Kepler data. It is also part of a research paper on GJ 1243, which is currently in the publication process.

  13. "Cosmomorphistic geometry" in the unconscious geometry of Johannes Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adam, Adolf

    Some mathematical aspects of the Music theory by Johannes Kepler are discussed, paying a special attention to the book "De harmonice mundi". Other scientists interested in Music theory are mentioned throughout the paper: The Pythagorean school, Klaudios Ptolemaios, Leonard Euler, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Christian von Goldbach, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholz, Karl Friedrich Gauss. The relation with the ancient chinese schools of cosmography has been discussed: From the the Pythagorean to the ancient Chinese schools of cosmography we find arithmo-geometrical applications of numbers which are emblematic, hold meaning or represent the essence of things, the author writes. It was Johannes Kepler who taught us this "transconstructive method" of forming classical and ancient begginings of structuralistic thinking into a system from which deductions can readily be made.

  14. Kepler Data Release 25 Notes (Q0-Q17)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mullally, Susan E.; Caldwell, Douglas A.; Barclay, Thomas Stewart; Barentsen, Geert; Clarke, Bruce Donald; Bryson, Stephen T.; Burke, Christopher James; Campbell, Jennifer Roseanna; Catanzarite, Joseph H.; Christiansen, Jessie; hide

    2016-01-01

    These Data Release Notes provide information specific to the current reprocessing and re-export of the Q0-Q17 data. The data products included in this data release include target pixel files, light curve files, FFIs,CBVs, ARP, Background, and Collateral files. This release marks the final processing of the Kepler Mission Data. See Tables 1 and 2 for a list of the reprocessed Kepler cadence data. See Table 3 for a list of the available FFIs. The Long Cadence Data, Short Cadence Data, and FFI data are documented in these data release notes. The ancillary files (i.e., cotrending basis vectors, artifact removal pixels, background, and collateral data) are described in the Archive Manual (Thompson et al., 2016).

  15. Astrophysics science operations - Near-term plans and vision

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Riegler, Guenter R.

    1991-01-01

    Astrophysics science operations planned by the Science Operations branch of NASA Astrophysics Division for the 1990s for the purpose of gathering spaceborne astronomical data are described. The paper describes the near-future plans of the Science Operations in the areas of the preparation of the proposal; the planning and execution of spaceborne observations; the collection, processing, and analysis data; and the dissemination of results. Also presented are concepts planned for introduction at the beginning of the 20th century, including the concepts of open communications, transparent instrument and observatory operations, a spiral requirements development method, and an automated research assistant.

  16. NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers First Earth-size Planet in Habitable Zone of Another Star (Reporter Package)

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-04-17

    NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a star outside our solar system. The newly discovered planet is called Kepler-186f and is about 10 percent larger than Earth.

  17. The Kepler Catalog of Stellar Flares

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davenport, James R. A.

    2016-09-01

    A homogeneous search for stellar flares has been performed using every available Kepler light curve. An iterative light curve de-trending approach was used to filter out both astrophysical and systematic variability to detect flares. The flare recovery completeness has also been computed throughout each light curve using artificial flare injection tests, and the tools for this work have been made publicly available. The final sample contains 851,168 candidate flare events recovered above the 68% completeness threshold, which were detected from 4041 stars, or 1.9% of the stars in the Kepler database. The average flare energy detected is ˜1035 erg. The net fraction of flare stars increases with g - I color, or decreasing stellar mass. For stars in this sample with previously measured rotation periods, the total relative flare luminosity is compared to the Rossby number. A tentative detection of flare activity saturation for low-mass stars with rapid rotation below a Rossby number of ˜0.03 is found. A power-law decay in flare activity with Rossby number is found with a slope of -1, shallower than typical measurements for X-ray activity decay with Rossby number.

  18. Kepler Stellar Properties Catalog Update for Q1-Q17 DR25 Transit Search

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mathur, Savita; Huber, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    Huber et al. (2014) presented revised stellar properties for 196,468 Kepler targets, which were used for the Q1-Q16 TPSDV planet search (Tenenbaum et al. 2014). The catalog was based on atmospheric properties (i.e., temperature (Teff), surface gravity (log(g)), and metallicity ([FeH])) published in the literature using a variety of methods (e.g., asteroseismology, spectroscopy, exoplanet transits, photometry), which were then homogeneously fitted to a grid of Dartmouth (DSEP) isochrones (Dotter et al. 2008). The catalog was updated in early 2015 for the Q1-Q17 Data Release (DR) 24 transit search (Seader et al. 2015) based on the latest classifications of Kepler targets in the literature at that time. The methodology followed Huber et al. (2014). Here we provide updated stellar properties of 197,096 Kepler targets. Like the previous catalog, this update is based on atmospheric properties that were either published in the literature or provided by the Kepler community follow-up program (CFOP). The input values again come from different methods: asteroseismology, spectroscopy, flicker, and photometry. This catalog update was developed to support the SOC 9.3 TPSDV planet search (Twicken et al. 2016), which is expected to be the final search and data release by the Kepler project.In this document, we describe the method and the inputs that were used to build the catalog. The methodology follows Huber et al. (2014) with a few improvements as described in Section 2.

  19. CONFIRMATION OF HOT JUPITER KEPLER-41b VIA PHASE CURVE ANALYSIS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Quintana, Elisa V.; Rowe, Jason F.; Caldwell, Douglas A.

    We present high precision photometry of Kepler-41, a giant planet in a 1.86 day orbit around a G6V star that was recently confirmed through radial velocity measurements. We have developed a new method to confirm giant planets solely from the photometric light curve, and we apply this method herein to Kepler-41 to establish the validity of this technique. We generate a full phase photometric model by including the primary and secondary transits, ellipsoidal variations, Doppler beaming, and reflected/emitted light from the planet. Third light contamination scenarios that can mimic a planetary transit signal are simulated by injecting a full rangemore » of dilution values into the model, and we re-fit each diluted light curve model to the light curve. The resulting constraints on the maximum occultation depth and stellar density combined with stellar evolution models rules out stellar blends and provides a measurement of the planet's mass, size, and temperature. We expect about two dozen Kepler giant planets can be confirmed via this method.« less

  20. Near Mean-motion Resonances in the System Observed by Kepler: Affected by Mass Accretion and Type I Migration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Su; Ji, Jianghui

    2017-12-01

    The Kepler mission has released over 4496 planetary candidates, among which 3483 planets have been confirmed as of 2017 April. The statistical results of the planets show that there are two peaks around 1.5 and 2.0 in the distribution of orbital period ratios. The observations indicate that plenty of planet pairs could have first been captured into mean-motion resonances (MMRs) in planetary formation. Subsequently, these planets depart from exact resonant locations to be near-MMR configurations. Through type I migration, two low-mass planets have a tendency to be trapped in first-order MMRs (2:1 or 3:2 MMRs); however, two scenarios of mass accretion of planets and potential outward migration play important roles in reshaping their final orbital configurations. Under the scenario of mass accretion, the planet pairs can cross 2:1 MMRs and then enter into 3:2 MMRs, especially for the inner pairs. With such a formation scenario, the possibility that two planets are locked into 3:2 MMRs can increase if they are formed in a flat disk. Moreover, the outward migration can make planets have a high likelihood to be trapped into 3:2 MMRs. We perform additional runs to investigate the mass relationship for those planets in three-planet systems, and we show that two peaks near 1.5 and 2.0 for the period ratios of two planets can be easily reproduced through our formation scenario. We further show that the systems in chain resonances (e.g., 4:2:1, 3:2:1, 6:3:2, and 9:6:4 MMRs), have been observed in our simulations. This mechanism can be applicable to understand the formation of systems of Kepler-48, Kepler-53, Kepler-100, Kepler-192, Kepler-297, Kepler-399, and Kepler-450.

  1. Four-dimensional singular oscillator and generalized MIC-Kepler system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mardoyan, L. G., E-mail: mardoyan@ysu.am; Petrosyan, M. G.

    2007-03-15

    It is shown that the generalized MIC-Kepler system and four-dimensional singular oscillator are dual to each other and the duality transformation is the generalized version of the Kustaanheimo-Stiefel transformation.

  2. Beyond Kepler: Direct Imaging of Earth-like Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Belikov, Ruslan

    2012-01-01

    Is there another Earth out there? Is there life on it? People have been asking these questions for over two thousand years, and we finally stand on the verge of answering them. The Kepler space telescope is NASA's first mission designed to study Earthlike exoplanets (exo-Earths), and it will soon tell us how often exo-Earths occur in the habitable zones of their stars. The next natural step after Kepler is spectroscopic characterization of exo-Earths, which would tell us whether they possess an atmosphere, oxygen, liquid water, as well as other biomarkers. In order to do this, directly imaging an exo-Earth may be necessary (at least for Sun-like stars). Directly imaging an exo-Earth is challenging and likely requires a flagship-size optical space telescope with an unprecedented imaging system capable of achieving contrasts of 1(exp 10) very close to the diffraction limit. Several coronagraphs and external occulters have been proposed to meet this challenge and are in development. After first overviewing the history and current state of the field, my talk will focus on the work proceeding at the Ames Coronagraph Experiment (ACE) at the NASA Ames Research Center, where we are developing the Phase Induced Amplitude Apodization (PIAA) coronagraph in a collaboration with JPL. PIAA is a powerful technique with demonstrated aggressive performance that defines the state of the art at small inner working angles. At ACE, we have achieved contrasts of 2(exp -8) with an inner working angle of 2 lambda/D and 1(exp -6) at 1.4 lambda/D. On the path to exo-Earth imaging, we are also pursuing a smaller telescope concept called EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer), which was recently selected for technology development (Category III) by NASA's Explorer program. EXCEDE will do fundamental science on debris disks as well as serve as a technological and scientific pathfinder for an exo-Earth imaging mission.

  3. Kepler's Laws: Demonstration and Derivation Without Calculus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chapman, Seville

    1969-01-01

    Presents a demonstration apparatus for Kepler's three laws of planetary motion consisting of an air-supported "satellite whose orbit on a level table surface is determined by an inverse square force generated by a Peaucellier linkage and long spring. The device can also be used to illustrate centrifugal force, statics, friction, momentum and…

  4. Kepler Corn Maze Reporter Package for TWAN

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-10-06

    The Dell'Osso Family Farm, located on the outskirts of Lathrop, California, held the grand opening of their corn maze that was designed with a NASA theme, in this case, the Kepler mission. The maze is part of a nation-wide group of farms that are honoring NASA's achievements called Space Farm 7.

  5. LOW FALSE POSITIVE RATE OF KEPLER CANDIDATES ESTIMATED FROM A COMBINATION OF SPITZER AND FOLLOW-UP OBSERVATIONS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Désert, Jean-Michel; Brown, Timothy M.; Charbonneau, David

    NASA’s Kepler mission has provided several thousand transiting planet candidates during the 4 yr of its nominal mission, yet only a small subset of these candidates have been confirmed as true planets. Therefore, the most fundamental question about these candidates is the fraction of bona fide planets. Estimating the rate of false positives of the overall Kepler sample is necessary to derive the planet occurrence rate. We present the results from two large observational campaigns that were conducted with the Spitzer Space Telescope during the the Kepler mission. These observations are dedicated to estimating the false positive rate (FPR) amongmore » the Kepler candidates. We select a sub-sample of 51 candidates, spanning wide ranges in stellar, orbital, and planetary parameter space, and we observe their transits with Spitzer at 4.5 μm. We use these observations to measures the candidate’s transit depths and infrared magnitudes. An authentic planet produces an achromatic transit depth (neglecting the modest effect of limb darkening). Conversely a bandpass-dependent depth alerts us to the potential presence of a blending star that could be the source of the observed eclipse: a false positive scenario. For most of the candidates (85%), the transit depths measured with Kepler are consistent with the transit depths measured with Spitzer as expected for planetary objects, while we find that the most discrepant measurements are due to the presence of unresolved stars that dilute the photometry. The Spitzer constraints on their own yield FPRs between 5% and depending on the Kepler Objects of Interest. By considering the population of the Kepler field stars, and by combining follow-up observations (imaging) when available, we find that the overall FPR of our sample is low. The measured upper limit on the FPR of our sample is 8.8% at a confidence level of 3σ. This observational result, which uses the achromatic property of planetary transit signals that is not

  6. Kepler-539: A young extrasolar system with two giant planets on wide orbits and in gravitational interaction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mancini, L.; Lillo-Box, J.; Southworth, J.; Borsato, L.; Gandolfi, D.; Ciceri, S.; Barrado, D.; Brahm, R.; Henning, Th.

    2016-05-01

    We confirm the planetary nature of Kepler-539 b (aka Kepler object of interest K00372.01), a giant transiting exoplanet orbiting a solar-analogue G2 V star. The mass of Kepler-539 b was accurately derived thanks to a series of precise radial velocity measurements obtained with the CAFE spectrograph mounted on the CAHA 2.2-m telescope. A simultaneous fit of the radial-velocity data and Kepler photometry revealed that Kepler-539 b is a dense Jupiter-like planet with a mass of Mp = 0.97 ± 0.29 MJup and a radius of Rp = 0.747 ± 0.018 RJup, making a complete circular revolution around its parent star in 125.6 days. The semi-major axis of the orbit is roughly 0.5 au, implying that the planet is at ≈0.45 au from the habitable zone. By analysing the mid-transit times of the 12 transit events of Kepler-539 b recorded by the Kepler spacecraft, we found a clear modulated transit time variation (TTV), which is attributable to the presence of a planet c in a wider orbit. The few timings available do not allow us to precisely estimate the properties of Kepler-539 c and our analysis suggests that it has a mass between 1.2 and 3.6 MJup, revolving on a very eccentric orbit (0.4

  7. Science operations planning and implementation for Rosetta

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koschny, Detlef; Sweeney, Mark; Montagon, Elsa; Hoofs, Raymond; van der Plas, Peter

    2002-07-01

    The Rosetta mission is a cornerstone mission of the Horizon 2000 programme of the European Space Agency. It will be launched to comet 46P/Wirtanen in January 2003. This mission is the first of a series of planetary missions, including Mars Express, Smart-I (to the Moon), and BepiColombo (to Mercury). All these missions have similar requirements for their scientific operations. The Experiments H/W and S/W are developed by Principal Investigators, working at scientific institutes. They are also responsible for the operation of their experiments and for the generation of related operational documentation. The Science Operations Centre (SOC) has the task to consolidate the inputs of the different experimenters and the Lander and ensure that the resulting science operations timeline is free of conflicts. It forwards this timeline to the Mission Operations Centre (MOC) which combines the science operations with the operations of the other spacecraft subsystems and the orbit and attitude of the spacecraft. The MOC is also responsible for uplinking the operational command sequences to the spacecraft and for returning the received telemetry to the user. In a collaboration between the team of the Rosetta Project Scientist at the Research and Science Support Department of ESA/ESTEC and the European Space Operations Centre (ESA/ESOC), a concept for the SOC/MOC and their interfaces was developed for the Rosetta mission. This concept is generic enough to allow its implementation also for the other planetary missions. The design phase is now complete, and implementation is on-going. This paper briefly presents the architecture of the complex ground segment, concentrating on the elements required for planning of scientific operations, and then details the software tools EPS (Experiment Planning System) and PTB (Project Test Bed) which are used in the planning process.

  8. Search for pulsations in M dwarfs in the Kepler short-cadence data base

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rodríguez, E.; Rodríguez-López, C.; López-González, M. J.; Amado, P. J.; Ocando, S.; Berdiñas, Z. M.

    2016-04-01

    The results of a search for stellar pulsations in M dwarf stars in the Kepler short-cadence (SC) data base are presented. This investigation covers all the cool and dwarf stars in the list of Dressing & Charbonneau, which were also observed in SC mode by the Kepler satellite. The sample has been enlarged via selection of stellar parameters (temperature, surface gravity and radius) with available Kepler Input Catalogue values together with JHK and riz photometry. In total, 87 objects observed by the Kepler mission in SC mode were selected and analysed using Fourier techniques. The detection threshold is below 10 μmag for the brightest objects and below 20 μmag for about 40 per cent of the stars in the sample. However, no significant signal in the [˜10,100] cd-1 frequency domain that can be reliably attributable to stellar pulsations has been detected. The periodograms have also been investigated for solar-like oscillations in the >100 cd-1 region, but with unsuccessful results too. Despite these inconclusive photometric results, M dwarfs pulsation amplitudes may still be detected in radial velocity searches. State-of-the-art coming instruments, like CARMENES near-infrared high-precision spectrograph, will play a key role in the possible detection.

  9. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler-80 transit timing observations (MacDonald+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    MacDonald, M. G.; Ragozzine, D.; Fabrycky, D. C.; Ford, E. B.; Holman, M. J.; Isaacson, H. T.; Lissauer, J. J.; Lopez, E. D.; Mazeh, T.; Rogers, L.; Rowe, J. F.; Steffen, J. H.; Torres, G.

    2017-05-01

    Kepler-80 was observed photometrically by the Kepler Space Telescope. We had access to several sets of Transit Timing (TT) measurements, including the publicly available data from Rowe & Thompson (arXiv:1504.00707) and Mazeh et al. 2013 (Cat. J/ApJS/208/16). We also had the updated long-cadence TT estimates from the Mazeh group (Holczer et al. 2016, Cat. J/ApJS/225/9) and short-cadence TT data from both co-authors JR and DF. These were all measured using similar methods (see Mazeh et al. 2013, Cat. J/ApJS/208/16) and had no major differences. Spectra were taken of Kepler-80 by Keck and McDonald Observatories, and these spectra and preliminary interpretations are available on the Kepler Community Follow-up Observing Program (CFOP) website (https://cfop.ipac.caltech.edu). We acquired an 1800s high-resolution spectrum with the Keck I telescope and the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) on 2011 July 20. The standard California Planet Search setup and data reduction of HIRES was used, resulting in a S/N of 35 at 5500Å. The C2 decker, with dimensions of 0.87''*14'', was used to allow a resolution of ~60000 and sky subtraction. (5 data files).

