The Kepler data base will consist of 170,000 targets for the first year of the mission and 100,000 targets thereafter. The 70,000 targets cut from the list after the first year will be released shortly after the first year cut. These will probably be stars that are too active to reliably detect transits, but on the other hand be of the greatest interest to stellar astronomers. All of these targets will be monitored at a cadence of once every 15 minutes. In addition, all stars brighter than about V=11.5 will be monitored for 1-3 months at a cadence of 1 minute and analyzed for p-mode oscillations. The mission has the capability to monitor 200 "p-mode" stars with 1 minute cadence at any one time. (An additional 25 targets can be monitored at 1 min cadence for the guest observers.)

The Data Analysis Program is an opportunity for the scientific community to perform data mining on the existing Kepler data base by conducting analysis of the objects for purposes that are in addition to and different from that of the search for planets. Data mining will probably be most profitable on the longest time base of the data set - after the end of the mission. Examples of potential uses for the data are in the understanding of stellar activity cycles, white-light flaring, frequency of Maunder minimums, distribution of stellar rotation rates, etc.

Potential Additional Science From The Kepler Data Base

The Kepler Mission will achieve a photometric precision of 20 parts per million (ppm), including all noise sources: Gaussian noise, stellar variability and instrument noise, on a V = 12 magnitude G2V star integrating for 6.5 hours after differential ensemble processing. The mission will continuously monitor 100,000+ stars for 4-6 years with 15 minute temporal resolution. The field of view (FOV) of more than 100 square degrees is located in the Cygnus region. The same FOV will be continuously monitored throughout the entire mission. The nominal magnitude range of Kepler is between 9th and 15th apparent V-magnitude, although targets as faint as V = 18th magnitude may be considered for guest observer use. The bandpass is broadband from 400 to 900 nm. The point spread function is about 12 arc seconds in diameter (FWHM). The baseline mission is four years long with a planned option for an additional two-year extension. The resulting data base will be unique given the photometric precision, duration, contiguity and number of stars. The community will have the opportunity to mine this rich data set for astrophysical phenomena not included in the baseline Kepler Mission.

Click on the button to see if the RA and Dec of an object falls on an active CCD in the FOV.

Note this is a new version of the calculator.

Download a pdf copy of the FOV map.

The data from the Kepler Mission will be processed and archived at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI). The data will be calibrated. Bias (dark level) and smear (the photometer has no shutter) will be removed and values converted to fluxes. The multiple pixels making up a single star's psf will not be combined, permitting users to perform their own photometry or other forms of analysis. In addition, light curves for all the stars will be processed on a quarterly basis at NASA Ames Research Center. Ensemble-normalized light curves will be placed in the archive; there may be a quarter year lag for processing. The STScI will provide support to the DAP users through the Multi-mission Archive Support Tool (MAST). Users will be able to search data bases to ascertain what data exists on targets of potential interest, and to determine when specific observations will be available (consistent with proprietary restrictions) for access. DAP users (as well as unfunded users) will have access to data in a convenient form via internet.

The DAP will be supported at the Data Management Center at STScI through creation of documents, web pages, and online tools that thoroughly describe the photometer, the expected attributes of data provided by Kepler and a guide to the extensive photometric information developed from ground-based studies of objects in the field of view. Proposers may use these to estimate signal-to-noise ratios for possible targets, determine what observations exist for DAP, and may thus best plan their proposals. Limited support will be provided to answer questions about data analysis.

After the end of the mission, the STScI will perform a final processing to calibrated units using the latest calibration information for the whole mission. The light curves for all of the stars for the full duration of the mission derived by the Kepler science team will also be added to the archive. These curves will have included differential ensemble normalization. The Kepler archive in MAST is expected to be supported for ten years after the end of mission.

Note that the DAP is still in the formative stages. Any comments are appreciated and will be considered. The contact person for the DAP is Yoji Kondo: