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Q12
JUL 24, 2012

REACTION WHEEL
JUL 24, 2012

the Kepler spacecraft experienced an anomaly last weekend. Late Friday (local time), the system began experiencing anomalous pointing performance and fell out of finepoint, with the result that valid science data was no longer being collected. Some time subsequently, reaction wheel #2 appears to have stopped responding to onboard torque commands. This was discovered at the Monday semi-weekly contact, when a limited amount of engineering data was downlinked. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent developing a plan to get higher rate engineering data from the onboard recorder and return to science operations on the remaining three wheels. The system design allows for 3-wheel operation that meets all science objectives. With our scheduled semi-weekly contact, all our objectives were achieved. The health and safety of the spacecraft was verified, wheel 2 was removed from the control set, the spacecraft was turned to Earth-point and the recorded engineering data downlinked. Pointing performance immediately improved with the removal of wheel 2, and the spacecraft was returned to science attitude. Finepoint was reestablished on the first try and science observations resumed before the end of the contact. The system is once again collecting science data, and is now operating on three wheels. The long term investigation still lies ahead of us, but the science outage has been minimized. The operations team did an exceptional job today in getting all this accomplished in a contact that was never intended to support Ka-band operations. The return to science was accomplished with seven minutes to spare, thanks to the Voyager team that release an extra half hour of contact time to us. There will be some clean-up work on a special Saturday contact, and the Tuesday contact will verify stable operation. The Monthly Contact will proceed as planned on July 29/30, with a lot of interest in the comparison of pointing performance before and after the anomaly.

TARGET PIXEL FILES
JUL 18, 2012

SWIFT
JUL 18, 2012

REMINDER TO PROPOSE QUARTER 15 TARGETS FOR THE DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY PROGRAM
JUL 08, 2012

The deadline is already approaching (Jul 24) for you to propose additional targets for quarter 15 observing through the discretionary target program. It is a long 11 months before you can observe new targets through the grant-funded cycle 5 Guest Observer Program. But if you can't wait, the discretionary program can also be used to respond to targets of opportunity, provide a mechanism for pilot studies, and enhance existing GO or KASC programs with additional data.

NEW SOURCE SURVEYS OF THE KEPLER FIELD
JUL 08, 2012

Two new ground-based source surveys targeting the Kepler field are now online. The Kepler Input Catalog (KIC), containing griz magnitudes of field stars, becomes increasingly incomplete at Kepler bandpass magnitudes Kp > 18. The Howell-Everett UBV Photometric Survey covers the full field and is complete to U < 18.7, B < 19.3, and V < 19.1. The first release of the Kepler-INT Survey (KIS) cover 50 square degrees of the field in U, g, r, i and Hα, reaching down to a 10-σ limit of 20th mag - approaching the point source confusion limit of the Kepler instrument. Both new resources increase the surveyed depth across optical bandpasses and provides blue and Hα diagnostics for finding the hot stellar and extragalactic populations within the Kepler field. Scientists are encouraged to propose for Guest Observer and Director's Discretionary Targets on Kepler to follow-up new sources of interest harvested from the UBV and KIS surveys. If a proposed UBV or KIS source does not match any source within the KIC (e.g. due to faintness), proposers will be required to create a custom pixel mask for their target.

PyKE DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS NOW IN STANDALONE PYTHON
JUL 01, 2012

Prior to version 2.2, the PyKE suite of Kepler data reduction tools was developed as a subpackage of the IRAF and PyRAF software systems. The labyrinthine installation instructions of these two systems was proving bewildering to many Kepler users, particularly on linux machines. While users will continue to have the ability to operate PyKE as a PYRAF package, as of version 2.2 PyKE can be installed without IRAF or PyRAF dependencies, can be executed from the command line of your shell environment and can be included within shell scripts.

