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]

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]

The unusual light curve of KIC 8462852 (also designated TYC 3162-665-1 and 2MASS J20061546+4427248), which was flagged by Planet Hunters,[8] has engendered speculation that an alien civilization's Dyson sphere[9][10] is responsible.[11]

See also

References
  1. "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.
  5. 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.
  7. "Kepler Discoveries". NASA. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  8. Boyajian, T. S.; et al. (27 January 2016). "Planet Hunters X: KIC 8462852 – Where's the flux?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 457 (4): 3988–4004. arXiv:1509.03622. Bibcode:2016MNRAS.457.3988B. doi:10.1093/mnras/stw218.
  9. Bodenner, Chris (16 October 2015). "Maybe It's a Dyson Sphere". Notes. The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  10. Bodenner, Chris (17 October 2015). "Maybe It's a Dyson Sphere, Cont'd". Notes. The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  11. Andersen, Ross (13 October 2015). "The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy". The Atlantic. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
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