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Kepler mission highlights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2011

William J. Borucki  and
David G. Koch
William J. Borucki
Affiliation:
Space Science Directorate, Mail Stop 244-30, NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 email: William.J.Borucki@NASA.gov
David G. Koch
Affiliation:
Space Science Directorate, Mail Stop 244-30, NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 email: William.J.Borucki@NASA.gov
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Abstract

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During the first 33.5 days of science-mode operation of the Kepler Mission, the stellar flux of 156,000 stars were observed continuously. The data show the presence of more than 1800 eclipsing binary stars, over 700 stars with planetary candidates, and variable stars of amazing variety. Analyses of the commissioning data also show transits, occultations and light emitted from the known exoplanet HAT-P7b. 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. On 15 June 2010, the Kepler Mission released most of the data from the first quarter of observations. At the time of this data release, 706 stars from this first data set have exoplanet candidates with sizes from as small as that of the Earth to larger than that of Jupiter. More than half the candidates on the released list have radii less than half that of Jupiter. Five candidates are present in and near the habitable zone; two near super-Earth size, one similar in size to Neptune, and two bracketing the size of Jupiter. The released data also include five possible multi-planet systems. One of these has two Neptune-size (2.3 and 2.5 Earth-radius) candidates with near-resonant periods as well as a super-Earth-size planet in a very short period orbit.

Keywords

space vehiclestelescopesplanetary systemstechniques: photometric
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S276: The Astrophysics of Planetary Systems: Formation, Structure, and Dynamical Evolution , October 2010 , pp. 34 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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