Kepler Input Catalog

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Star catalog

title: "Kepler Input Catalog" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["kepler-space-telescope", "astronomical-catalogues-of-stars"] description: "Star catalog" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_Input_Catalog" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Star catalog ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/329161main_fullFFIHot300.png" caption="This image from NASA's Kepler mission shows the telescope's full field of view -- an expansive star-rich patch of sky in the constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Draco stretching across 100 square degrees, or the equivalent of two side-by-side dips of the Big Dipper."] ::

A cluster of stars, called NGC 6791, and a star with a known planet, called TrES-2b, are outlined. The cluster is eight billion years old, and located 13,000 light-years from Earth. It is called an open cluster because its stars are loosely bound and have started to spread out. TrES-2b is a hot Jupiter-like planet known to cross in front of, or transit, its star every 2.5 days. Kepler will hunt for transiting planets that are as small as Earth.

Celestial north is towards the lower left corner.]] 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 the Kepler space telescope. |date=17 September 2009 |title=KIC Search Help |url=http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/kic10/help/search_help.html |publisher=Multimission Archive at STScI |access-date=12 September 2011 |date=8 October 2009 |title=KIC10 Search |url=http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/kic10/search.php |publisher=Multimission Archive at STScI |access-date=12 September 2011

Overview

The Kepler SCP targets were observed by the 2MASS project as well as Sloan filters, such as the griz filters. |date=18 September 2009 |title=FAQ: What is the Spectral Classification Program (SCP)? |url=http://archive.stsci.edu/mast_faq.php?mission=KEPLER#45 |publisher=Multimission Archive at STScI |access-date=12 September 2011

KIC is one of the few comprehensive star catalogs for a spacecraft's field of view. |last=Beatty |first=T. G. |date=2009 |title=Predicting the Yield of Photometric Surveys |journal=Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union |volume=4 |issue=S243 |pages=63–69 |arxiv=0807.0250 |bibcode=2009IAUS..253...63B |doi=10.1017/S1743921308026240 |s2cid=118580770 |last=Borucki |first=W. |display-authors=etal |date=2008 |journal=Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union |volume=3 |issue=S249 |pages=17–24 |bibcode=2008IAUS..249...17B |doi=10.1017/S174392130801630X |title=Finding Earth-size planets in the habitable zone: The Kepler Mission |doi-access=free

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. |last1=Borucki |first1=W. |display-authors=etal |date=2011 |title=Characteristics of planetary candidates observed by Kepler, II: Analysis of the first four months of data |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=736 |issue=1 |pages=19 |arxiv=1102.0541 |bibcode= 2011ApJ...736...19B |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/736/1/19 |s2cid=15233153

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.

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.

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

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

is an eclipsing binary system consisting of two red giants. The primary component of the system has a radius of a mass of , and a temperature of , while the secondary component has a radius of , a mass of and the same temperature. Both stars orbit each other at a distance of 294000000 km, completing one orbit every 171 days.

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.

References

References

  1. (April 6, 2009). "Kepler Eyes Cluster and Known Planet - NASA". NASA.
  2. "Kepler Discoveries". [[NASA]].
  3. (2018). "Proper Motion of the Faint Star near KIC 8462852 (Boyajian's Star)—Not a Binary System". The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
  4. Andersen, Ross. (13 October 2015). "The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy". [[The Atlantic]].
  5. Kinemuchi, Karen. (2013-10-01). "To Pulsate or to Eclipse? Status of KIC 9832227 Variable Star".
  6. (2020). "Asteroseismology of 36 Kepler subgiants – I. Oscillation frequencies, linewidths, and amplitudes". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
  7. (February 2016). "Kic 9246715: The Double Red Giant Eclipsing Binary with Odd Oscillations". The Astrophysical Journal.
  8. (18 November 2016). "Kepler 11145123 is Most Spherical Natural Object Ever Seen, Astronomers Say {{!}} Astronomy {{!}} Sci-News.com".

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