  10. An Alternative Way to Achieve Kepler's Laws of Equal Areas and Ellipses for the Earth

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hsiang, W. Y.; Chang, H. C.; Yao, H.; Chen, P. J.

    2011-01-01

    Kepler's laws of planetary motion are acknowledged as highly significant to the construction of universal gravitation. This paper demonstrates different ways to derive the law of equal areas for the Earth by general geometrical and trigonometric methods, which are much simpler than the original derivation depicted by Kepler. The established law of…

  11. The Resilience of Kepler Systems to Stellar Obliquity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spalding, Christopher; Marx, Noah W.; Batygin, Konstantin

    2018-04-01

    The Kepler mission and its successor K2 have brought forth a cascade of transiting planets. Many of these planetary systems exhibit multiple members, but a large fraction possess only a single transiting example. This overabundance of singles has led to the suggestion that up to half of Kepler systems might possess significant mutual inclinations between orbits, reducing the transiting number (the so-called “Kepler Dichotomy”). In a recent paper, Spalding & Batygin demonstrated that the quadrupole moment arising from a young, oblate star is capable of misaligning the constituent orbits of a close-in planetary system enough to reduce their transit number, provided that the stellar spin axis is sufficiently misaligned with respect to the planetary orbital plane. Moreover, tightly packed planetary systems were shown to be susceptible to becoming destabilized during this process. Here, we investigate the ubiquity of the stellar obliquity-driven instability within systems with a range of multiplicities. We find that most planetary systems analyzed, including those possessing only two planets, underwent instability for stellar spin periods below ∼3 days and stellar tilts of order 30°. Moreover, we are able to place upper limits on the stellar obliquity in systems such as K2-38 (obliquity ≲20°), where other methods of measuring the spin–orbit misalignment are not currently available. Given the known parameters of T-Tauri stars, we predict that up to one-half of super-Earth-mass systems may encounter the instability, in general agreement with the fraction typically proposed to explain the observed abundance of single-transiting systems.

  12. The Evaporation Valley in the Kepler Planets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Owen, James E.; Wu, Yanqin

    2017-09-01

    A new piece of evidence supporting the photoevaporation-driven evolution model for low-mass, close-in exoplanets was recently presented by the California-Kepler Survey. The radius distribution of the Kepler planets is shown to be bimodal, with a “valley” separating two peaks at 1.3 and 2.6 R ⊕. Such an “evaporation valley” had been predicted by numerical models previously. Here, we develop a minimal model to demonstrate that this valley results from the following fact: the timescale for envelope erosion is the longest for those planets with hydrogen/helium-rich envelopes that, while only a few percent in weight, double its radius. The timescale falls for envelopes lighter than this because the planet’s radius remains largely constant for tenuous envelopes. The timescale also drops for heavier envelopes because the planet swells up faster than the addition of envelope mass. Photoevaporation therefore herds planets into either bare cores (˜1.3 R ⊕), or those with double the core’s radius (˜2.6 R ⊕). This process mostly occurs during the first 100 Myr when the stars’ high-energy fluxes are high and nearly constant. The observed radius distribution further requires the Kepler planets to be clustered around 3 M ⊕ in mass, born with H/He envelopes more than a few percent in mass, and that their cores are similar to the Earth in composition. Such envelopes must have been accreted before the dispersal of the gas disks, while the core composition indicates formation inside the ice line. Lastly, the photoevaporation model fails to account for bare planets beyond ˜30-60 days; if these planets are abundant, they may point to a significant second channel for planet formation, resembling the solar system terrestrial planets.

  13. The Art and Science of Operational Maneuver,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-05-04

    Classification) The Art and Science of Operational Maneuver (U) 12. PERSONAL AUTHOR(S) MAJ Joseph Schroedel 13a. TYPE OF REPORT 13b. TIME COVERED 14...CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE VA) CL LA S F1 EP {fJE ART ANQ SCIENCE OlF OPERAIl NAL MANUVER By6 Mal or Josepi~ Schroeci, L U. S. Arm~y H Aciv -darILC Ced M ili t...Studies ,nIgz’raph ApprovwA. Name of Student: Major Jonevh Schroedel. U.S. Army Title ot Monograph: The Art and Science of Operational Maneuver Approved By

  14. A new look at the Feynman ‘hodograph’ approach to the Kepler first law

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cariñena, José F.; Rañada, Manuel F.; Santander, Mariano

    2016-03-01

    Hodographs for the Kepler problem are circles. This fact, known for almost two centuries, still provides the simplest path to derive the Kepler first law. Through Feynman’s ‘lost lecture’, this derivation has now reached a wider audience. Here we look again at Feynman’s approach to this problem, as well as the recently suggested modification by van Haandel and Heckman (vHH), with two aims in mind, both of which extend the scope of the approach. First we review the geometric constructions of the Feynman and vHH approaches (that prove the existence of elliptic orbits without making use of integral calculus or differential equations) and then extend the geometric approach to also cover the hyperbolic orbits (corresponding to E\\gt 0). In the second part we analyse the properties of the director circles of the conics, which are used to simplify the approach, and we relate with the properties of the hodographs and Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector the constant of motion specific to the Kepler problem. Finally, we briefly discuss the generalisation of the geometric method to the Kepler problem in configuration spaces of constant curvature, i.e. in the sphere and the hyperbolic plane.

  15. Subtle flickering in Cepheids: Kepler and MOST

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Evans, Nancy Remage; Szabó, Robert; Szabados, Laszlo; Derekas, Aliz; Matthews, Jaymie M.; Cameron, Chris; the MOST Team

    2014-02-01

    Fundamental mode classical Cepheids have light curves which repeat accurately enough that we can watch them evolve (change period). The new level of accuracy and quantity of data with the Kepler and MOST satellites probes this further. An intriguing result was found in the long time-series of Kepler data for V1154 Cyg the one classical Cepheid (fundamental mode, P = 4.9 d) in the field, which has short term changes in period (~=20 minutes), correlated for ~=10 cycles (period jitter). To follow this up, we obtained a month long series of observations of the fundamental mode Cepheid RT Aur and the first overtone pulsator SZ Tau. RT Aur shows the traditional strict repetition of the light curve, with the Fourier amplitude ratio R 1/R 2 remaining nearly constant. The light curve of SZ Tau, on the other hand, fluctuates in amplitude ratio at the level of approximately 50%. Furthermore prewhitening the RT Aur data with 10 frequencies reduces the Fourier spectrum to noise. For SZ Tau, considerable power is left after this prewhitening in a complicated variety of frequencies.

  16. NASA Extends Chandra Science and Operations Support Contract

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    2010-01-01

    NASA has extended a contract with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., to provide science and operational support for the Chandra X-ray Observatory, a powerful tool used to better understand the structure and evolution of the universe. The contract extension with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory provides continued science and operations support to Chandra. This approximately 172 million modification brings the total value of the contract to approximately 545 million for the base effort. The base effort period of performance will continue through Sept. 30, 2013, except for the work associated with the administration of scientific research grants, which will extend through Feb. 28, 2016. The contract type is cost reimbursement with no fee. In addition to the base effort, the contract includes two options for three years each to extend the period of performance for an additional six years. Option 1 is priced at approximately 177 million and Option 2 at approximately 191 million, for a total possible contract value of about $913 million. The contract covers mission operations and data analysis, which includes observatory operations, science data processing and astronomer support. The operations tasks include monitoring the health and status of the observatory and developing and uplinking the observation sequences during Chandra's communication coverage periods. The science data processing tasks include the competitive selection, planning and coordination of science observations and processing and delivery of the resulting scientific data. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala, manages the Chandra program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations. For more information about the Chandra X-ray Observatory visit: http://chandra.nasa.gov

  17. The Mass of Kepler-93b and The Composition of Terrestrial Planets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dressing, Courtney D.; Charbonneau, David; Dumusque, Xavier; Gettel, Sara; Pepe, Francesco; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Latham, David W.; Molinari, Emilio; Udry, Stéphane; Affer, Laura; Bonomo, Aldo S.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Cosentino, Rosario; Figueira, Pedro; Fiorenzano, Aldo F. M.; Harutyunyan, Avet; Haywood, Raphaëlle D.; Johnson, John Asher; Lopez-Morales, Mercedes; Lovis, Christophe; Malavolta, Luca; Mayor, Michel; Micela, Giusi; Motalebi, Fatemeh; Nascimbeni, Valerio; Phillips, David F.; Piotto, Giampaolo; Pollacco, Don; Queloz, Didier; Rice, Ken; Sasselov, Dimitar; Ségransan, Damien; Sozzetti, Alessandro; Szentgyorgyi, Andrew; Watson, Chris

    2015-02-01

    Kepler-93b is a 1.478 ± 0.019 R ⊕ planet with a 4.7 day period around a bright (V = 10.2), astroseismically characterized host star with a mass of 0.911 ± 0.033 M ⊙ and a radius of 0.919 ± 0.011 R ⊙. Based on 86 radial velocity observations obtained with the HARPS-N spectrograph on the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and 32 archival Keck/HIRES observations, we present a precise mass estimate of 4.02 ± 0.68 M ⊕. The corresponding high density of 6.88 ± 1.18 g cm-3 is consistent with a rocky composition of primarily iron and magnesium silicate. We compare Kepler-93b to other dense planets with well-constrained parameters and find that between 1 and 6 M ⊕, all dense planets including the Earth and Venus are well-described by the same fixed ratio of iron to magnesium silicate. There are as of yet no examples of such planets with masses >6 M ⊕. All known planets in this mass regime have lower densities requiring significant fractions of volatiles or H/He gas. We also constrain the mass and period of the outer companion in the Kepler-93 system from the long-term radial velocity trend and archival adaptive optics images. As the sample of dense planets with well-constrained masses and radii continues to grow, we will be able to test whether the fixed compositional model found for the seven dense planets considered in this paper extends to the full population of 1-6 M ⊕ planets. Based on observations made with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) operated on the island of La Palma by the Fundación Galileo Galilei of the INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.

  18. The Conservation Principles and Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Motz, Lloyd

    1975-01-01

    Derives Kepler's three laws of planetary motion algebraically from conservation principles without introducing Newton's law of force explicitly. This procedure can be presented to students who have had no more than high school algebra. (Author)

  19. Selenate as a novel ligand for keplerate chemistry. New {W72Mo60} keplerates with selenates inside the cavity.

    PubMed

    Korenev, Vladimir S; Abramov, Pavel A; Vicent, Cristian; Zhdanov, Artem A; Tsygankova, Alphiya R; Sokolov, Maxim N; Fedin, Vladimir P

    2015-05-21

    The synthesis and characterization of three novel keplerate-type compounds containing the {W72Mo60} mixed-metal core are reported. Complexes (NH4)72[{W6O21(H2O)6}12{Mo2O4(SeO4)}30]·150H2O·6(NH4)2SeO4 (1a) and (NH4)25(NH2Me2)47[{W6O21(H2O)6}12{Mo2O4(SeO4)}30]·130H2O·3(NH4)2SeO4 (1b) were prepared by ligand substitution from the acetate anionic complex [{W6O21(H2O)5(CH3COO)0.5}12{Mo2O4(CH3COO)}30](48-) and selenate. The selenate anions in keplerate ions [{W6O21(H2O)6}12{Mo2O4(SeO4)}30](72-) are very labile and easily aquate with the formation of [{W6O21(H2O)6}12{Mo2O4}30(SeO4)20(H2O)20](52-), which was isolated as (NH4)20(NH2Me2)32[{W6O21(H2O)6}12{Mo2O4}30(SeO4)20(H2O)20]·150H2O (2) and structurally characterized. In the crystal structure of 2 selenate has several coordination modes, preferentially bonding to the {Mo2O4}(2+) units, and, additionally, to the {(W)W5} pentagonal blocks. The compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, Raman, IR and (77)Se NMR spectroscopy, and by ESI mass spectrometry. Capillary electrophoresis was used for characterization of keplerates in solution for the first time.

  20. A Photometric Study of 1134 Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pilcher, Frederick; Benishek, Vladimir

    2018-04-01

    Minor planet 1134 Kepler has a synodic rotation period 2.7545 hours and amplitude increasing from 0.12 to 0.18 magnitudes in the interval 2017 Aug. 26 – Nov. 22. Superimposed upon the short rotation period is a 0.45 magnitude fading that we attribute to its movement in the sky from a more polar to a more equatorial line of sight, suggesting a somewhat flat shape for this object.

  1. Kepler Commissioning Data for Measurement of the Pixel Response Function and Focal Plane Geometry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bryson, Stephen T.

    2017-01-01

    This document describes the Kepler PRF/FPG data release. This data was taken on April 27-29, 2009, during Kepler's commissioning phase in order to measure the pixel response function (PRF) (Bryson et al., 2010a) and focal plane geometry (FPG) (Tenenbaum and Jenkins, 2010). 33,424 stellar targets were observed for 243 long cadences, each with a duration of 14.7 minutes (half the duration of a normal Kepler long cadence). During these 243 cadences the Kepler photometer was moved, pointing in a dither pattern to facilitate PRF measurement. Motion occurred during the even cadences (second, fourth, etc.), with the telescope in stable fine point at each pointing in the dither pattern during the odd cadences (first, third, etc.). The first and last cadences were at the center of the dither pattern. Motion cadences are included in this release, but they do not contain any data. For details on how this data was used to derive the Kepler PRF and FPG models, see Bryson et al. (2010a) and Tenenbaum and Jenkins (2010). Descriptions of the PRF and FPG models are found in Thompson et al. (2016), x2.3.5.17 and x2.3.5.16 respectively. The data in this release can be used to recompute the Kepler PRF and FPG. Such a reconstruction, however, would not reflect measured seasonal changes in the PRF described in Van Cleve et al. (2016b), x5.2.The dither pattern is shown in Figure 1. The crosses show the commanded pointings and the circles show the measured pointings. Measured pointings are different from the commanded pointings due to the early state of calibration of the fine guidance sensors during commissioning (Van Cleve et al., 2016a). The measured offsets from the center of the pattern are given in RADEC offsets and pixel offsets in Table 1. The order of the offsets was randomized during data collection to avoid time-dependent systematics.

  2. Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Science Operation Center

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wong, G. S.; Kronberg, F. A.; Meriwether, H. D.; Wong, L. S.; Grassi, C. L.

    1993-01-01

    The EUVE Science Operations Center (ESOC) is a satellite payload operations center for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer project, located on the Berkeley campus of the University of California. The ESOC has the primary responsibility for commanding the EUVE telescopes and monitoring their telemetry. The ESOC is one of a very few university-based satellite operations facilities operating with NASA. This article describes the history, operation, and advantages of the ESOC as an on-campus operations center.

  3. 2014 Summer Series - Jon Jenkins - Chasing Shadow Worlds: Exoplanets from Kepler and Beyond

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-08-14

    Twenty years ago, there were no planets known outside our own solar system. Since then, the discoveries of about 1500 planets orbiting other stars have radically altered our views of planets and planetary systems. This revolution in knowledge is due in no small part to the Kepler Mission, which has discovered over 950 of these planets and over 3000 planet candidates. This talk will review the greatest hits of Kepler and peek into the future of exoplanets.

  4. Kepler and Ground-Based Transits of the exo-Neptune HAT-P-11b

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Deming, Drake; Sada, Pedro V.; Jackson, Brian; Peterson, Steven W.; Agol, Eric; Knutson, Heather A.; Jennings, Donald E.; Haase, Plynn; Bays, Kevin

    2011-01-01

    We analyze 26 archival Kepler transits of the exo-Neptune HAT-P-11b, supplemented by ground-based transits observed in the blue (B band) and near-IR (J band). Both the planet and host star are smaller than previously believed; our analysis yields Rp = 4.31 R xor 0.06 R xor and Rs = 0.683 R solar mass 0.009 R solar mass, both about 3 sigma smaller than the discovery values. Our ground-based transit data at wavelengths bracketing the Kepler bandpass serve to check the wavelength dependence of stellar limb darkening, and the J-band transit provides a precise and independent constraint on the transit duration. Both the limb darkening and transit duration from our ground-based data are consistent with the new Kepler values for the system parameters. Our smaller radius for the planet implies that its gaseous envelope can be less extensive than previously believed, being very similar to the H-He envelope of GJ 436b and Kepler-4b. HAT-P-11 is an active star, and signatures of star spot crossings are ubiquitous in the Kepler transit data. We develop and apply a methodology to correct the planetary radius for the presence of both crossed and uncrossed star spots. Star spot crossings are concentrated at phases 0.002 and +0.006. This is consistent with inferences from Rossiter-McLaughlin measurements that the planet transits nearly perpendicular to the stellar equator. We identify the dominant phases of star spot crossings with active latitudes on the star, and infer that the stellar rotational pole is inclined at about 12 deg 5 deg to the plane of the sky. We point out that precise transit measurements over long durations could in principle allow us to construct a stellar Butterfly diagram to probe the cyclic evolution of magnetic activity on this active K-dwarf star.

