1. The Kepler Mission
S. R. Kulkarni

3. KEPLER HAS THE PRECISION TO FIND EARTHS & IT IS THE FIRST TO DISCOVER LIGHT FROM THIS PLANET
Measurement scatter is within
the line thickness.
Magnification by 7 shows transits + occultation
Occultation is the size of a transit by Earth-size planet.
Rise in light between transits is discovery of light from the planet itself.

4. IS IT A PLANET OR A FALSE POSITIVE?44
IS IT A PLANET OR A FALSE POSITIVE?
M* = 1.3 MSun
Mplanet = 3.9 ± 0.19 MJupiter
r = 6.31 g/cm3

5. ACTIVE-OPTICS IMAGE OF THE TARGET “STAR” SHOWS IT TO BE TWO STARS
The fact that there are two stars instead of one makes it difficult to determine the size of the planet and its distance from its star and therefore whether it is in the habitable zone.

6. KEPLER: A Wide Field-of-View Photometer that Monitors ≥150,000 Stars for 3.5 yrs with Enough Precision to Find Earth-size Planets in the Habitable Zone
Observe for several years to detect transit patterns.
Monitor a single large area on the sky
continuously to avoid missing transits.
Use heliocentric orbit .
Observe up to 170,000 targets at 30 minute
cadence & 512 at 1 minute cadence.
Photometry done on the ground.
1.4m Primary Mirror
Focal Plane Radiator
95 cm Schmidt Corrector
Focal Plane w/ 42 Science CCD’s &
4 Fine Guidance Sensors
Focal Plane Electronics
Get statistically valid results
by monitoring ≥100,000 stars with;
Wide Field-of-view telescope
(100 sq deg), and
Large array of CCD detectors.
Optical pass band of the instrument
94.6 million science pixels
42 science CCDs,
2 channels each
4 fine guidance
sensor (FGS) CCDs

7. LAUNCH ON MARCH 6, 2009 Click to edit Master text styles Second level
Third level
Fourth level
Fifth level
53-week, Earth-trailing orbit

8. Click link or graphic to play movie:
Kepler Field of View
Click link or graphic to play movie:

9. Kepler Orrery or·rer·y ˈôrərē/ noun
noun: orrery; plural noun: orreries
a mechanical model of the solar system, or of just the sun, earth, and moon, used to represent their relative positions & motions.

10. Today!

11. Pushing to ηEarth – Q1-Q17 planet catalogue
12 new, small planet candidates in the habitable zone
521 new planet candidates total
Detection completeness measured over full observing baseline, full target list
Automated vetting procedure

12. Earth-like planet

14. KEPLER’S FIRST ROCKY PLANET: KEPLER-10b

15. Kepler-10 Light Curve

16. Kepler-10 Light Curve
Period = days

17. Kepler-10 Light Curve
Period = days

18. Kepler-10 Light Curve
Period = days
Period = .84 days

19. Kepler-10 Light Curve
Period = days
Period = .84 days

20. Doppler Measurements Yield
Planet Mass
Mass = 4.6 M

21. Composition of Kepler-10b

22. Multi-planet systems

23. Durations in Systems

25. Kepler-11 parameters
Fix spacings.

26. Asteroseismology

27. Kepler results are a major improvement over all prior observations.
ASTEROSEISMOLOGY RESULTS PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE SIZE AND AGES OF STARS & PLANETS
Old, slowly pulsating stars.
Young, rapidly oscillating stars.
Frequency-power spectra of three solar-like stars.
Color-magnitude diagram for NGC 6819.
Kepler results are a major improvement over all prior observations.

28. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS EXCITE “A” STARS
KOI-54: The Remarkable Pulsating, Periastron-Pumped Binary Star. W. Wesh et al

29. KEPLER ASTEROSEISMIC SCIENCE CONSORTIUM INVESTIGATIONS