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KEPLER: Search for Earth-Size Planets in the Habitable Zone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2008

William Borucki
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
David Koch
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Natalie Batalha
Affiliation:
San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, 95192, USA
Douglas Caldwell
Affiliation:
SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA
Jorgen Christensen-Dalsgaard
Affiliation:
University of Aarhus, Denmark
William D. Cochran
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
Edward Dunham
Affiliation:
Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, USA
Thomas N. Gautier
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
John Geary
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
Ronald Gilliland
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
Jon Jenkins
Affiliation:
SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA
Hans Kjeldsen
Affiliation:
Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ, 86001, USA
Jack J. Lissauer
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
Jason Rowe
Affiliation:
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
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Abstract

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The Kepler Mission is a space-based mission whose primary goal is to determine the frequency of Earth-size and larger planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. The mission will monitor more than 100,000 stars for patterns of transits with a differential photometric precision of 20 ppm at V = 12 for a 6.5 hour transit. It will also provide asteroseismic results on several thousand dwarf stars. It is specifically designed to continuously observe a single field of view of greater than 100 square degrees for 3.5 or more years.

This paper provides a short overview of the mission, a brief history of the mission development, expected results, new investigations by the recently chosen Participating Scientists, and the plans for the Guest Observer and Astrophysical Data Programs.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2009

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