  5. Detecting non-uniform period spacings in the Kepler photometry of γ Doradus stars: methodology and case studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Reeth, T.; Tkachenko, A.; Aerts, C.; Pápics, P. I.; Degroote, P.; Debosscher, J.; Zwintz, K.; Bloemen, S.; De Smedt, K.; Hrudkova, M.; Raskin, G.; Van Winckel, H.

    2015-02-01

    Context. The analysis of stellar oscillations is one of the most reliable ways to probe stellar interiors. Recent space missions such as Kepler have provided us with an opportunity to study these oscillations with unprecedented detail. For many multi-periodic pulsators such as γ Doradus stars, this led to the detection of dozens to hundreds of oscillation frequencies that could not be found from ground-based observations. Aims: We aim to detect non-uniform period spacings in the Fourier spectra of a sample of γ Doradus stars observed by Kepler. Such detection is complicated by both the large number of significant frequencies in the space photometry and by overlapping non-equidistant rotationally split multiplets. Methods: Guided by theoretical properties of gravity-mode oscillation of γ Doradus stars, we developed a period-spacing detection method and applied it to Kepler observations of a few stars, after having tested the performance from simulations. Results: The application of the technique resulted in the clear detection of non-uniform period spacing series for three out of the five treated Kepler targets. Disadvantages of the technique are also discussed, and include the disability to distinguish between different values of the spherical degree and azimuthal order of the oscillation modes without additional theoretical modelling. Conclusions: Despite the shortcomings, the method is shown to allow solid detections of period spacings for γ Doradus stars, which will allow future asteroseismic analyses of these stars. Based on data gathered with the NASA Discovery mission Kepler and the HERMES spectrograph, which is installed at the Mercator Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma by the Flemish Community at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and supported by the Fund for Scientific Research of Flanders (FWO), Belgium, the Research Council of KU Leuven, Belgium, the Fonds National de la

  6. The Final Kepler Planet Candidate Catalog (DR25)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Coughlin, Jeffrey; Thompson, Susan E.; Kepler Team

    2017-06-01

    We present Kepler's final planet candidate catalog, which is based on the Q1--Q17 DR25 data release and was created to allow for accurate calculations of planetary occurrence rates. We discuss improvements made to our fully automated candidate vetting procedure, which yields specific categories of false positives and a disposition score value to indicate decision confidence. We present the use of light curve inversion and scrambling, in addition to our continued use of pixel-level transit injection, to produce artificial planet candidates and false positives. Since these simulated data sets were subjected to the same automated vetting procedure as the real data set, we are able to measure both the completeness and reliability of the catalog. The DR25 catalog, source code, and a multitude of completeness and reliability data products are available at the Exoplanet Archive (http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu). The DR25 light curves and pixel-level data are available at MAST (http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler).

  7. Kepler Flares. IV. A Comprehensive Analysis of the Activity of the dM4e Star GJ 1243

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Silverberg, Steven M.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Davenport, James R. A.; Wisniewski, John P.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hilton, Eric J.

    2016-10-01

    We present a comprehensive study of the active dM4e star GJ 1243. We use previous observations and ground-based echelle spectroscopy to determine that GJ 1243 is a member of the Argus association of field stars, suggesting it is ∼ 30{--}50 {{Myr}} old. We analyze 11 months of 1 minute cadence data from Kepler, presenting Kepler flare frequency distributions, as well as determining correlations between flare energy, amplitude, duration, and decay time. We find that the exponent α of the power-law flare energy distribution varies in time, primarily due to completeness of sample and the low frequency of high-energy flares. We also find a deviation from a single power law at high energy. We use ground-based spectroscopic observations that were simultaneous with the Kepler data to provide simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic analysis of three low-energy flares, the lowest-energy dMe flares with detailed spectral analysis to date on any star. The spectroscopic data from these flares extend constraints for radiative hydrodynamic flare models to a lower energy regime than has previously been studied. We use this simultaneous spectroscopy and Kepler photometry to develop approximate conversions from the Kepler bandpass to the traditional U and B bands. This conversion will be a critical factor in comparing any Kepler flare analyses to the canon of previous ground-based flare studies.

  8. NEEMO 20: Science Training, Operations, and Tool Development

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Graff, T.; Miller, M.; Rodriguez-Lanetty, M.; Chappell, S.; Naids, A.; Hood, A.; Coan, D.; Abell, P.; Reagan, M.; Janoiko, B.

    2016-01-01

    The 20th mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) was a highly integrated evaluation of operational protocols and tools designed to enable future exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. NEEMO 20 was conducted from the Aquarius habitat off the coast of Key Largo, FL in July 2015. The habitat and its surroundings provide a convincing analog for space exploration. A crew of six (comprised of astronauts, engineers, and habitat technicians) lived and worked in and around the unique underwater laboratory over a mission duration of 14-days. Incorporated into NEEMO 20 was a diverse Science Team (ST) comprised of geoscientists from the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES/XI) Division from the Johnson Space Center (JSC), as well as marine scientists from the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University (FIU). This team trained the crew on the science to be conducted, defined sampling techniques and operational procedures, and planned and coordinated the science focused Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs). The primary science objectives of NEEMO 20 was to study planetary sampling techniques and tools in partial gravity environments under realistic mission communication time delays and operational pressures. To facilitate these objectives two types of science sites were employed 1) geoscience sites with available rocks and regolith for testing sampling procedures and tools and, 2) marine science sites dedicated to specific research focused on assessing the photosynthetic capability of corals and their genetic connectivity between deep and shallow reefs. These marine sites and associated research objectives included deployment of handheld instrumentation, context descriptions, imaging, and sampling; thus acted as a suitable proxy for planetary surface exploration activities. This abstract briefly summarizes the scientific training, scientific operations, and tool

  9. Motions of Kepler circumbinary planets in restricted three-body problem under radiating primaries

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dermawan, B., E-mail: budider@as.itb.ac.id; Hidayat, T., E-mail: taufiq@as.itb.ac.id; Huda, I. N., E-mail: ibnu.nurul@students.itb.ac.id

    2015-09-30

    By observing continuously a single field of view in the sky, Kepler mission reveals outstanding results on discoveries of exoplanets. One of its recent progress is the discoveries of circumbinary planets. A circumbinary planet is an exoplanet that moves around a binary system. In this study we investigate motions of Kepler circumbinary planets belong to six binary systems, namely Kepler-16, -34, -35, -38, -47, and -413. The motions are considered to follow the Restricted Three-Body Problem (RTBP). Because the primaries (central massive objects) are stars, they are both radiatives, while the planet is an infinitesimal object. The primaries move inmore » nearly circular and elliptic orbits with respect to their center of masses. We describe, in general, motions of the circumbinary planets in RTBP under radiating primaries. With respect to the averaged zero velocity curves, we show that motions of the exoplanets are stable, in accordance with their Hill stabilities.« less

  10. That's How We Roll: The NASA K2 Mission Science Products and Their Performance Metrics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Van Cleve, Jeffrey E.; Howell, Steve B.; Smith, Jeffrey C.; Clarke, Bruce D.; Thompson, Susan E.; Bryson, Stephen T.; Lund, Mikkel N.; Handberg, Rasmus; Chaplin, William J.

    2016-07-01

    curves derived from K2 archive calibrated pixels have high-frequency noise amplitude within 40% of that achieved by Kepler. The improvements in K2 operations and science data analysis resulting from 1.5 years of experience with this new mission concept, and quantified by the metrics in this paper, will support continuation of K2's already high level of scientific productivity in an extended K2 mission.

  11. Philippus Feselius - Biographical notes on the unknown medicus of Kepler's Tertius Interveniens. (German Title: Philippus Feselius - Biographische Notizen zum unbekannten Medicus aus Keplers Tertius Interveniens)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lenke, Nils; Roudet, Nicolas

    Until now, Philipp Feselius has been perceived only indirectly as Kepler's antagonist. Not much is known about his life besides his work as Baden private physician and his book against astrology which was cited intensely in Kepler's «Tertius Interveniens». This paper traces the stations of his career as a physician, about his presumable provenance and education in Strasbourg, his academic career in Tübingen, Strasbourg, Rostock and Padua, the doctorate in Basel in 1592, up to his employment, in 1599, as a court physician in Sulzburg and later in Durlach. Further hand-written and printed traces of Feselius are presented, and his social environment is investigated so that his personality becomes clearer, and relations can be established between his education and his writing against astrology.

  12. Art or Science: Operational Logistics as Applied to Op Art

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-02-13

    FINAL 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Art or Science : Operational Logistics as Applied to Op Art 5a. CONTRACT... Art or Science ? Operational Logistics as applied to Operational Art By Milo L. Shank Major, USMC A paper submitted to the...than just a science . Keeping Thorpe’s work in context, it was written circa World War One, before Operational Art was an established and accepted

  13. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler planetary candidates. V. 3yr Q1-Q12 (Rowe+, 2015)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rowe, J. F.; Coughlin, J. L.; Antoci, V.; Barclay, T.; Batalha, N. M.; Borucki, W. J.; Burke, C. J.; Bryson, S. T.; Caldwell, D. A.; Campbell, J. R.; Catanzarite, J. H.; Christiansen, J. L.; Cochran, W.; Gilliland, R. L.; Girouard, F. R.; Haas, M. R.; Helminiak, K. G.; Henze, C. E.; Hoffman, K. L.; Howell, S. B.; Huber, D.; Hunter, R. C.; Jang-Condell, H.; Jenkins, J. M.; Klaus, T. C.; Latham, D. W.; Li, J.; Lissauer, J. J.; McCauliff, S. D.; Morris, R. L.; Mullally, F.; Ofir, A.; Quarles, B.; Quintana, E.; Sabale, A.; Seader, S.; Shporer, A.; Smith, J. C.; Steffen, J. H.; Still, M.; Tenenbaum, P.; Thompson, S. E.; Twicken, J. D.; van Laerhoven, C.; Wolfgang, A.; Zamudio, K. A.

    2015-04-01

    We began with the transit-event candidate list from Tenenbaum et al. (2013ApJS..206....5T) based on a wavelet, adaptive matched filter to search 192313 Kepler targets for periodic drops in flux indicative of a transiting planet. Detections are known as Threshold Crossing Events (TCEs). Tenenbaum et al. utilized three years of Kepler photometric observations (Q1-Q12) -the same data span employed by this study based on SOC 8.3 as part of Data Release 21 (Thompson S. E., Christiansen J. L., Jenkins J. M. et al. Kepler (KSCI-19061-001)). (3 data files).

  14. Inferring Planet Occurrence Rates With a Q1-Q17 Kepler Planet Candidate Catalog Produced by a Machine Learning Classifier

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Catanzarite, Joseph; Jenkins, Jon Michael; McCauliff, Sean D.; Burke, Christopher; Bryson, Steve; Batalha, Natalie; Coughlin, Jeffrey; Rowe, Jason; mullally, fergal; thompson, susan; Seader, Shawn; Twicken, Joseph; Li, Jie; morris, robert; smith, jeffrey; haas, michael; christiansen, jessie; Clarke, Bruce

    2015-08-01

    NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope monitored the photometric variations of over 170,000 stars, at half-hour cadence, over its four-year prime mission. The Kepler pipeline calibrates the pixels of the target apertures for each star, produces light curves with simple aperture photometry, corrects for systematic error, and detects threshold-crossing events (TCEs) that may be due to transiting planets. The pipeline estimates planet parameters for all TCEs and computes diagnostics used by the Threshold Crossing Event Review Team (TCERT) to produce a catalog of objects that are deemed either likely transiting planet candidates or false positives.We created a training set from the Q1-Q12 and Q1-Q16 TCERT catalogs and an ensemble of synthetic transiting planets that were injected at the pixel level into all 17 quarters of data, and used it to train a random forest classifier. The classifier uniformly and consistently applies diagnostics developed by the Transiting Planet Search and Data Validation pipeline components and by TCERT to produce a robust catalog of planet candidates.The characteristics of the planet candidates detected by Kepler (planet radius and period) do not reflect the intrinsic planet population. Detection efficiency is a function of SNR, so the set of detected planet candidates is incomplete. Transit detection preferentially finds close-in planets with nearly edge-on orbits and misses planets whose orbital geometry precludes transits. Reliability of the planet candidates must also be considered, as they may be false positives. Errors in detected planet radius and in assumed star properties can also bias inference of intrinsic planet population characteristics.In this work we infer the intrinsic planet population, starting with the catalog of detected planet candidates produced by our random forest classifier, and accounting for detection biases and reliabilities as well as for radius errors in the detected population.Kepler was selected as the 10th mission

  15. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler-10 RV measurements by HARPS-N (Dumusque+, 2014)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dumusque, X.; Bonomo, A. S.; Haywood, R. D.; Malavolta, L.; Segransan, D.; Buchhave, L. A.; Collier, Cameron A.; Latham, D. W.; Molinari, E.; Pepe, F.; Udry, S.; Charbonneau, D.; Cosentino, R.; Dressing, C. D.; Figueira, P.; Fiorenzano, A. F. M.; Gettel, S.; Harutyunyan, A.; Horne, K.; Lopez-Morales, M.; Lovis, C.; Mayor, M.; Micela, G.; Motalebi, F.; Nascimbeni, V.; Phillips, D. F.; Piotto, G.; Pollacco, D.; Queloz, D.; Rice, K.; Sasselov, D.; Sozzetti, A.; Szentgyorgyi, A.; Watson, C.

    2017-03-01

    We monitored the RV variation of Kepler-10 with the HARPS-N spectrograph installed on the 3.57-m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma Island, Spain (Cosentino et al. 2012SPIE.8446E..1VC). This instrument is an updated version of the original HARPS planet hunter installed on the 3.6-m telescope at the European Southern Observatory on La Silla, Chile (Mayor et al. 2003Msngr.114...20M). Just like its older brother, the HARPS-N instrument is an ultra-stable fiber-fed high-resolution (R = 115,000) optical echelle spectrograph optimized for the measurement of very precise RVs. The use of a more modern monolithic 4kx4k CCD enclosed in a more temperature stable cryostat, and the use of octagonal fibers for a better scrambling of the incoming light fed into the spectrograph should improve the precision of the instrument compared to HARPS. Scientific operations began at HARPS-N in 2012 August. Over the first two observing seasons, we obtained 157 RV measurements of Kepler-10. Four observations that were obtained during bad weather conditions had very low signal to noise (S/N, <10) and were rejected. (1 data file).

  16. Crystallization of a Keplerate-type polyoxometalate into a superposed kagome-lattice with huge channels.

    PubMed

    Saito, Masaki; Ozeki, Tomoji

    2012-09-07

    Crystal structures of two Sr(2+) salts of the Keplerate-type polyoxometalate, [Mo(VI)(72)Mo(V)(60)O(372)(CH(3)COO)(30)(H(2)O)(72)](42-), have been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. One compound exhibits a superposed kagome-lattice with huge channels whose diameters measure approximately 3.0 nm, while the arrangement of the Keplerate anions in the other compound approximates to a distorted cubic close packing.

  17. Planning Bepicolombo MPO Science Operations to study Mercury Interior

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    De La Fuente, Sara; Carasa, Angela; Ortiz, Iñaki; Rodriguez, Pedro; Casale, Mauro; Benkhoff, Johannes; Zender, Joe

    2017-04-01

    BepiColombo is an Interdisciplinary Cornerstone ESA-JAXA Mission to Mercury, with two orbiters, the ESA Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the JAXA Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) dedicated to study of the planet and its magnetosphere. The MPO, is a three-axis-stabilized, nadir-pointing spacecraft which will be placed in a polar orbit, providing excellent spatial resolution over the entire planet surface. The MPO's scientific payload comprises 11 instrument packages, including laser altimeter, cameras and the radio science experiment that will be dedicated to the study of Mercury's interior: structure, composition, formation and evolution. The planning of the science operations to be carried out by the Mercury's interior scientific instruments will be done by the SGS located at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), in conjunction with the scientific instrument teams. The process will always consider the complete nominal mission duration, such that the contribution of the scheduled science operations to the science objectives, the total data volume generated, and the seasonal interdependency, can be tracked. The heart of the science operations planning process is the Observations Catalogue (OC), a web-accessed database to collect and analyse all science operations requests. From the OC, the SGS will first determine all science opportunity windows compatible with the spacecraft operational constraints. Secondly, only those compatible with the resources (power and data volume) and pointing constraints will be chosen, including slew feasibility.

  18. The 2010 Desert Rats Science Operations Test: Outcomes and Lessons Learned

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Eppler, D. B.

    2011-01-01

    The Desert RATS 2010 Team tested a variety of science operations management techniques, applying experience gained during the manned Apollo missions and the robotic Mars missions. This test assessed integrated science operations management of human planetary exploration using real-time, tactical science operations to oversee daily crew science activities, and a night shift strategic science operations team to conduct strategic level assessment of science data and daily traverse results. In addition, an attempt was made to collect numerical metric data on the outcome of the science operations to assist test evaluation. The two most important outcomes were 1) the production of significant (almost overwhelming) volume of data produced during daily traverse operations with two rovers, advanced imaging systems and well trained, scientifically proficient crew-members, and 2) the degree to which the tactical team s interaction with the surface crew enhanced science return. This interaction depended on continuous real-time voice and data communications, and the quality of science return from any human planetary exploration mission will be based strongly on the aggregate interaction between a well trained surface crew and a dedicated science operations support team using voice and imaging data from a planet s surface. In addition, the scientific insight developed by both the science operations team and the crews could not be measurable by simple numerical quantities, and its value will be missed by a purely metric-based evaluation of test outcome. In particular, failure to recognize the critical importance of this qualitative type interaction may result in mission architecture choices that will reduce science return.

