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]

Overview

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 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), metallicity, 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] The planets around the star are confirmed, so the star has the Kepler catalog designation Kepler-223.

Not all star Kepler Input Catalog stars with confirmed planets get a Kepler Object of Interest designation. The reason is that sometimes transit signals are detected by observations that were not made by the Kepler team. An example of one of these objects is Kepler-78b.[7]

Notable objects

KIC 8462852 is a binary star whose primary shows a mysterious transit profile. The origin of this profile is uncertain, with proposed explanations ranging from an uneven dust ring to a Dyson swarm or similar alien megastructure.[8][9]

KIC 9832227 is a contact binary and an eclipsing binary with a period of about 11 hours.[10]

KIC 11026764 is a G-type subgiant star whose astroseismology has been studied extensively by Kepler. It shows weak variability with a period of about 1100 seconds.[11]

KIC 9246715 is an eclipsing binary system consisting of two red giants. The primary component of the system has a radius of 8.37+0.03
−0.07 R☉ a mass of 2.171+0.006
−0.008 M☉, and a temperature of 4930+140
−230 K, while the secondary component has a radius of 8.3+0.04
−0.03 R☉, a mass of 2.149+0.006
−0.008 M☉ and the same temperature.[12] Both stars orbit each other at a distance of 294,000,000 km (1.97 astronomical units), completing one orbit every 171 days.[12]

KIC 11145123 is one of the more interesting non-KOI objects in the list. An A-type main-sequence star with unusually slow rotation for its high mass, it is currently believed to be the roundest natural object.[13]


See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "KIC Search Help". Multimission Archive at STScI. 17 September 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  2. ^ "KIC10 Search". Multimission Archive at STScI. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. ^ "FAQ: What is the Spectral Classification Program (SCP)?". Multimission Archive at STScI. 18 September 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  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. S2CID 118580770.
  5. ^ a b Borucki, W.; et al. (2008). "Finding Earth-size 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. S2CID 15233153.
  7. ^ "Kepler Discoveries". NASA. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  8. ^ Clemens, D. P.; Maheshwari, K.; Jagani, R.; Montgomery, J.; Batal, A. M. E.; Ellis, T. G.; Wright, J. T. (2018). "Proper Motion of the Faint Star near KIC 8462852 (Boyajian's Star)—Not a Binary System". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 856 (1): l8. arXiv:1803.03299. Bibcode:2018ApJ...856L...8C. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aab492. S2CID 119402164.
  9. ^ Andersen, Ross (13 October 2015). "The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy". The Atlantic. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  10. ^ Kinemuchi, Karen (2013-10-01). "To Pulsate or to Eclipse? Status of KIC 9832227 Variable Star". arXiv:1310.0544 [astro-ph.SR].
  11. ^ Li, Yaguang; Bedding, Timothy R.; Li, Tanda; Bi, Shaolan; Stello, Dennis; Zhou, Yixiao; White, Timothy R. (2020), "Asteroseismology of 36 Kepler subgiants – I. Oscillation frequencies, linewidths, and amplitudes", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 495 (2): 2363–2386, arXiv:2005.06460, doi:10.1093/mnras/staa1335
  12. ^ a b Rawls, Meredith L.; Gaulme, Patrick; McKeever, Jean; Jackiewicz, Jason; Orosz, Jerome A.; Corsaro, Enrico; Beck, Paul G.; Mosser, Benoît; Latham, David W.; Latham, Christian A. (February 2016). "Kic 9246715: The Double Red Giant Eclipsing Binary with Odd Oscillations". The Astrophysical Journal. 818 (2): 108. arXiv:1601.00038. Bibcode:2016ApJ...818..108R. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/818/2/108. ISSN 0004-637X.
  13. ^ "Kepler 11145123 is Most Spherical Natural Object Ever Seen, Astronomers Say | Astronomy | Sci-News.com". Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2021-04-26.

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