The Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog (or EPIC) is a publicly searchable

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

s and

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a ...

s that is associated with the K2 "Second Light" plan of the

Kepler space telescope The Kepler space telescope is a disused space telescope launched by NASA in 2009 to discover Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbi ...

mission. Examples of related stars include: EPIC 201563164,

EPIC 204278916 EPIC 204278916 is a pre-main-sequence star, about five million years old with a spectral type of M1, implying a red dwarf. It is part of the Upper Scorpius sub-group of the Scorpius–Centaurus association, and is in the constellation Scor ...

EPIC 204376071 EPIC 204376071 is an M-type star in the constellation of Scorpius. Parallax measurements by the ''Gaia'' space observatory put the star at a distance of about from Earth. It is likely a member of the Upper Sco association, and is you ...

and EPIC 249706694. Examples of related planets include: EPIC 203771098 b, EPIC 203771098 c, EPIC 206011691 c and EPIC 211945201 b.

Overview

In November 2013, a new mission plan named K2 "Second Light" was presented for consideration. K2 would involve using Kepler's remaining capability, photometric precision of about 300 parts per million, compared with about 20 parts per million earlier, to collect data for the study of "

supernova explosions A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when a ...

star formation Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar space, sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-forming regions", collapse and form stars. As a branch of astronomy, star formation includ ...

and Solar-System bodies such as

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the Solar System#Inner solar system, inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic o ...

s and

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...

s, ... " and for finding and studying more

exoplanet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

s. In this proposed mission plan, Kepler would search a much larger area in the plane of

Earth's orbit Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes days (1 sidereal year), during which time Eart ...

around the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

References

External links

EPIC Catalog at MAST

K2: Extending Kepler's Power to the Ecliptic
{{portal bar, Astronomy, Space, Star Astronomical catalogues of stars Kepler space telescope Lists of exoplanets Transiting exoplanets

Overview

See also

References

External links