  19. SPIN–ORBIT MISALIGNMENT AS A DRIVER OF THE KEPLER DICHOTOMY

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Spalding, Christopher; Batygin, Konstantin

    2016-10-10

    During its five-year mission, the Kepler spacecraft has uncovered a diverse population of planetary systems with orbital configurations ranging from single-transiting planets to systems of multiple planets co-transiting the parent star. By comparing the relative occurrences of multiple to single-transiting systems, recent analyses have revealed a significant over-abundance of singles. Dubbed the “ Kepler Dichotomy,” this feature has been interpreted as evidence for two separate populations of planetary systems: one where all orbits are confined to a single plane, and a second where the constituent planetary orbits possess significant mutual inclinations, allowing only a single member to be observed inmore » transit at a given epoch. In this work, we demonstrate that stellar obliquity, excited within the disk-hosting stage, can explain this dichotomy. Young stars rotate rapidly, generating a significant quadrupole moment, which torques the planetary orbits, with inner planets influenced more strongly. Given nominal parameters, this torque is sufficiently strong to excite significant mutual inclinations between planets, enhancing the number of single-transiting planets, sometimes through a dynamical instability. Furthermore, as hot stars appear to possess systematically higher obliquities, we predict that single-transiting systems should be relatively more prevalent around more massive stars. We analyze the Kepler data and confirm this signal to be present.« less

  20. Exploring exoplanet populations with NASA's Kepler Mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Batalha, Natalie M.

    2014-09-01

    The Kepler Mission is exploring the diversity of planets and planetary systems. Its legacy will be a catalog of discoveries sufficient for computing planet occurrence rates as a function of size, orbital period, star type, and insolation flux. The mission has made significant progress toward achieving that goal. Over 3,500 transiting exoplanets have been identified from the analysis of the first 3 y of data, 100 planets of which are in the habitable zone. The catalog has a high reliability rate (85-90% averaged over the period/radius plane), which is improving as follow-up observations continue. Dynamical (e.g., velocimetry and transit timing) and statistical methods have confirmed and characterized hundreds of planets over a large range of sizes and compositions for both single- and multiple-star systems. Population studies suggest that planets abound in our galaxy and that small planets are particularly frequent. Here, I report on the progress Kepler has made measuring the prevalence of exoplanets orbiting within one astronomical unit of their host stars in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's long-term goal of finding habitable environments beyond the solar system.

  1. Exploring exoplanet populations with NASA's Kepler Mission.

    PubMed

    Batalha, Natalie M

    2014-09-02

    The Kepler Mission is exploring the diversity of planets and planetary systems. Its legacy will be a catalog of discoveries sufficient for computing planet occurrence rates as a function of size, orbital period, star type, and insolation flux. The mission has made significant progress toward achieving that goal. Over 3,500 transiting exoplanets have been identified from the analysis of the first 3 y of data, 100 planets of which are in the habitable zone. The catalog has a high reliability rate (85-90% averaged over the period/radius plane), which is improving as follow-up observations continue. Dynamical (e.g., velocimetry and transit timing) and statistical methods have confirmed and characterized hundreds of planets over a large range of sizes and compositions for both single- and multiple-star systems. Population studies suggest that planets abound in our galaxy and that small planets are particularly frequent. Here, I report on the progress Kepler has made measuring the prevalence of exoplanets orbiting within one astronomical unit of their host stars in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's long-term goal of finding habitable environments beyond the solar system.

  2. Workflows for microarray data processing in the Kepler environment.

    PubMed

    Stropp, Thomas; McPhillips, Timothy; Ludäscher, Bertram; Bieda, Mark

    2012-05-17

    Microarray data analysis has been the subject of extensive and ongoing pipeline development due to its complexity, the availability of several options at each analysis step, and the development of new analysis demands, including integration with new data sources. Bioinformatics pipelines are usually custom built for different applications, making them typically difficult to modify, extend and repurpose. Scientific workflow systems are intended to address these issues by providing general-purpose frameworks in which to develop and execute such pipelines. The Kepler workflow environment is a well-established system under continual development that is employed in several areas of scientific research. Kepler provides a flexible graphical interface, featuring clear display of parameter values, for design and modification of workflows. It has capabilities for developing novel computational components in the R, Python, and Java programming languages, all of which are widely used for bioinformatics algorithm development, along with capabilities for invoking external applications and using web services. We developed a series of fully functional bioinformatics pipelines addressing common tasks in microarray processing in the Kepler workflow environment. These pipelines consist of a set of tools for GFF file processing of NimbleGen chromatin immunoprecipitation on microarray (ChIP-chip) datasets and more comprehensive workflows for Affymetrix gene expression microarray bioinformatics and basic primer design for PCR experiments, which are often used to validate microarray results. Although functional in themselves, these workflows can be easily customized, extended, or repurposed to match the needs of specific projects and are designed to be a toolkit and starting point for specific applications. These workflows illustrate a workflow programming paradigm focusing on local resources (programs and data) and therefore are close to traditional shell scripting or R

  3. VALIDATION OF 12 SMALL KEPLER TRANSITING PLANETS IN THE HABITABLE ZONE

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Torres, Guillermo; Kipping, David M.; Fressin, Francois

    We present an investigation of 12 candidate transiting planets from Kepler with orbital periods ranging from 34 to 207 days, selected from initial indications that they are small and potentially in the habitable zone (HZ) of their parent stars. Few of these objects are known. The expected Doppler signals are too small to confirm them by demonstrating that their masses are in the planetary regime. Here we verify their planetary nature by validating them statistically using the BLENDER technique, which simulates large numbers of false positives and compares the resulting light curves with the Kepler photometry. This analysis was supplemented withmore » new follow-up observations (high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, adaptive optics imaging, and speckle interferometry), as well as an analysis of the flux centroids. For 11 of them (KOI-0571.05, 1422.04, 1422.05, 2529.02, 3255.01, 3284.01, 4005.01, 4087.01, 4622.01, 4742.01, and 4745.01) we show that the likelihood they are true planets is far greater than that of a false positive, to a confidence level of 99.73% (3σ) or higher. For KOI-4427.01 the confidence level is about 99.2% (2.6σ). With our accurate characterization of the GKM host stars, the derived planetary radii range from 1.1 to 2.7 R {sub ⊕}. All 12 objects are confirmed to be in the HZ, and nine are small enough to be rocky. Excluding three of them that have been previously validated by others, our study doubles the number of known rocky planets in the HZ. KOI-3284.01 (Kepler-438b) and KOI-4742.01 (Kepler-442b) are the planets most similar to the Earth discovered to date when considering their size and incident flux jointly.« less

  4. FBEYE: Analyzing Kepler light curves and validating flares

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnson, Emily; Davenport, James R. A.; Hawley, Suzanne L.

    2017-12-01

    FBEYE, the "Flares By-Eye" detection suite, is written in IDL and analyzes Kepler light curves and validates flares. It works on any 3-column light curve that contains time, flux, and error. The success of flare identification is highly dependent on the smoothing routine, which may not be suitable for all sources.

  5. Pulsating star products from the Palomar Transient Factory: Ultra-long period Cepheids in M31 and RR Lyrae in Kepler field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ngeow, Chow-Choong

    2017-09-01

    The Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and its successor, the intermediate PTF (iPTF), are wide-field synoptic sky surveys aimed to detect transients. Even though the main science goal for PTF/iPTF is to detect various types of transients, the synoptic nature of the surveys can also be used for the study of variable stars. In this proceedings contribution, I will first give a brief introduction to PTF/iPTF, followed by the two pulsating stars studies using the PTF/iPTF data: the Ultra-Long Period Cepheids (ULPC) in M31 and the RR Lyrae in the Kepler field. For the formal study, we searched the M31's ULPC using PTF imaging data, and follow up the candidates with other telescopes. Our finding revealed that there are only two ULPC in M31. I will give a brief implication of our finding in distance scale studies. For the latter study, I will present our work on the derivation of metallicity-light curve relation in native PTF/iPTF R-band using the RRab stars in the Kepler field.

  6. VizieR Online Data Catalog: de Houtman, Kepler and Halley star catalogs (Verbunt+ 2011)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Verbunt, F.; van Gent, R. H.

    2011-04-01

    We present Machine-readable versions of the star catalogues of de Houtman (1602), Kepler (1627: Secunda Classis and Tertia Classis) and Halley (1679). In addition to the data from the Historical catalogue, the machine-readable version contains the modern identification with a Hipparcos star and the latter's magnitude, and based on this identification the positional accuracy. For Kepler's catalogues we also give cross references to the catalogue of Ptolemaios (in the edition by Toomer 1998). (4 data files).

  7. PROBING THE DEEP END OF THE MILKY WAY WITH KEPLER : ASTEROSEISMIC ANALYSIS OF 854 FAINT RED GIANTS MISCLASSIFIED AS COOL DWARFS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mathur, S.; García, R. A.; Beck, P. G.

    Asteroseismology has proven to be an excellent tool to determine not only global stellar properties with good precision, but also to infer the stellar structure, dynamics, and evolution for a large sample of Kepler stars. Prior to the launch of the mission, the properties of Kepler targets were inferred from broadband photometry, leading to the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC). The KIC was later revised in the Kepler Star Properties Catalog, based on literature values and an asteroseismic analysis of stars that were unclassified in the KIC. Here, we present an asteroseismic analysis of 45,400 stars that were classified as dwarfsmore » in the Kepler Star Properties Catalog. We found that around 2% of the sample shows acoustic modes in the typical frequency range that put them in the red-giant category rather than the cool dwarf category. We analyze the asteroseismic properties of these stars, derive their surface gravities, masses, and radii, and present updated effective temperatures and distances. We show that the sample is significantly fainter than the previously known oscillating giants in the Kepler field, with the faintest stars reaching down to a Kepler magnitude of Kp ∼ 16. We demonstrate that 404 stars are at distances beyond 5 kpc and that the stars are significantly less massive than for the original Kepler red-giant sample, consistent with a population of distant halo giants. A comparison with a galactic population model shows that up to 40 stars might be genuine halo giants, which would increase the number of known asteroseismic halo stars by a factor of 4. The detections presented here will provide a valuable sample for galactic archeology studies.« less

  8. Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search: Motivation & Methodology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caceres, Gabriel; Feigelson, Eric; Jogesh Babu, G.; Bahamonde, Natalia; Bertin, Karine; Christen, Alejandra; Curé, Michel; Meza, Cristian

    2015-08-01

    The Kepler AutoRegressive Planet Search (KARPS) project uses statistical methodology associated with autoregressive (AR) processes to model Kepler lightcurves in order to improve exoplanet transit detection in systems with high stellar variability. We also introduce a planet-search algorithm to detect transits in time-series residuals after application of the AR models. One of the main obstacles in detecting faint planetary transits is the intrinsic stellar variability of the host star. The variability displayed by many stars may have autoregressive properties, wherein later flux values are correlated with previous ones in some manner. Auto-Regressive Moving-Average (ARMA) models, Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH), and related models are flexible, phenomenological methods used with great success to model stochastic temporal behaviors in many fields of study, particularly econometrics. Powerful statistical methods are implemented in the public statistical software environment R and its many packages. Modeling involves maximum likelihood fitting, model selection, and residual analysis. These techniques provide a useful framework to model stellar variability and are used in KARPS with the objective of reducing stellar noise to enhance opportunities to find as-yet-undiscovered planets. Our analysis procedure consisting of three steps: pre-processing of the data to remove discontinuities, gaps and outliers; ARMA-type model selection and fitting; and transit signal search of the residuals using a new Transit Comb Filter (TCF) that replaces traditional box-finding algorithms. We apply the procedures to simulated Kepler-like time series with known stellar and planetary signals to evaluate the effectiveness of the KARPS procedures. The ARMA-type modeling is effective at reducing stellar noise, but also reduces and transforms the transit signal into ingress/egress spikes. A periodogram based on the TCF is constructed to concentrate the signal

  9. Radial velocity confirmation of Kepler-91 b. Additional evidence of its planetary nature using the Calar Alto/CAFE instrument

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lillo-Box, J.; Barrado, D.; Henning, Th.; Mancini, L.; Ciceri, S.; Figueira, P.; Santos, N. C.; Aceituno, J.; Sánchez, S. F.

    2014-08-01

    The object transiting the star Kepler-91 was recently assessed as being of planetary nature. The confirmation was achieved by analysing the light-curve modulations observed in the Kepler data. However, quasi-simultaneous studies claimed a self-luminous nature for this object, thus rejecting it as a planet. In this work, we apply anindependent approach to confirm the planetary mass of Kepler-91b by using multi-epoch high-resolution spectroscopy obtained with the Calar Alto Fiber-fed Echelle spectrograph (CAFE). We obtain the physical and orbital parameters with the radial velocity technique. In particular, we derive a value of 1.09 ± 0.20 MJup for the mass of Kepler-91b, in excellent agreement with our previous estimate that was based on the orbital brightness modulation.

  10. A regioselective Huisgen reaction inside a Keplerate polyoxomolybdate nanoreactor.

    PubMed

    Besson, Claire; Schmitz, Sebastian; Capella, Kimberly M; Kopilevich, Sivil; Weinstock, Ira A; Kögerler, Paul

    2012-09-07

    A 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction taking place quantitatively between propiolic acid "guests" and azide functions previously attached to binding sites within the cavity of a {Mo(132)}-type Keplerate reproducibly gives a 2 : 1 ratio of 1,4- and 1,5-triazoles.

  11. Kepler-20f -- An Earth-size World Artist Concept

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-12-20

    Kepler-20f is the closest object to the Earth in terms of size ever discovered. With an orbital period of 20 days and a surface temperature of 800 degrees Fahrenheit 430 degrees Celsius, it is too hot to host life, as we know it.

  12. SETI Searches for Radio Transients from Kepler Field Planets and Astropulse Candidates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gautam, Abhimat Krishna; Siemion, Andrew; Korpela, Eric J.; Cobb, Jeff; Lebofsky, Matt; Werthimer, Dan

    2014-06-01

    We present a search for fast radio transients in targeted observations of planet candidates in the Kepler Field and candidate Astropulse sources.Kepler Field observations were conducted in the band 1.1 and 1.9 GHz using the Green Bank Telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia and are centered on 86 stars hosting candidate planets identified by the Kepler spacecraft. These stars were chosen based on the properties of their putative planetary system thought to be conducive to the development of advanced life, including all systems known (as of May 2011) hosting a Kepler Object of Interest (KOI) with a calculated equilibrium temperature between 230 and 380 K, at least 4 KOIs or a KOI with an inferred radius < 3.0 r_earth and a period > 50 d. The Kepler Field is centered at an intermediate galactic latitude, b = 13.5°, which presents an additional opportunity to detect signals from the older population of millisecond and recycled pulsars located above the galactic plane.The Astropulse radio survey searches for brief wide-band pulses in a 2.5 MHz band centered at 1420 MHz using commensal data recorded from the Arecibo ALFA receiver. In early Astropulse analysis, 108 candidate sources were identified that passed a series of tests designed to eliminate potential sources of radio frequency interference (RFI). We have performed targeted re-observations of these sources at Arecibo over the full (1214-1536 MHz) ALFA band.We have developed a software pipeline to locate fast dispersed transients in these observations, leveraging components of the PRESTO software library. This pipeline consists of finding and removing RFI, conducting de-dispersion to remove the effects of dispersion from the interstellar medium (ISM) on the signal and identifying over- threshold events. We also perform de-dispersion at negative dispersion measures, proposed to be a potential technique for intelligent civilizations to distinguish their emission from natural sources. We carry out both a periodicity

  13. ATMOSPHERE AND SPECTRAL MODELS OF THE KEPLER-FIELD PLANETS HAT-P-7b AND TrES-2

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Spiegel, David S.; Burrows, Adam, E-mail: dsp@astro.princeton.ed, E-mail: burrows@astro.princeton.ed

    2010-10-10

    We develop atmosphere models of two of the three Kepler-field planets that were known prior to the start of the Kepler mission (HAT-P-7b and TrES-2). We find that published Kepler and Spitzer data for HAT-P-7b appear to require an extremely hot upper atmosphere on the dayside, with a strong thermal inversion and little day-night redistribution. The Spitzer data for TrES-2 suggest a mild thermal inversion with moderate day-night redistribution. We examine the effect of nonequilibrium chemistry on TrES-2 model atmospheres and find that methane levels must be adjusted by extreme amounts in order to cause even mild changes in atmosphericmore » structure and emergent spectra. Our best-fit models to the Spitzer data for TrES-2 lead us to predict a low secondary eclipse planet-star flux ratio ({approx}<2 x 10{sup -5}) in the Kepler bandpass, which is consistent with what very recent observations have found. Finally, we consider how the Kepler-band optical flux from a hot exoplanet depends on the strength of a possible extra optical absorber in the upper atmosphere. We find that the optical flux is not monotonic in optical opacity, and the non-monotonicity is greater for brighter, hotter stars.« less

  14. Science operations management. [with Infrared Astronomy Satellite project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Squibb, G. F.

    1984-01-01

    The operation teams engaged in the IR Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) project included scientists from the IRAS International Science Team. The detailed involvement of these scientists in the design, testing, validation, and operations phases of the IRAS mission contributed to the success of this project. The Project Management Group spent a substantial amount of time discussing science-related issues, because science team coleaders were members from the outset. A single scientific point-of-contact for the Management Group enhanced the depth and continuity of agreement reached in decision-making.

