Kepler Input Catalog

The Kepler Input Catalog (or KIC) is a publicly searchable database of roughly 13.2 million targets used for the Kepler Spectral Classification Program (SCP) and Kepler.[1][2]

The Kepler SCP targets were observed by the 2MASS project as well as Sloan filters, such as the griz filters.[3] The catalog alone is not used for finding Kepler targets, because only a portion (about a 1/3 of the catalog) can be observed by the spacecraft.[1] The full catalog includes up to 21 magnitude, giving 13.2 million targets, but of these only about 6.5 to 4.5 million fall on Kepler's sensors.[1]

KIC is one of the few comprehensive star catalogs for a spacecraft's field of view.[4] The KIC was created, because no catalog of sufficient depth and information existed for target selection at that time.[5] The catalog includes "mass, radius, effective temperature, log(g), metallacity, and reddening extinction".[5]

An example of a KIC catalog entry is KIC #10227020. Having had transit signals detected for this star, it has become a Kepler Object of Interest, with the designation KOI-730.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c "KIC Search Help". Multimission Archive at STScI. 17 September 2009. http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/kic10/help/search_help.html. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  2. ^ "KIC10 Search". Multimission Archive at STScI. 8 October 2009. http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/kic10/search.php. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  3. ^ "FAQ: What is the Spectral Classification Program (SCP)?". Multimission Archive at STScI. 18 September 2009. http://archive.stsci.edu/mast_faq.php?mission=KEPLER#45. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  4. ^ Beatty, T. G. (2009). "Predicting the Yield of Photometric Surveys". Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 4 (S243): 63–69. arXiv:0807.0250. Bibcode 2009IAUS..253...63B. doi:10.1017/S1743921308026240. 
  5. ^ a b Borucki, W.; et al. (2008). Finding Earth-sized Planets in the Habitable Zone: The Kepler Mission. . Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 3 (S249): 17–24. Bibcode 2008IAUS..249...17B. doi:10.1017/S174392130801630X. 
  6. ^ Borucki, W.; et al. (2011). "Characteristics of planetary candidates observed by Kepler, II: Analysis of the first four months of data". The Astrophysical Journal 736 (1): 19. arXiv:1102.0541. Bibcode 2011ApJ...736...19B. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/736/1/19. 

External links

See also