The Kepler Input Catalog (or KIC) is a publicly searchable

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

of roughly 13.2 million targets used for the Kepler Spectral Classification Program (SCP) and the

Kepler space telescope The Kepler space telescope is a defunct 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 orb ...

Overview

The Kepler SCP targets were observed by the 2MASS project as well as Sloan filters, such as the ''griz'' filters. 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. 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. KIC is one of the few comprehensive star catalogs for a spacecraft's field of view. The KIC was created because no catalog of sufficient depth and information existed for target selection at that time. The catalog includes "mass, radius, effective temperature, log'' (g)'', metallicity, and reddening extinction". 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. The planets around the star are confirmed, so the star has the Kepler catalog designation

Kepler-223 Kepler-223 (KOI-730, KIC 10227020) is a G8 star with an extrasolar planetary system discovered by the Kepler mission. Studies indicate that the Kepler-223 star system consists of 4 planets orbiting the star. Planetary system The c ...

. 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 Kepler-78b (formerly known as KIC 8435766 b) is an exoplanet orbiting around the star Kepler-78. At the time of its discovery, it was the exoplanet most similar to Earth in terms of mass, radius, and mean density. Discovery Kepler-78b is the onl ...

Notable objects

KIC 8462852 Tabby's Star (designated as KIC 8462852 in the Kepler Input Catalog and also known by the names Boyajian's Star and WTF (Where'sTheFlux?) Star, is a binary star in the constellation Cygnus approximately from Earth. The system is compo ...

is a

binary star A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved as separate stars us ...

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 A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output. The concept is a thought experiment that attempts to imagine how a spacefaring civilization would meet its energy re ...

or similar alien megastructure.

KIC 9832227 KIC 9832227 is a contact binary star system in the constellation Cygnus (constellation), Cygnus, located about 2,060 light-years away. It is also identified as an eclipsing binary with an orbital period of almost 11 hours. Incorrect 2022 ...

is a

contact binary In astronomy, a contact binary is a binary star system whose component stars are so close that they touch each other or have merged to share their gaseous envelopes. A binary system whose stars share an envelope may also be called an overcontac ...

and an

eclipsing binary A binary star or binary star system is a Star system, system of two stars that are gravity, gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved ...

with a period of about 11 hours.

KIC 11026764 This is the list of notable stars in the constellation of Cygnus, sorted by decreasing apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artifici ...

is a G-type subgiant star whose

asteroseismology Asteroseismology is the study of oscillations in stars. Stars have many Resonance, resonant modes and frequencies, and the path of sound waves passing through a star depends on the local speed of sound, which in turn depends on local temperature a ...

has been studied extensively by ''Kepler''. It shows weak variability with a period of about 1100 seconds. is an

system consisting of two

red giants A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface temperature around ...

. 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 , completing one orbit every 171 days.

KIC 11145123 KIC 11145123 (sometimes mistakenly called Kepler 11145123), is a white hued star located in the northern constellation Cygnus, the swan. It has an apparent magnitude of 13.12, making it readily visible in large telescopes, but not to the n ...

is one of the more interesting non-KOI objects in the list. An

A-type main-sequence star An A-type main-sequence star (A) or A dwarf star is a main-sequence (hydrogen burning) star of spectral type A and luminosity class (five). These stars have spectra defined by strong hydrogen Balmer absorption lines. They measure between 1 ...

with unusually slow rotation for its high mass, it is currently believed to be the roundest natural object.

References

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External links

Kepler Input Catalog (SAO)
Kepler space telescope Astronomical catalogues of stars

Overview

Notable objects

See also

References

External links