  15. Spin–Orbit Misalignment and Precession in the Kepler-13Ab Planetary System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Herman, Miranda K.; de Mooij, Ernst J. W.; Huang, Chelsea X.; Jayawardhana, Ray

    2018-01-01

    Gravity darkening induced by rapid stellar rotation provides us with a unique opportunity to characterize the spin–orbit misalignment of a planetary system through analysis of its photometric transit. We use the gravity-darkened transit modeling code simuTrans to reproduce the transit light curve of Kepler-13Ab by separately analyzing phase-folded transits for 12 short-cadence Kepler quarters. We verify the temporal change in impact parameter indicative of spin–orbit precession identified by Szabó et al. and Masuda, reporting a rate of change {db}/{dt}=(-4.1+/- 0.2)× {10}-5 day‑1. We further investigate the effect of light dilution on the fitted impact parameter and find that less than 1% of additional light is sufficient to explain the seasonal variation seen in the Kepler quarter data. We then extend our precession analysis to the phase curve data from which we report a rate of change {db}/{dt}=(-3.2+/- 1.3)× {10}-5 day‑1. This value is consistent with that of the transit data at a lower significance and provides the first evidence of spin–orbit precession based solely on the temporal variation of the secondary eclipse.

  16. Kepler Observations of V447 Lyr: an Eclipsing U Gem Cataclysmic Variable

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ramsay, Gavin; Cannizzo, John K.; Howell, Steve B.; Wood, Matt A.; Still, Martin; Barclay, Thomas; Smale, Alan

    2012-01-01

    We present the results of an analysis of Kepler data covering 1.5 yr of the dwarf nova V447 Lyr. We detect eclipses of the accretion disc by the mass donating secondary star every 3.74 h which is the binary orbital period. V447 Lyr is therefore the first dwarf nova in the Kepler field to show eclipses.We also detect five long outbursts and six short outbursts showing V447 Lyr is a U Gem-type dwarf nova. We show that the orbital phase of the mid-eclipse occurs earlier during outbursts compared to quiescence and that the width of the eclipse is greater during outburst. This suggests that the bright spot is more prominent during quiescence and that the disc is larger during outburst than quiescence. This is consistent with an expansion of the outer disc radius due to the presence of high viscosity material associated with the outburst, followed by a contraction in quiescence due to the accretion of low angular momentum material. We note that the long outbursts appear to be triggered by a short outburst, which is also observed in the super-outbursts of SU UMa dwarf novae as observed using Kepler.

  17. INVESTIGATION OF SYSTEMATIC EFFECTS IN KEPLER DATA: SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN THE LIGHT CURVE OF HAT-P-7b

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Van Eylen, V.; Lindholm Nielsen, M.; Hinrup, B.

    2013-09-10

    With years of Kepler data currently available, the measurement of variations in planetary transit depths over time can now be attempted. To do so, it is of primary importance to understand which systematic effects may affect the measurement of transits. We aim to measure the stability of Kepler measurements over years of observations. We present a study of the depth of about 500 transit events of the Hot Jupiter HAT-P-7b, using 14 quarters (Q0-Q13) of data from the Kepler satellite. We find a systematic variation in the depth of the primary transit, related to quarters of data and recurring yearly.more » These seasonal variations are about 1%. Within seasons, we find no evidence for trends. We speculate that the cause of the seasonal variations could be unknown field crowding or instrumental artifacts. Our results show that care must be taken when combining transits throughout different quarters of Kepler data. Measuring the relative planetary radius of HAT-P-7b without taking these systematic effects into account leads to unrealistically low error estimates. This effect could be present in all Kepler targets. If so, relative radius measurements of all Hot Jupiters to a precision much better than 1% are unrealistic.« less

  18. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler multiple transiting planet systems (Wang+, 2015)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, J.; Fischer, D. A.; Xie, J.-W.; Ciardi, D. R.

    2017-10-01

    The sample of MTPSs remains the same as that in Wang et al. (2014, J/ApJ/783/4). From the NASA Exoplanet Archive (http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu), we select Kepler objects of interest (KOIs) that satisfy the following criteria: (1) disposition of either Candidate or Confirmed; (2) with at least two planet candidates; (3) Kepler magnitude (KP) brighter than 13.5. The above selection criteria resulted in 138 MTPSs in Wang et al. (2014, J/ApJ/783/4). With the updated Exoplanet Archive, the selection criteria resulted in 208 MTPSs. In this paper, we focus on the 138 MTPSs to be consistent with previous work. (4 data files).

  19. Kepler Supernova Remnant: A View from Hubble Space Telescope

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2004-10-06

    This image represents a view of NASA Kepler supernova remnant taken in X-rays, visible light, and infrared radiation, indicating that the bubble of gas that makes up the supernova remnant appears different in various types of light. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06909

  20. Bifurcations and complete chaos for the diamagnetic Kepler problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hansen, Kai T.

    1995-03-01

    We describe the structure of bifurcations in the unbounded classical diamagnetic Kepler problem. We conjecture that this system does not have any stable orbits and that the nonwandering set is described by a complete trinary symbolic dynamics for scaled energies larger than ɛc=0.328 782. . ..

  1. Using Kepler K2 to Measure the Binary Fraction of PN Central Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jacoby, George H.; Hillwig, Todd; De Marco, Orsola; Hurowitz, Jonathan; Jones, David; Kronberger, Matthias; Harmer, Dianne

    2018-01-01

    During the initial Kepler mission, 5 Planetary Nebula (PN) central stars were observed. The light curves for 4 of these central stars indicated a history of close binary interactions. That large fraction was suggestive that the actual fraction of PN harboring close binaries is much larger than the known lower limit of 20%, but that sample is far too small to be compelling. We have since acquired Kepler K2 data for Campaigns 0, 2, 7, and 11, hosting PN samples of 3, 4, 8, and 185 targets, respectively. We will provide an update on the number of binary candidates found in each field, and in particular, the Galactic Bulge field of Campaign 11. We also will discuss the challenges of working with Kepler observations in the crowded Campaign 11 field and the impact of those challenges on our ability to estimate the fraction of PN central stars that are binaries. This study was supported in part by NASA grants NNX17AE64G and NNX17AF80G.

  2. Kepler Mission: A Search for Habitable Planets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Koch, David; Fonda, Mark (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    The Kepler Mission was selected by NASA as one of the next two Discovery Missions. The mission design is based on the search for Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars, but does not preclude the discovery of larger or smaller planets in other orbits of non-solar-like stars. An overview of the mission, the scientific goals and the anticipated results will be presented.

  3. Microlensing of Kepler stars as a method of detecting primordial black hole dark matter.

    PubMed

    Griest, Kim; Lehner, Matthew J; Cieplak, Agnieszka M; Jain, Bhuvnesh

    2011-12-02

    If the dark matter consists of primordial black holes (PBHs), we show that gravitational lensing of stars being monitored by NASA's Kepler search for extrasolar planets can cause significant numbers of detectable microlensing events. A search through the roughly 150,000 light curves would result in large numbers of detectable events for PBHs in the mass range 5×10(-10) M(⊙) to 10(-4) M(⊙). Nondetection of these events would close almost 2 orders of magnitude of the mass window for PBH dark matter. The microlensing rate is higher than previously noticed due to a combination of the exceptional photometric precision of the Kepler mission and the increase in cross section due to the large angular sizes of the relatively nearby Kepler field stars. We also present a new formalism for calculating optical depth and microlensing rates in the presence of large finite-source effects. © 2011 American Physical Society

  4. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Kepler-10 chemical composition (Liu+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, F.; Yong, D.; Asplund, M.; Ramirez, I.; Melendez, J.; Gustafsson, B.; Howes, L. M.; Roederer, I. U.; Lambert, D. L.; Bensby, T.

    2016-09-01

    We obtained high resolution and high SNR spectra with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) and the Magellan Clay Telescope. We observed Kepler-10 with the Echelle SpectroPolarimetric Device for the Observation of Stars at the CFHT during 2013 June. The spectral revolving power is 68000 and the spectral range is 3800-8900Å. We also observed Kepler-10 with the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS) on the HET at McDonald Observatory during 2011 May. A total integration time of 6.8h was needed to achieve SNR>350 per pixel. The spectrum has a spectral resolving power of 60000 and covers 4100-7800Å, with a gap of about 100Å around 6000Å. (4 data files).

  5. TRANSIT TIMING OBSERVATIONS FROM KEPLER. I. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ford, Eric B.; Rowe, Jason F.; Caldwell, Douglas A.

    The architectures of multiple planet systems can provide valuable constraints on models of planet formation, including orbital migration, and excitation of orbital eccentricities and inclinations. NASA's Kepler mission has identified 1235 transiting planet candidates. The method of transit timing variations (TTVs) has already confirmed seven planets in two planetary systems. We perform a transit timing analysis of the Kepler planet candidates. We find that at least {approx}11% of planet candidates currently suitable for TTV analysis show evidence suggestive of TTVs, representing at least {approx}65 TTV candidates. In all cases, the time span of observations must increase for TTVs to providemore » strong constraints on planet masses and/or orbits, as expected based on N-body integrations of multiple transiting planet candidate systems (assuming circular and coplanar orbits). We find the fraction of planet candidates showing TTVs in this data set does not vary significantly with the number of transiting planet candidates per star, suggesting significant mutual inclinations and that many stars with a single transiting planet should host additional non-transiting planets. We anticipate that Kepler could confirm (or reject) at least {approx}12 systems with multiple transiting planet candidates via TTVs. Thus, TTVs will provide a powerful tool for confirming transiting planets and characterizing the orbital dynamics of low-mass planets. If Kepler observations were extended to at least seven years, then TTVs would provide much more precise constraints on the dynamics of systems with multiple transiting planets and would become sensitive to planets with orbital periods extending into the habitable zone of solar-type stars.« less

  6. Orbital and Systemic Parameters for Algol Binaries in the Field-of-View of the Kepler Spacecraft

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peters, Geraldine J.; Vaccaro, Todd R.; Wilson, Robert E.

    2013-02-01

    We propose observations of seven Algol-type binaries with the 4m Echelle spectrograph necessary for the interpretation of ongoing photometry from the it Kepler spacecraft and archival it Kepler data being analyzed for an approved NASA/ADAP project. These Algols are direct-impact systems (periods range from 1.3-4.5^d) in which the gas stream strikes the photosphere of the gainer, producing a shock. The it Kepler light curves reveal striking long and short-term variability never before seen in ground-based observations. Especially interesting is a long-term oscillation in the relative brightness of the quadrature light that we call L/T variability, which appears to be caused from a migrating variable hot spot. The it Kepler photometry is being interpreted with an updated version of the Wilson & Devinney (WD) program. The KPNO spectra will supply it critical input parameters (e.g. temperatures) and yield radial velocity curves from which we will determine the masses of the stars and absolute dimensions of the systems. Currently there are it no published spectra of most of the program binaries, including WX Dra, the prototype L/T variable and our primary target. We request 4 nights of observing time to cover one orbital cycle in the binaries with the longest periods. This project will yield information on the detailed physics of mass transfer, especially the roles of accretion hot spots and magnetic fields, and also test the new WD program for future applications by others working with the it Kepler database.

  7. BRITE-Constellation Science Operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuschnig, R.

    2017-09-01

    BRITE-Constellation is a nanosatellite mission designed for stellar astrophysical research in collaboration between Austria, Canada and Poland. A fleet of six spacecrafts was funded, built and launched, two from each country, all designed to perform precise time-series photometry of the brightest stars in the sky. While the spacecrafts have the same basic design, three satellites host an instrument sensitive in a red bandpass, the others, for a blue wavelength range. From the six satellites launched, five are operational. The sixth one did not separate from the upper stage of the rocket and remains idle. The first pair, the Austrian satellites, started to collect science measurements with their wide field (˜24°) cameras in early December 2013. Since then, more than 340 stars were observed during 16 campaigns, the majority for more than 100 days (up to 168 days) continuously. In total, more than 2.1 million measurements have been collected so far. Originally, the limiting magnitude for target stars was set to \\mag(V)=4. However, even stars as faint as \\mag(V)=6.5 have been observed with sufficient precision. This is a review of science operations conducted during the past 3.5 years.

  8. New Developments At The Science Archives Of The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berriman, G. Bruce

    2018-06-01

    The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) at Caltech/IPAC is the science center for NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program and as such, NExScI operates three scientific archives: the NASA Exoplanet Archive (NEA) and Exoplanet Follow-up Observation Program Website (ExoFOP), and the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA).The NASA Exoplanet Archive supports research and mission planning by the exoplanet community by operating a service that provides confirmed and candidate planets, numerous project and contributed data sets and integrated analysis tools. The ExoFOP provides an environment for exoplanet observers to share and exchange data, observing notes, and information regarding the Kepler, K2, and TESS candidates. KOA serves all raw science and calibration observations acquired by all active and decommissioned instruments at the W. M. Keck Observatory, as well as reduced data sets contributed by Keck observers.In the coming years, the NExScI archives will support a series of major endeavours allowing flexible, interactive analysis of the data available at the archives. These endeavours exploit a common infrastructure based upon modern interfaces such as JuypterLab and Python. The first service will enable reduction and analysis of precision radial velocity data from the HIRES Keck instrument. The Exoplanet Archive is developing a JuypterLab environment based on the HIRES PRV interactive environment. Additionally, KOA is supporting an Observatory initiative to develop modern, Python based pipelines, and as part of this work, it has delivered a NIRSPEC reduction pipeline. The ensemble of pipelines will be accessible through the same environments.

  9. What asteroseismology can do for exoplanets: Kepler-410A b is a small Neptune around a bright star, in an eccentric orbit consistent with low obliquity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Van Eylen, V.; Lund, M. N.; Aguirre, V. Silva

    2014-02-10

    We confirm the Kepler planet candidate Kepler-410A b (KOI-42b) as a Neptune-sized exoplanet on a 17.8 day, eccentric orbit around the bright (K {sub p} = 9.4) star Kepler-410A (KOI-42A). This is the third brightest confirmed planet host star in the Kepler field and one of the brightest hosts of all currently known transiting exoplanets. Kepler-410 consists of a blend between the fast rotating planet host star (Kepler-410A) and a fainter star (Kepler-410B), which has complicated the confirmation of the planetary candidate. Employing asteroseismology, using constraints from the transit light curve, adaptive optics and speckle images, and Spitzer transit observations,more » we demonstrate that the candidate can only be an exoplanet orbiting Kepler-410A. We determine via asteroseismology the following stellar and planetary parameters with high precision; M {sub *} = 1.214 ± 0.033 M {sub ☉}, R {sub *} = 1.352 ± 0.010 R {sub ☉}, age =2.76 ± 0.54 Gyr, planetary radius (2.838 ± 0.054 R {sub ⊕}), and orbital eccentricity (0.17{sub −0.06}{sup +0.07}). In addition, rotational splitting of the pulsation modes allows for a measurement of Kepler-410A's inclination and rotation rate. Our measurement of an inclination of 82.5{sub −2.5}{sup +7.5} [°] indicates a low obliquity in this system. Transit timing variations indicate the presence of at least one additional (non-transiting) planet (Kepler-410A c) in the system.« less

  10. KIC 8462852: Potential Repeat of the Kepler Day 1540 Dip in 2017 August

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bourne, Rafik; Gary, Bruce

    2017-12-01

    We report 33 V-band observations by the Hereford Arizona Observatory (HAO) of the enigmatic star KIC 8462852 during the two week period 3-17 August 2017. We find a striking resemblance of these observations to the Kepler day 1540 dip with HAO observations tracking the Kepler light curve (adjusted for egress symmetry). A possible explanation of this potential repeat transit is a brown dwarf and extensive ring system in a 1601-day eccentric orbit. We suggest this object may be detectable through radial velocity observations in October and November 2017, with an amplitude of ~ 1-2 kms-1.

  11. Eclipsing binaries and fast rotators in the Kepler sample. Characterization via radial velocity analysis from Calar Alto

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lillo-Box, J.; Barrado, D.; Mancini, L.; Henning, Th.; Figueira, P.; Ciceri, S.; Santos, N.

    2015-04-01

    Context. The Kepler mission has searched for planetary transits in more than two hundred thousand stars by obtaining very accurate photometric data over a long period of time. Among the thousands of detected candidates, the planetary nature of around 15% has been established or validated by different techniques. But additional data are needed to characterize the rest of the candidates and reject other possible configurations. Aims: We started a follow-up program to validate, confirm, and characterize some of the planet candidates. In this paper we present the radial velocity analysis of those that present large variations, which are compatible with being eclipsing binaries. We also study those showing high rotational velocities, which prevents us from reaching the necessary precision to detect planetary-like objects. Methods: We present new radial velocity results for 13 Kepler objects of interest (KOIs) obtained with the CAFE spectrograph at the Calar Alto Observatory and analyze their high-spatial resolution (lucky) images obtained with AstraLux and the Kepler light curves of some interesting cases. Results: We have found five spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries (group A). Among them, the case of KOI-3853 is of particular interest. This system is a new example of the so-called heartbeat stars, showing dynamic tidal distortions in the Kepler light curve. We have also detected duration and depth variations of the eclipse. We suggest possible scenarios to explain such an effect, including the presence of a third substellar body possibly detected in our radial velocity analysis. We also provide upper mass limits to the transiting companions of six other KOIs with high rotational velocities (group B). This property prevents the radial velocity method from achieving the necessary precision to detect planetary-like masses. Finally, we analyze the large radial velocity variations of two other KOIs, which are incompatible with the presence of planetary-mass objects

  12. Low-frequency variations of unknown origin in the Kepler δ Scuti star KIC 5988140 = HD 188774

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lampens, P.; Tkachenko, A.; Lehmann, H.; Debosscher, J.; Aerts, C.; Beck, P. G.; Bloemen, S.; Kochiashvili, N.; Derekas, A.; Smith, J. C.; Tenenbaum, P.; Twicken, J. D.

    2013-01-01

    velocity variations of this late A-type star remains unexplained by any of the presently considered scenarios. Based on data gathered with NASA's Discovery mission Kepler and with the Hermes spectrograph, installed at the Mercator Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma by the Flemish Community, at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and with the 2-m Alfred-Jensch telescope of the Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg.Reduced spectra are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/549/A104

  13. Search for sdB/WD pulsators in the Kepler FOV

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Silvotti, R.; Handler, G.; Schuh, S.; Castanheira, B.; Kjeldsen, H.

    2009-03-01

    In this article we present the preliminary results of an observational search for subdwarf B and white dwarf pulsators in the Kepler field of view (FOV), performed using the DOLORES camera attached to the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG).

  14. The Effect of Orbital Configuration on the Possible Climates and Habitability of Kepler-62f.

    PubMed

    Shields, Aomawa L; Barnes, Rory; Agol, Eric; Charnay, Benjamin; Bitz, Cecilia; Meadows, Victoria S

    2016-06-01

    As lower-mass stars often host multiple rocky planets, gravitational interactions among planets can have significant effects on climate and habitability over long timescales. Here we explore a specific case, Kepler-62f (Borucki et al., 2013 ), a potentially habitable planet in a five-planet system with a K2V host star. N-body integrations reveal the stable range of initial eccentricities for Kepler-62f is 0.00 ≤ e ≤ 0.32, absent the effect of additional, undetected planets. We simulate the tidal evolution of Kepler-62f in this range and find that, for certain assumptions, the planet can be locked in a synchronous rotation state. Simulations using the 3-D Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) Generic global climate model (GCM) indicate that the surface habitability of this planet is sensitive to orbital configuration. With 3 bar of CO2 in its atmosphere, we find that Kepler-62f would only be warm enough for surface liquid water at the upper limit of this eccentricity range, providing it has a high planetary obliquity (between 60° and 90°). A climate similar to that of modern-day Earth is possible for the entire range of stable eccentricities if atmospheric CO2 is increased to 5 bar levels. In a low-CO2 case (Earth-like levels), simulations with version 4 of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4) GCM and LMD Generic GCM indicate that increases in planetary obliquity and orbital eccentricity coupled with an orbital configuration that places the summer solstice at or near pericenter permit regions of the planet with above-freezing surface temperatures. This may melt ice sheets formed during colder seasons. If Kepler-62f is synchronously rotating and has an ocean, CO2 levels above 3 bar would be required to distribute enough heat to the nightside of the planet to avoid atmospheric freeze-out and permit a large enough region of open water at the planet's substellar point to remain stable. Overall, we find multiple plausible combinations of

  15. The Effect of Orbital Configuration on the Possible Climates and Habitability of Kepler-62f

    PubMed Central

    Barnes, Rory; Agol, Eric; Charnay, Benjamin; Bitz, Cecilia; Meadows, Victoria S.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract As lower-mass stars often host multiple rocky planets, gravitational interactions among planets can have significant effects on climate and habitability over long timescales. Here we explore a specific case, Kepler-62f (Borucki et al., 2013), a potentially habitable planet in a five-planet system with a K2V host star. N-body integrations reveal the stable range of initial eccentricities for Kepler-62f is 0.00 ≤ e ≤ 0.32, absent the effect of additional, undetected planets. We simulate the tidal evolution of Kepler-62f in this range and find that, for certain assumptions, the planet can be locked in a synchronous rotation state. Simulations using the 3-D Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) Generic global climate model (GCM) indicate that the surface habitability of this planet is sensitive to orbital configuration. With 3 bar of CO2 in its atmosphere, we find that Kepler-62f would only be warm enough for surface liquid water at the upper limit of this eccentricity range, providing it has a high planetary obliquity (between 60° and 90°). A climate similar to that of modern-day Earth is possible for the entire range of stable eccentricities if atmospheric CO2 is increased to 5 bar levels. In a low-CO2 case (Earth-like levels), simulations with version 4 of the Community Climate System Model (CCSM4) GCM and LMD Generic GCM indicate that increases in planetary obliquity and orbital eccentricity coupled with an orbital configuration that places the summer solstice at or near pericenter permit regions of the planet with above-freezing surface temperatures. This may melt ice sheets formed during colder seasons. If Kepler-62f is synchronously rotating and has an ocean, CO2 levels above 3 bar would be required to distribute enough heat to the nightside of the planet to avoid atmospheric freeze-out and permit a large enough region of open water at the planet's substellar point to remain stable. Overall, we find multiple plausible combinations

  16. Space-based Science Operations Grid Prototype

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bradford, Robert N.; Welch, Clara L.; Redman, Sandra

    2004-01-01

    Grid technology is the up and coming technology that is enabling widely disparate services to be offered to users that is very economical, easy to use and not available on a wide basis. Under the Grid concept disparate organizations generally defined as "virtual organizations" can share services i.e. sharing discipline specific computer applications, required to accomplish the specific scientific and engineering organizational goals and objectives. Grids are emerging as the new technology of the future. Grid technology has been enabled by the evolution of increasingly high speed networking. Without the evolution of high speed networking Grid technology would not have emerged. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC) Flight Projects Directorate, Ground Systems Department is developing a Space-based Science Operations Grid prototype to provide to scientists and engineers the tools necessary to operate space-based science payloads/experiments and for scientists to conduct public and educational outreach. In addition Grid technology can provide new services not currently available to users. These services include mission voice and video, application sharing, telemetry management and display, payload and experiment commanding, data mining, high order data processing, discipline specific application sharing and data storage, all from a single grid portal. The Prototype will provide most of these services in a first step demonstration of integrated Grid and space-based science operations technologies. It will initially be based on the International Space Station science operational services located at the Payload Operations Integration Center at MSFC, but can be applied to many NASA projects including free flying satellites and future projects. The Prototype will use the Internet2 Abilene Research and Education Network that is currently a 10 Gb backbone network to reach the University of Alabama at Huntsville and several other, as yet unidentified, Space Station based

  17. Kepler Planet Detection Metrics: Window and One-Sigma Depth Functions for Data Release 25

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Burke, Christopher J.; Catanzarite, Joseph

    2017-01-01

    This document describes the window and one-sigma depth functions relevant to the Transiting Planet Search (TPS) algorithm in the Kepler pipeline (Jenkins 2002; Jenkins et al. 2017). The window function specifies the fraction of unique orbital ephemeris epochs over which three transits are observable as a function of orbital period. In this context, the epoch and orbital period, together, comprise the ephemeris of an orbiting companion, and ephemerides with the same period are considered equivalent if their epochs differ by an integer multiple of the period. The one-sigma depth function specifies the depth of a signal (in ppm) for a given light curve that results in a one-sigma detection of a transit signature as a function of orbital period when averaged over all unique orbital ephemerides. These planet detection metrics quantify the ability of TPS to detect a transiting planet signature on a star-by-star basis. They are uniquely applicable to a specific Kepler data release, since they are dependent on the details of the light curves searched and the functionality of the TPS algorithm used to perform the search. This document describes the window and one-sigma depth functions relevant to Kepler Data Release 25 (DR25), where the data were processed (Thompson et al. 2016) and searched (Twicken et al. 2016) with the SOC 9.3 pipeline. In Section 4, we describe significant differences from those reported in Kepler Data Release 24 (Burke Seader 2016) and document our verification method.

  18. A Novel Hypercomplex Solution to Kepler's Problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Condurache, C.; Martinuşi, V.

    2007-05-01

    By using a Sundman like regularization, we offer a unified solution to Kepler's problem by using hypercomplex numbers. The fundamental role in this paper is played by the Laplace-Runge-Lenz prime integral and by the hypercomplex numbers algebra. The procedure unifies and generalizes the regularizations offered by Levi-Civita and Kustaanheimo-Stiefel. Closed form hypercomplex expressions for the law of motion and velocity are deduced, together with inedite hypercomplex prime integrals.

  19. Determining Binary Star Orbits Using Kepler's Equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boule, Cory; Andrews, Kaitlyn; Penfield, Andrew; Puckette, Ian; Goodale, Keith; Harfenist, Steven

    2017-04-01

    Students calculated ephemerides and generated orbits of four well-known binary systems. Using an iterative technique in Microsoft® Excel® to solve Kepler's equation, separation and position angle values were generated as well as plots of the apparent orbits. Current position angle and separation values were measured in the field and compared well to the calculated values for the stars: STF1196AB,C, STF296AB, STF296AB and STF60AB.

  20. Meeting global health challenges through operational research and management science

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Abstract This paper considers how operational research and management science can improve the design of health systems and the delivery of health care, particularly in low-resource settings. It identifies some gaps in the way operational research is typically used in global health and proposes steps to bridge them. It then outlines some analytical tools of operational research and management science and illustrates how their use can inform some typical design and delivery challenges in global health. The paper concludes by considering factors that will increase and improve the contribution of operational research and management science to global health. PMID:21897489

  1. Meeting global health challenges through operational research and management science.

    PubMed

    Royston, Geoff

    2011-09-01

    This paper considers how operational research and management science can improve the design of health systems and the delivery of health care, particularly in low-resource settings. It identifies some gaps in the way operational research is typically used in global health and proposes steps to bridge them. It then outlines some analytical tools of operational research and management science and illustrates how their use can inform some typical design and delivery challenges in global health. The paper concludes by considering factors that will increase and improve the contribution of operational research and management science to global health.

  2. Science operations with Space Telescope

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Giacconi, R.

    1982-01-01

    The operation, instrumentation, and expected contributions of the Space Telescope are discussed. Space Telescope capabilities are described. The organization and nature of the Space Telescope Science Institute are outlined, including the allocation of observing time and the data rights and data access policies of the institute.

  3. Organizational Forms of Matter: An Inorganic Super Fullerene and Keplerate Based on Molybdenum Oxide.

    PubMed

    Müller, Achim; Krickemeyer, Erich; Bögge, Hartmut; Schmidtmann, Marc; Peters, Frank

    1998-12-31

    Plato and Kepler would have been pleased. Despite the large number of atoms present the cluster anion 1 resembles an icosahedral-type structure. This represents definitively an unprecedented event in chemistry! The structure is made up of 12 {Mo 11 } fragments such that the fivefold symmetry axes are retained in the resulting spherical object. As an inscribed icosahedron can be recognized in the spherical shell of 1 (see picture), similarities with Kepler's famous shell model of the cosmos can be seen. © 1998 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, Fed. Rep. of Germany.

  4. VizieR Online Data Catalog: Robo-AO Kepler planetary candidate survey. II. (Baranec+, 2016)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baranec, C.; Ziegler, C.; Law, N. M.; Morton, T.; Riddle, R.; Atkinson, D.; Schonhut, J.; Crepp, J.

    2016-10-01

    We selected targets that we had not previously observed from the KOI Catalog based on the Q1-Q12 Kepler data (Rowe et al. 2015, Cat. J/ApJS/217/16). These targets were added to the Robo-AO intelligent observing queue and observed during the summer of 2013. We obtained high angular resolution images of 956 Kepler planet candidate host stars with the Robo-AO robotic laser AOs system over the course of 19 nights between 2013 July 21 and 2013 October 25, detailed in Table5. We also include 13 images from 2012 (2012 July 16-September 13) that required additional confirmation of the KOI position in the Robo-AO field of view. All the observations were performed in a queue-scheduled mode in combination with other science programs using the Robo-AO autonomous laser AO system mounted on the robotic 1.5m telescope at Palomar Observatory (exposure time: 90s; observation wavelengths: 600-950nm; FWHM resolution: 0.12''-0.15''; field of view: 44''*44''; pixel scale: 43.1mas/pix; detector format: 10242 pixels; targets observed/hour: 20). We obtained images of 50 KOIs with the NIRC2 instrument behind the Keck II AO system that were previously observed with Robo-AO and had evidence of a companion. Observations were conducted on 2013 June 25, 2013 August 24 and 25, 2014 August 17, and 2015 July 25 in the K, Ks, or Kp filters, and in the narrow mode of NIRC2 (9.952mas/pixel). (4 data files).

  5. How operational issues impact science peer review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blacker, Brett S.; Golombek, Daniel; Macchetto, Duccio

    2006-06-01

    In some eyes, the Phase I proposal selection process is the most important activity handled by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). Proposing for HST and other missions consists of requesting observing time and/or archival research funding. This step is called Phase I, where the scientific merit of a proposal is considered by a community based peer-review process. Accepted proposals then proceed thru Phase II, where the observations are specified in sufficient detail to enable scheduling on the telescope. Each cycle the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) reviews proposals and awards observing time that is valued at $0.5B, when the total expenditures for HST over its lifetime are figured on an annual basis. This is in fact a very important endeavor that we continue to fine-tune and tweak. This process is open to the science community and we constantly receive comments and praise for this process. In this last year we have had to deal with the loss of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and move from 3-gyro operations to 2-gyro operations. This paper will outline how operational issues impact the HST science peer review process. We will discuss the process that was used to recover from the loss of the STIS instrument and how we dealt with the loss of 1/3 of the current science observations. We will also discuss the issues relating to 3-gyro vs. 2-gyro operations and how that changes impacted Proposers, our in-house processing and the TAC.

  6. The Kepler-19 System: A Thick-envelope Super-Earth with Two Neptune-mass Companions Characterized Using Radial Velocities and Transit Timing Variations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Malavolta, Luca; Borsato, Luca; Granata, Valentina; Piotto, Giampaolo; Lopez, Eric; Vanderburg, Andrew; Figueira, Pedro; Mortier, Annelies; Nascimbeni, Valerio; Affer, Laura; Bonomo, Aldo S.; Bouchy, Francois; Buchhave, Lars A.; Charbonneau, David; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Cosentino, Rosario; Dressing, Courtney D.; Dumusque, Xavier; Fiorenzano, Aldo F. M.; Harutyunyan, Avet; Haywood, Raphaëlle D.; Johnson, John Asher; Latham, David W.; Lopez-Morales, Mercedes; Lovis, Christophe; Mayor, Michel; Micela, Giusi; Molinari, Emilio; Motalebi, Fatemeh; Pepe, Francesco; Phillips, David F.; Pollacco, Don; Queloz, Didier; Rice, Ken; Sasselov, Dimitar; Ségransan, Damien; Sozzetti, Alessandro; Udry, Stéphane; Watson, Chris

    2017-05-01

    We report a detailed characterization of the Kepler-19 system. This star was previously known to host a transiting planet with a period of 9.29 days, a radius of 2.2 R ⊕, and an upper limit on the mass of 20 M ⊕. The presence of a second, non-transiting planet was inferred from the transit time variations (TTVs) of Kepler-19b over eight quarters of Kepler photometry, although neither the mass nor period could be determined. By combining new TTVs measurements from all the Kepler quarters and 91 high-precision radial velocities obtained with the HARPS-N spectrograph, using dynamical simulations we obtained a mass of 8.4 ± 1.6 M ⊕ for Kepler-19b. From the same data, assuming system coplanarity, we determined an orbital period of 28.7 days and a mass of 13.1 ± 2.7 M ⊕ for Kepler-19c and discovered a Neptune-like planet with a mass of 20.3 ± 3.4 M ⊕ on a 63-day orbit. By comparing dynamical simulations with non-interacting Keplerian orbits, we concluded that neglecting interactions between planets may lead to systematic errors that can hamper the precision in the orbital parameters when the data set spans several years. With a density of 4.32 ± 0.87 g cm-3 (0.78 ± 0.16 ρ ⊕) Kepler-19b belongs to the group of planets with a rocky core and a significant fraction of volatiles, in opposition to low-density planets characterized only by transit time variations and an increasing number of rocky planets with Earth-like density. Kepler-19 joins the small number of systems that reconcile transit timing variation and radial velocity measurements.

  7. Rapidly Rotating, X-Ray Bright Stars in the Kepler Field

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Howell, Steve B.; Mason, Elena; Boyd, Patricia; Smith, Krista Lynne; Gelino, Dawn M.

    2016-01-01

    We present Kepler light curves and optical spectroscopy of twenty X-ray bright stars located in the Kepler field of view. The stars, spectral type F-K, show evidence for rapid rotation including chromospheric activity 100 times or more above the Sun at maximum and flaring behavior in their light curves. Eighteen of our objects appear to be (sub)giants and may belong to the class of FK Com variables, which are evolved rapidly spinning single stars with no excretion disk and high levels of chromospheric activity. Such stars are rare and are likely the result of W UMa binary mergers, a process believed to produce the FK Com class of variable and their descendants. The FK Com stage, including the presence of an excretion disk, is short lived but leads to longer-lived stages consisting of single, rapidly rotating evolved (sub)giants with high levels of stellar activity.

  8. Kepler Planet Reliability Metrics: Astrophysical Positional Probabilities for Data Release 25

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bryson, Stephen T.; Morton, Timothy D.

    2017-01-01

    This document is very similar to KSCI-19092-003, Planet Reliability Metrics: Astrophysical Positional Probabilities, which describes the previous release of the astrophysical positional probabilities for Data Release 24. The important changes for Data Release 25 are:1. The computation of the astrophysical positional probabilities uses the Data Release 25 processed pixel data for all Kepler Objects of Interest.2. Computed probabilities now have associated uncertainties, whose computation is described in x4.1.3.3. The scene modeling described in x4.1.2 uses background stars detected via ground-based high-resolution imaging, described in x5.1, that are not in the Kepler Input Catalog or UKIRT catalog. These newly detected stars are presented in Appendix B. Otherwise the text describing the algorithms and examples is largely unchanged from KSCI-19092-003.

  9. Parametric Modeling in Action: High Accuracy Seismology of Kepler DAV Stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giammichele, N.; Fontaine, G.; Charpinet, S.; Brassard, P.; Greiss, S.

    2015-06-01

    We summarize here the efforts made on the quantitative seismic analyses performed on two ZZ Ceti stars observed with the Kepler satellite. One of them, KIC 11911480, is located close to the blue edge of the instability strip, while the other, GD 1212, is found at the red edge. We emphasize the need for parameterized modeling and the forward approach to uniquely establish the fundamental parameters of the stars. We show how the internal structures as well as rotation profiles are unravelled to surprisingly large depths for degenerates such as ZZ Ceti stars, which further confirms the loss of stellar angular momentum before the white dwarf stage detected previously in GW Vir pulsating white dwarfs. This opens up interesting prospects for the new mission to come, Kepler-2, in the field of white dwarf asteroseismology.

  10. Identifying Young Kepler Planet Host Stars from Keck–HIRES Spectra of Lithium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berger, Travis A.; Howard, Andrew W.; Boesgaard, Ann Merchant

    2018-03-01

    The lithium doublet at 6708 Å provides an age diagnostic for main sequence FGK dwarfs. We measured the abundance of lithium in 1305 stars with detected transiting planets from the Kepler mission using high-resolution spectroscopy. Our catalog of lithium measurements from this sample has a range of abundance from A(Li) = 3.11 ± 0.07 to an upper limit of ‑0.84 dex. For a magnitude-limited sample that comprises 960 of the 1305 stars, our Keck–HIRES spectra have a median signal-to-noise ratio of 45 per pixel at ∼6700 Å with spectral resolution \\tfrac{λ }{{{Δ }}λ } = R = 55,000. We identify 80 young stars that have A(Li) values greater than the Hyades at their respective effective temperatures; these stars are younger than ∼650 Myr, the approximate age of the Hyades. We then compare the distribution of A(Li) with planet size, multiplicity, orbital period, and insolation flux. We find larger planets preferentially in younger systems, with an A–D two-sided test p-value = 0.002, a > 3σ confidence that the older and younger planet samples do not come from the same parent distribution. This is consistent with planet inflation/photoevaporation at early ages. The other planet parameters (Kepler planet multiplicity, orbital period, and insolation flux) are uncorrelated with age. Based on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the University of California and the California Institute of Technology. Keck time has been granted by the University of Hawaii, the University of California, and Caltech.

  11. Mars Science Laboratory Cruise Propulsion Maneuvering Operations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Baker, Raymond S.; Mizukami, Masahi; Barber, Todd J.

    2013-01-01

    Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" is NASA's most recent mission to Mars, launched in November 2011, and landed in August 2012. It is a subcompact car-sized nuclear powered rover designed for a long duration mission, with an extensive suite of science instruments. Entry, descent and landing used a unique "skycrane" concept. This report describes the propulsive maneuvering operations during cruise from Earth to Mars, to control attitudes and to target the vehicle for entry. The propulsion subsystem, mission operations, and flight performance are discussed. All trajectory control maneuvers were well within accuracy requirements, and all turns and spin corrections were nominal.

  12. Exploring exoplanet populations with NASA’s Kepler Mission

    PubMed Central

    Batalha, Natalie M.

    2014-01-01

    The Kepler Mission is exploring the diversity of planets and planetary systems. Its legacy will be a catalog of discoveries sufficient for computing planet occurrence rates as a function of size, orbital period, star type, and insolation flux. The mission has made significant progress toward achieving that goal. Over 3,500 transiting exoplanets have been identified from the analysis of the first 3 y of data, 100 planets of which are in the habitable zone. The catalog has a high reliability rate (85–90% averaged over the period/radius plane), which is improving as follow-up observations continue. Dynamical (e.g., velocimetry and transit timing) and statistical methods have confirmed and characterized hundreds of planets over a large range of sizes and compositions for both single- and multiple-star systems. Population studies suggest that planets abound in our galaxy and that small planets are particularly frequent. Here, I report on the progress Kepler has made measuring the prevalence of exoplanets orbiting within one astronomical unit of their host stars in support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s long-term goal of finding habitable environments beyond the solar system. PMID:25049406

  13. ASTEROSEISMIC CLASSIFICATION OF STELLAR POPULATIONS AMONG 13,000 RED GIANTS OBSERVED BY KEPLER

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stello, Dennis; Bedding, Timothy R.; Benomar, Othman

    2013-03-10

    Of the more than 150,000 targets followed by the Kepler Mission, about 10% were selected as red giants. Due to their high scientific value, in particular for Galaxy population studies and stellar structure and evolution, their Kepler light curves were made public in late 2011. More than 13,000 (over 85%) of these stars show intrinsic flux variability caused by solar-like oscillations making them ideal for large-scale asteroseismic investigations. We automatically extracted individual frequencies and measured the period spacings of the dipole modes in nearly every red giant. These measurements naturally classify the stars into various populations, such as the redmore » giant branch, the low-mass (M/M{sub Sun} {approx}< 1.8) helium-core-burning red clump, and the higher-mass (M/M{sub Sun} {approx}> 1.8) secondary clump. The period spacings also reveal that a large fraction of the stars show rotationally induced frequency splittings. This sample of stars will undoubtedly provide an extremely valuable source for studying the stellar population in the direction of the Kepler field, in particular when combined with complementary spectroscopic surveys.« less

  14. Mars Exploration Rover Operations with the Science Activity Planner

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jeffrey S. Norris; Powell, Mark W.; Vona, Marsette A.; Backes, Paul G.; Wick, Justin V.

    2005-01-01

    The Science Activity Planner (SAP) is the primary science operations tool for the Mars Exploration Rover mission and NASA's Software of the Year for 2004. SAP utilizes a variety of visualization and planning capabilities to enable the mission operations team to direct the activities of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. This paper outlines some of the challenging requirements that drove the design of SAP and discusses lessons learned from the development and use of SAP in mission operations.

  15. The ESA JUICE mission: the Science and the Science Operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lorente, Rosario; Altobelli, Nicolas; Vallat, Claire; Munoz, Claudio; Andres, Rafael; Cardesin, Alejandro; Witasse, Olivier; Erd, Christian

    2017-04-01

    sensing capabilities via energetic neutrals, a magnetometer (J-MAG) and a radio and plasma wave instrument (RPWI), including electric fields sensors and a Langmuir probe. An experiment (PRIDE) using ground-based Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) will support precise determination of the spacecraft state vector with the focus at improving the ephemeris of the Jovian system. The current baseline assumes a launch in May 2022. Following an interplanetary cruise of 7.6 years, the Jupiter orbit insertion will take place in October 2029. The Jupiter tour will consists of 50 orbits around the giant planet, and will include two flybys of Europa at 400 km altitude, eleven flybys of Ganymede, and thirteen flybys of Callisto, as close as 200 km altitude. The last part of the mission will be the orbital phase around Ganymede, for about 10 months, where the spacecraft will be placed into a series of elliptical and circular orbits, the latest one at 500 km altitude. The end of mission is currently planned as an impact on Ganymede in June 2033. The ESA Science Operation Centre (SOC) is in charge of implementing the science operations of the JUICE mission. The SOC aims at supporting the Science Working Team (SWT) and the Science Working Groups (WGs) performing studies of science operation feasibility and coverage analysis during the mission development phase until launch, high level science planning during the cruise phase, and routine consolidation of instrument pointing and commanding timeline during the nominal science phase. This presentation will provide the latest information on the status of the project, and on the designed spacecraft trajectory in the Jovian system. It will focus on the science operational scenario of the two Europa flybys of the mission, and on the overall science return. References: [1] JUICE Definition Study Report, Reference ESA/SRE(2014)1,2014. http://sci.esa.int/juice/54994-juice-definition-study-report/ [2] Grasset, O., et al., JUpiter ICy moons

  16. Large amplitude change in spot-induced rotational modulation of the Kepler Ap star KIC 2569073

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Drury, Jason A.; Murphy, Simon J.; Derekas, Aliz; Sódor, Ádám; Stello, Dennis; Kuehn, Charles A.; Bedding, Timothy R.; Bognár, Zsófia; Szigeti, László; Szakáts, Róbert; Sárneczky, Krisztián; Molnár, László

    2017-11-01

    An investigation of the 200 × 200 pixel `superstamp' images of the centres of the open clusters NGC 6791 and NGC 6819 allows for the identification and study of many variable stars that were not included in the Kepler target list. KIC 2569073 (V = 14.22), is a particularly interesting variable Ap star that we discovered in the NGC 6791 superstamp. With a rotational period of 14.67 d and 0.034 mag variability, it has one of the largest peak-to-peak variations of any known Ap star. Colour photometry reveals an antiphase correlation between the B band, and the V, R and I bands. This Ap star is a rotational variable, also known as an α2 CVn star, and is one of only a handful of Ap stars observed by Kepler. While no change in spot period or amplitude is observed within the 4 yr Kepler time series, the amplitude shows a large increase compared to ground-based photometry obtained two decades ago.

  17. The Robo-AO KOI survey: laser adaptive optics imaging of every Kepler exoplanet candidate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ziegler, Carl; Law, Nicholas M.; Baranec, Christoph; Morton, Tim; Riddle, Reed; Atkinson, Dani; Nofi, Larissa

    2016-07-01

    The Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey is observing every Kepler planet candidate host star (KOI) with laser adaptive optics imaging to hunt for blended nearby stars which may be physically associated companions. With the unparalleled efficiency provided by the first fully robotic adaptive optics system, we perform the critical search for nearby stars (0.15" to 4.0" separation with contrasts up to 6 magnitudes) that dilute the observed planetary transit signal, contributing to inaccurate planetary characteristics or astrophysical false positives. We present 3313 high resolution observations of Kepler planetary hosts from 2012-2015, discovering 479 nearby stars. We measure an overall nearby star probability rate of 14.5+/-0.8%. With this large data set, we are uniquely able to explore broad correlations between multiple star systems and the properties of the planets which they host, providing insight into the formation and evolution of planetary systems in our galaxy. Several KOIs of particular interest will be discussed, including possible quadruple star systems hosting planets and updated properties for possible rocky planets orbiting with in their star's habitable zone.

  18. The Robo-AO KOI Survey: Laser Adaptive Optics Imaging of Every Kepler Exoplanet Candidate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ziegler, Carl; Law, Nicholas M.; Baranec, Christoph; Morton, Tim; Riddle, Reed L.

    2016-01-01

    The Robo-AO Kepler Planetary Candidate Survey is observing every Kepler planet candidate host star (KOI) with laser adaptive optics imaging to hunt for blended nearby stars which may be physically associated companions. With the unparalleled efficiency provided by the first fully robotic adaptive optics system, we perform the critical search for nearby stars (0.15" to 4.0" separation with contrasts up to 6 magnitudes) that pollute the observed planetary transit signal, contributing to inaccurate planetary characteristics or astrophysical false positives. We present approximately 3300 high resolution observations of Kepler planetary hosts from 2012-2015, with ~500 observed nearby stars. We measure an overall nearby star probability rate of 16.2±0.8%. With this large dataset, we are uniquely able to explore broad correlations between multiple star systems and the properties of the planets which they host. We then use these clues for insight into the formation and evolution of these exotic systems. Several KOIs of particular interest will be discussed, including possible quadruple star systems hosting planets and updated properties for possible rocky planets orbiting in the habitable zone.

  19. Kepler Planet Detection Metrics: Automatic Detection of Background Objects Using the Centroid Robovetter

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mullally, Fergal

    2017-01-01

    We present an automated method of identifying background eclipsing binaries masquerading as planet candidates in the Kepler planet candidate catalogs. We codify the manual vetting process for Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) described in Bryson et al. (2013) with a series of measurements and tests that can be performed algorithmically. We compare our automated results with a sample of manually vetted KOIs from the catalog of Burke et al. (2014) and find excellent agreement. We test the performance on a set of simulated transits and find our algorithm correctly identifies simulated false positives approximately 50 of the time, and correctly identifies 99 of simulated planet candidates.

  20. Atmospheric characterization of the hot Jupiter Kepler-13Ab

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shporer, Avi; O'Rourke, Joseph G.; Knutson, Heather A.

    Kepler-13Ab (= KOI-13.01) is a unique transiting hot Jupiter. It is one of very few known short-period planets orbiting a hot A-type star, making it one of the hottest planets currently known. The availability of Kepler data allows us to measure the planet's occultation (secondary eclipse) and phase curve in the optical, which we combine with occultations observed by warm Spitzer at 4.5 μm and 3.6 μm and a ground-based occultation observation in the K{sub s} band (2.1 μm). We derive a day-side hemisphere temperature of 2750 ± 160 K as the effective temperature of a black body showing themore » same occultation depths. Comparing the occultation depths with one-dimensional planetary atmosphere models suggests the presence of an atmospheric temperature inversion. Our analysis shows evidence for a relatively high geometric albedo, A {sub g} = 0.33{sub −0.06}{sup +0.04}. While measured with a simplistic method, a high A {sub g} is supported also by the fact that the one-dimensional atmosphere models underestimate the occultation depth in the optical. We use stellar spectra to determine the dilution, in the four wide bands where occultation was measured, due to the visual stellar binary companion 1.''15 ± 0.''05 away. The revised stellar parameters measured using these spectra are combined with other measurements, leading to revised planetary mass and radius estimates of M{sub p} = 4.94-8.09 M {sub J} and R{sub p} = 1.406 ± 0.038 R {sub J}. Finally, we measure a Kepler midoccultation time that is 34.0 ± 6.9 s earlier than expected based on the midtransit time and the delay due to light-travel time and discuss possible scenarios.« less

  1. Student Ideas about Kepler's Laws and Planetary Orbital Motions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yu, Ka Chun; Sahami, Kamran; Denn, Grant

    2010-01-01

    We present the analysis of oral interviews with 112 undergraduate nonmajor students during the first week of a General Education Introduction to Astronomy class before they had received any instruction. The students were asked questions relating to Kepler's three Laws of Motion, as well as their understanding of what keeps planets in orbit around…

  2. Use of ion-mobility mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) to map polyoxometalate Keplerate clusters and their supramolecular assemblies.

    PubMed

    Robbins, Philip J; Surman, Andrew J; Thiel, Johannes; Long, De-Liang; Cronin, Leroy

    2013-03-07

    We present the high-resolution (HRES-MS) and ion-mobility (IMS-MS) mass spectrometry studies of icosahedral nanoscale polyoxometalate-based {L(30)}{(Mo)Mo(5)} Keplerate clusters, and demonstrate the use of IMS-MS to resolve and map intact nanoclusters, and its potential for the discovery of new structures, in this case the first gas phase observation of 'proto-clustering' of higher order Keplerate supramolecular aggregates.

  3. Hinode/EIS science planning and operations tools

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rainnie, Jonn A.

    2016-07-01

    We present the design, implementation and maintenance of the suite of software enabling scientists to design and schedule Hinode/EIS1 operations. The total of this software is the EIS Science Planning Tools (EISPT), and is predominately written in IDL (Interactive Data Language), coupled with SolarSoft (SSW), an IDL library developed for solar missions. Hinode is a multi-instrument and wavelength mission designed to observe the Sun. It is a joint Japan/UK/US consortium (with ESA and Norwegian involvement). Launched in September 2006, its principal scientific goals are to study the Sun's variability and the causes of solar activity. Hinode operations are coordinated at ISAS (Tokyo, Japan). A daily Science Operations meeting is attended by the instrument teams and the spacecraft team. Nominally, science plan uploads cover periods of two or three days. When the forthcoming operations have been agreed, the necessary spacecraft operations parameters are created. These include scheduling for spacecraft pointing and ground stations. The Extreme UV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) instrument, led by the UK (the PI institute is MSSL), is designed to observe the emission spectral lines of the solar atmosphere. Observations are composed of reusable, hierarchical components, including lines lists (wavelengths of spectral lines), rasters (exposure times, line list, etc.) and studies (defines one or more rasters). Studies are the basic unit of "timeline" scheduling. They are a useful construct for generating more complex sequences of observations, reducing the planning burden. Instrument observations must first be validated. An initial requirement was that operations be shared equally by the 3 main EIS teams (Japan, UK and US). Hence, a major design focus of the software was "Remote Operations", whereby any scientist in any location can run the software, schedule a science plan and send it to the spacecraft commanding team. It would then be validated and combined with the science

  4. Evidence for Atmospheric Cold-trap Processes in the Noninverted Emission Spectrum of Kepler-13Ab Using HST /WFC3

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Beatty, Thomas G.; Zhao, Ming; Gilliland, Ronald L.

    We observed two eclipses of the Kepler-13A planetary system, on UT 2014 April 28 and UT 2014 October 13, in the near-infrared using Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope . By using the nearby binary stars Kepler-13BC as a reference, we were able to create a differential light curve for Kepler-13A that had little of the systematics typically present in HST /WFC3 spectrophotometry. We measure a broadband (1.1–1.65 μ m) eclipse depth of 734 ± 28 ppm and are able to measure the emission spectrum of the planet at R  ≈ 50 with an average precision of 70 ppm. Wemore » find that Kepler-13Ab possesses a noninverted, monotonically decreasing vertical temperature profile. We exclude an isothermal profile and an inverted profile at more than 3 σ . We also find that the dayside emission of Kepler-13Ab appears generally similar to an isolated M7 brown dwarf at a similar effective temperature. Due to the relatively high mass and surface gravity of Kepler-13Ab, we suggest that the apparent lack of an inversion is due to cold-trap processes in the planet’s atmosphere. Using a toy model for where cold traps should inhibit inversions, as well as observations of other planets in this temperature range with measured emission spectra, we argue that with more detailed modeling and more observations we may be able to place useful constraints on the size of condensates on the daysides of hot Jupiters.« less

  5. Robust, open-source removal of systematics in Kepler data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aigrain, S.; Parviainen, H.; Roberts, S.; Reece, S.; Evans, T.

    2017-10-01

    We present ARC2 (Astrophysically Robust Correction 2), an open-source python-based systematics-correction pipeline, to correct for the Kepler prime mission long-cadence light curves. The ARC2 pipeline identifies and corrects any isolated discontinuities in the light curves and then removes trends common to many light curves. These trends are modelled using the publicly available co-trending basis vectors, within an (approximate) Bayesian framework with 'shrinkage' priors to minimize the risk of overfitting and the injection of any additional noise into the corrected light curves, while keeping any astrophysical signals intact. We show that the ARC2 pipeline's performance matches that of the standard Kepler PDC-MAP data products using standard noise metrics, and demonstrate its ability to preserve astrophysical signals using injection tests with simulated stellar rotation and planetary transit signals. Although it is not identical, the ARC2 pipeline can thus be used as an open-source alternative to PDC-MAP, whenever the ability to model the impact of the systematics removal process on other kinds of signal is important.

  6. Kepler K2 Campaign 14 search for supernovae using Pan-STARRS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. W.; Rest, A.; Garnavich, P. M.; Tucker, B. E.; Margheim, S.; Kasen, D.; Olling, R.; Shaya, E.; Zenteno, A.; Chambers, K. C.; Huber, M. E.; Flewelling, H.; Magnier, E. A.; Schultz, A.; Lowe, T.; Tonry, J.; Waters, C.; Wright, D. E.; Young, D. R.

    2017-06-01

    12 transients have been discovered as part of the Kepler K2 Campaign 14 search using the Pan-STARRS telescope augmenting the Pan-STARRS Search for Transients (PSST) http://star.pst.qub.ac.uk/ps1threepi/.

  7. GTC Science Operations and Instrumentation Plan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cabrera-Lavers, A.

    2017-03-01

    The 10.4 m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS came into operation in 2009, and now we can clearly state without any doubt that we have in our hands an extraordinary tool to produce science with all its capabilities and functionalities operating under specs. This contribution summarizes the current status of the night operation of the telescope and describe GTC short- and medium- term instrumentation plan, that will make possible to provide access up to five different instruments to the users community from middle 2017, largely enhancing the scientific return from the telescope.

  8. RAPIDLY ROTATING, X-RAY BRIGHT STARS IN THE KEPLER FIELD

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Howell, Steve B.; Mason, Elena; Boyd, Patricia

    We present Kepler light curves and optical spectroscopy of twenty X-ray bright stars located in the Kepler field of view. The stars, spectral type F-K, show evidence for rapid rotation including chromospheric activity 100 times or more above the Sun at maximum and flaring behavior in their light curves. Eighteen of our objects appear to be (sub)giants and may belong to the class of FK Com variables, which are evolved rapidly spinning single stars with no excretion disk and high levels of chromospheric activity. Such stars are rare and are likely the result of W UMa binary mergers, a processmore » believed to produce the FK Com class of variable and their descendants. The FK Com stage, including the presence of an excretion disk, is short lived but leads to longer-lived stages consisting of single, rapidly rotating evolved (sub)giants with high levels of stellar activity.« less

  9. Probing AGN Accretion Physics through AGN Variability: Insights from Kepler

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kasliwal, Vishal Pramod

    Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) exhibit large luminosity variations over the entire electromagnetic spectrum on timescales ranging from hours to years. The variations in luminosity are devoid of any periodic character and appear stochastic. While complex correlations exist between the variability observed in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, no frequency band appears to be completely dominant, suggesting that the physical processes producing the variability are exceedingly rich and complex. In the absence of a clear theoretical explanation of the variability, phenomenological models are used to study AGN variability. The stochastic behavior of AGN variability makes formulating such models difficult and connecting them to the underlying physics exceedingly hard. We study AGN light curves serendipitously observed by the NASA Kepler planet-finding mission. Compared to previous ground-based observations, Kepler offers higher precision and a smaller sampling interval resulting in potentially higher quality light curves. Using structure functions, we demonstrate that (1) the simplest statistical model of AGN variability, the damped random walk (DRW), is insufficient to characterize the observed behavior of AGN light curves; and (2) variability begins to occur in AGN on time-scales as short as hours. Of the 20 light curves studied by us, only 3-8 may be consistent with the DRW. The structure functions of the AGN in our sample exhibit complex behavior with pronounced dips on time-scales of 10-100 d suggesting that AGN variability can be very complex and merits further analysis. We examine the accuracy of the Kepler pipeline-generated light curves and find that the publicly available light curves may require re-processing to reduce contamination from field sources. We show that while the re-processing changes the exact PSD power law slopes inferred by us, it is unlikely to change the conclusion of our structure function study-Kepler AGN light curves indicate

  10. New limits on primordial black hole dark matter from an analysis of Kepler source microlensing data.

    PubMed

    Griest, Kim; Cieplak, Agnieszka M; Lehner, Matthew J

    2013-11-01

    We present new limits on the allowed masses of a dark matter (DM) halo consisting of primordial black holes (PBH) (or any other massive compact halo object). We analyze two years of data from the Kepler satellite, searching for short-duration bumps caused by gravitational microlensing. After removing background events consisting of variable stars, flare events, and comets or asteroids moving through the Kepler field, we find no microlensing candidates. We measure the efficiency of our selection criteria by adding millions of simulated microlensing lensing events into the Kepler light curves. We find that PBH DM with masses in the range 2 × 10(-9) M[Symbol: see text] to 10(-7)M[Symbol: see text] cannot make up the entirety of the DM in the Milky Way. At the low-mass end, this decreases the allowed mass range by more than an order of magnititude.

  11. Science, art and geometrical imagination

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luminet, Jean-Pierre

    2011-06-01

    From the geocentric, closed world model of Antiquity to the wraparound universe models of relativistic cosmology, the parallel history of space representations in science and art illustrates the fundamental rôle of geometric imagination in innovative findings. Through the analysis of works of various artists and scientists like Plato, Dürer, Kepler, Escher, Grisey or the author, it is shown how the process of creation in science and in the arts rests on aesthetical principles such as symmetry, regular polyhedra, laws of harmonic proportion, tessellations, group theory, etc., as well as on beauty, conciseness and an emotional approach of the world.

  12. 2018 USA Science and Engineering Festival

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2018-04-06

    Tom Barclay, Director of the Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office at NASA's Ames Research Center, speaks about exoplanets and NASA's next exoplanet mission during Sneak Peek Friday at the USA Science and Engineering Festival, Friday, April 6, 2018 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. The festival is open to the public April 7-8. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

  13. New Constraints on the False Positive Rate for Short-Period Kepler Planet Candidates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colón, Knicole D.; Morehead, Robert C.; Ford, Eric B.

    2015-01-01

    The Kepler space mission has discovered thousands of potential planets orbiting other stars, thereby setting the stage for in-depth studies of different populations of planets. We present new multi-wavelength transit photometry of small (Rp < 6 Earth radii), short-period (P < 6 days) Kepler planet candidates acquired with the Gran Telescopio Canarias. Multi-wavelength transit photometry allows us to search for wavelength-dependent transit depths and subsequently identify eclipsing binary false positives (which are especially prevalent at the shortest orbital periods). We combine these new observations of three candidates with previous results for five other candidates (Colón & Ford 2011 and Colón, Ford, & Morehead 2012) to provide new constraints on the false positive rate for small, close-in candidates. In our full sample, we identify four candidates as viable planets and four as eclipsing binary false positives. We therefore find a higher false positive rate for small, close-in candidates compared to the lower false positive rate of ~10% determined by other studies for the full sample of Kepler planet candidates (e.g. Fressin et al. 2013). We also discuss the dearth of known planets with periods less than ~2.5 days and radii between ~3 and 11 Earth radii (the so-called 'sub-Jovian desert'), since the majority of the candidates in our study are located in or around this 'desert.' The lack of planets with these orbital and physical properties is not expected to be due to observational bias, as short-period planets are generally easier to detect (especially if they are larger or more massive than Earth). We consider the implications of our results for the other ~20 Kepler planet candidates located in this desert. Characterizing these candidates will allow us to better understand the formation processes of this apparently rare class of planets.

  14. NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting Twin Suns (Reporter Pkg)

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-08-28

    NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first transiting circumbinary system -- multiple planets orbiting two suns -- 4,900 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus, proving that more than one planets can form and survive in orbit around a binary star.

  15. The Kepler-19 System: A Thick-envelope Super-Earth with Two Neptune-mass Companions Characterized Using Radial Velocities and Transit Timing Variations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Malavolta, Luca; Borsato, Luca; Granata, Valentina

    We report a detailed characterization of the Kepler-19 system. This star was previously known to host a transiting planet with a period of 9.29 days, a radius of 2.2 R {sub ⊕}, and an upper limit on the mass of 20 M {sub ⊕}. The presence of a second, non-transiting planet was inferred from the transit time variations (TTVs) of Kepler-19b over eight quarters of Kepler photometry, although neither the mass nor period could be determined. By combining new TTVs measurements from all the Kepler quarters and 91 high-precision radial velocities obtained with the HARPS-N spectrograph, using dynamical simulations wemore » obtained a mass of 8.4 ± 1.6 M {sub ⊕} for Kepler-19b. From the same data, assuming system coplanarity, we determined an orbital period of 28.7 days and a mass of 13.1 ± 2.7 M {sub ⊕} for Kepler-19c and discovered a Neptune-like planet with a mass of 20.3 ± 3.4 M {sub ⊕} on a 63-day orbit. By comparing dynamical simulations with non-interacting Keplerian orbits, we concluded that neglecting interactions between planets may lead to systematic errors that can hamper the precision in the orbital parameters when the data set spans several years. With a density of 4.32 ± 0.87 g cm{sup −3} (0.78 ± 0.16 ρ {sub ⊕}) Kepler-19b belongs to the group of planets with a rocky core and a significant fraction of volatiles, in opposition to low-density planets characterized only by transit time variations and an increasing number of rocky planets with Earth-like density. Kepler-19 joins the small number of systems that reconcile transit timing variation and radial velocity measurements.« less

  16. Kepler-91b: a planet at the end of its life. Planet and giant host star properties via light-curve variations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lillo-Box, J.; Barrado, D.; Moya, A.; Montesinos, B.; Montalbán, J.; Bayo, A.; Barbieri, M.; Régulo, C.; Mancini, L.; Bouy, H.; Henning, T.

    2014-02-01

    the stellar atmosphere at the pericentre. We also detected three small dims in the phase-folded light curve. The combination of two of them agrees with the theoretical characteristics expected for secondary eclipse. Conclusions: Kepler-91b could be the previous stage of the planet engulfment, which has recently been detected for BD+48 740. Our estimations show that Kepler-91b will be swallowed by its host star in less than 55 Myr. Among the confirmed planets around giant stars, this is the closest to its host star. At pericentre, the star subtends an angle of 48°, covering around 10% of the sky as seen from the planet. The planetary atmosphere seems to be inflated probably due to the high stellar irradiation. Based on observations collected at the German-Spanish Astronomical Center, Calar Alto, jointly operated by the Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie (Heidelberg) and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC, Granada).Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  17. Kepler-432: A Red Giant Interacting with One of its Two Long-period Giant Planets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Quinn, Samuel N.; White, Timothy. R.; Latham, David W.; Chaplin, William J.; Handberg, Rasmus; Huber, Daniel; Kipping, David M.; Payne, Matthew J.; Jiang, Chen; Silva Aguirre, Victor; Stello, Dennis; Sliski, David H.; Ciardi, David R.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Bedding, Timothy R.; Davies, Guy R.; Hekker, Saskia; Kjeldsen, Hans; Kuszlewicz, James S.; Everett, Mark E.; Howell, Steve B.; Basu, Sarbani; Campante, Tiago L.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jørgen; Elsworth, Yvonne P.; Karoff, Christoffer; Kawaler, Steven D.; Lund, Mikkel N.; Lundkvist, Mia; Esquerdo, Gilbert A.; Calkins, Michael L.; Berlind, Perry

    2015-04-01

    We report the discovery of Kepler-432b, a giant planet ({{M}b}=5.41-0.18+0.32 {{M}Jup}, {{R}b}=1.145-0.039+0.036 {{R}Jup}) transiting an evolved star ({{M}\\star }=1.32-0.07+0.10 {{M}⊙ },{{R}\\star }=4.06-0.08+0.12 {{R}⊙ }) with an orbital period of {{P}b}=52.501129-0.000053+0.000067 days. Radial velocities (RVs) reveal that Kepler-432b orbits its parent star with an eccentricity of e=0.5134-0.0089+0.0098, which we also measure independently with asterodensity profiling (AP; e=0.507-0.114+0.039), thereby confirming the validity of AP on this particular evolved star. The well-determined planetary properties and unusually large mass also make this planet an important benchmark for theoretical models of super-Jupiter formation. Long-term RV monitoring detected the presence of a non-transiting outer planet (Kepler-432c; {{M}c}sin {{i}c}=2.43-0.24+0.22 {{M}Jup}, {{P}c}=406.2-2.5+3.9 days), and adaptive optics imaging revealed a nearby (0\\buildrel{\\prime\\prime}\\over{.} 87), faint companion (Kepler-432B) that is a physically bound M dwarf. The host star exhibits high signal-to-noise ratio asteroseismic oscillations, which enable precise measurements of the stellar mass, radius, and age. Analysis of the rotational splitting of the oscillation modes additionally reveals the stellar spin axis to be nearly edge-on, which suggests that the stellar spin is likely well aligned with the orbit of the transiting planet. Despite its long period, the obliquity of the 52.5 day orbit may have been shaped by star-planet interaction in a manner similar to hot Jupiter systems, and we present observational and theoretical evidence to support this scenario. Finally, as a short-period outlier among giant planets orbiting giant stars, study of Kepler-432b may help explain the distribution of massive planets orbiting giant stars interior to 1 AU.

  18. Magellan Project: Evolving enhanced operations efficiency to maximize science value

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cheuvront, Allan R.; Neuman, James C.; Mckinney, J. Franklin

    1994-01-01

    Magellan has been one of NASA's most successful spacecraft, returning more science data than all planetary spacecraft combined. The Magellan Spacecraft Team (SCT) has maximized the science return with innovative operational techniques to overcome anomalies and to perform activities for which the spacecraft was not designed. Commanding the spacecraft was originally time consuming because the standard development process was envisioned as manual tasks. The Program understood that reducing mission operations costs were essential for an extended mission. Management created an environment which encouraged automation of routine tasks, allowing staff reduction while maximizing the science data returned. Data analysis and trending, command preparation, and command reviews are some of the tasks that were automated. The SCT has accommodated personnel reductions by improving operations efficiency while returning the maximum science data possible.

  19. A Catalog of Transit Timing Posterior Distributions for all Kepler Planet Candidate Events

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montet, Benjamin Tyler; Becker, Juliette C.; Johnson, John

    2015-08-01

    Kepler has ushered in a new era of planetary dynamics, enabling the detection of interactions between multiple planets in transiting systems for hundreds of systems. These interactions, observed as transit timing variations (TTVs), have been used to find non-transiting companions to transiting systems and to measure masses, eccentricities, and inclinations of transiting planets. Often, physical parameters are inferred by comparing the observed light curve to the result of a photodynamical model, a time-intensive process that often ignores the effects of correlated noise in the light curve. Catalogs of transit timing observations have previously neglected non-Gaussian uncertainties in the times of transit, uncertainties in the transit shape, and short cadence data. Here, we present a catalog of not only times of transit centers, but also posterior distributions on the time of transit for every planet candidate transit event in the Kepler data, developed through importance sampling of each transit. This catalog allows us to marginalize over uncertainties in the transit shape and incorporate short cadence data, the effects of correlated noise, and non-Gaussian posteriors. Our catalog will enable dynamical studies that reflect accurately the precision of Kepler and its limitations without requiring the computational power to model the light curve completely with every integration.

  20. KOI-1003: A New Spotted, Eclipsing RS CVn Binary in the Kepler Field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roettenbacher, Rachael M.; Kane, Stephen R.; Monnier, John D.; Harmon, Robert O.

    2016-12-01

    Using the high-precision photometry from the Kepler space telescope, thousands of stars with stellar and planetary companions have been observed. The characterization of stars with companions is not always straightforward and can be contaminated by systematic and stellar influences on the light curves. Here, through a detailed analysis of starspots and eclipses, we identify KOI-1003 as a new, active RS CVn star—the first identified with data from Kepler. The Kepler light curve of this close binary system exhibits the system’s primary transit, secondary eclipse, and starspot evolution of two persistent active longitudes. The near equality of the system’s orbital and rotation periods indicates the orbit and primary star’s rotation are nearly synchronized ({P}{orb}=8.360613+/- 0.000003 {days}; {P}{rot}˜ 8.23 {days}). By assuming the secondary star is on the main sequence, we suggest the system consists of a {1.45}-0.19+0.11 {M}⊙ subgiant primary and a {0.59}-0.04+0.03 {M}⊙ main-sequence companion. Our work gives a distance of 4400 ± 600 pc and an age of t={3.0}+2.0-0.5 {Gyr}, parameters which are discrepant with previous studies that included the star as a member of the open cluster NGC 6791.