PyKE PLOTTING WOES ON LINUX MACHINES HAVE BEEN SOLVED
JUL 01, 2012

Prior to version 2.2, many users of the PyKE software tools were finding an incongruous feature of the tools that prevented plots being rendered to their monitor screens. The problem was specific to certain flavors of Linux and UNIX. This bug has now been remedied. Linux and UNIX users should download the latest version of the tools to avoid this problem.

PyKE CONCEPTS AND WALKTROUGH EXAMPLES
JUL 01, 2012

A primer and walkthrough examples for PyKE and Kepler data reduction are now online. A companion paper (Kinemuchi et al. 2012) has been accepted for publication in PASP.

KEPLER QUARTER 13-14 ROLL PROCEDURE EXECUTED
JUN 28, 2012

The data gap for monthly data download and spacecraft roll began on Jun 27. Science operations and data collection resumed on Jun 28 after a 26 hour break in science collection. These events mark the boundary between operational quarters 13 and 14. Quarter 13 data is scheduled to be pipeline-reduced delivered to the Kepler archive before Oct 28, 2012. Guest Observer targets being observed during quarter 14 are tabulated here.

KEPLER AT THE 220TH AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MEETING - ANCHORAGE, AK
JUN 02, 2012

The 220th AAS meeting occurs over Jun 10-14 in Anchorage, AK. There will be a significant Kepler presence there. 28 talks and 12 posters directly related to Kepler data exploitation will be presented, distributed over 14 different scientific sessions - testifying to the diversity within the Kepler community. Four special Kepler sessions will be spread over two days of the meeting. There will be a Kepler booth #309 where we encourage you to tarry with the Science and Technical Teams and bring your questions, concerns and ideas. At 6.30pm on Jun 11, there is a town hall with beer, wine and food donated by Ball Aerospace: "The NASA Kepler Mission Town Hall: 2012 and Beyond". This Town Hall will present the Kepler project plans for the extended mission recently granted by NASA. These include significant changes in the data release policy, availability of new project products, avenues for community involvement via the Kepler Participating Scientist Program and Guest Observer program, as well as the role of the MAST and NExScI archives. Please come join us for this town hall reception, meet the Kepler team, and learn about the future mission plans for both planet discovery and astrophysics using Kepler data.

KEPLER TEAM SEEKING A KEPLER SUPPORT SCIENTIST
JUN 01, 2012

The SETI Institute is seeking an astronomer/scientist to assist Kepler during the Extended Mission. The successful candidate will become a member of the Kepler Science Office, located at the NASA-Ames Research Center. He/she will assist in the calibration and characterization of Kepler data, the on-going search for exoplanets, and the scientific interpretation and exploitation of the results. The Support Scientist will be encouraged to devote 20% of his/her time to independent astronomical research. Ideally, this research would involve active collaboration with other Kepler and community scientists, as appropriate. See the post description at the AAS Job Register.

Q5-Q8 REPROCESSED DATA AVAILABLE AT THE MAST
MAY 30, 2012

From SOC 8.1 processing, improved versions of pipeline-generated light curves and target pixel files for Kepler quarters 5 through 8 (i.e. Q5-Q8) are now available for download from the MAST. The associated Data Release 16 Notes describe the phenomena within the data over all four quarters. The most notable improvements are:

• an improved detrending algorithm (PDC MAP) that removes instrumental artifacts while retaining astrophysical signals
• the addition of the background flux time series
• the addition of RMS CDPP measurements (a variant of photometric signal-to-noise) at 3, 6 and 12 hour time scales.

Updated Cotrending Basis Vectors, created from this newly reprocessed data, are available for download from the MAST. They can be found on the Ancillary Data page at MAST. Users should only apply CBVs to data with matching data release numbers. The Q5-Q8 full-frame images (FFIs) have also been reprocessed with improved astrometric calibration as outlined in the Data Release 14 Notes. New versions of the FFIs are available for download from the MAST. As of this delivery, all Q0-Q11 data will have been processed and made available through the MAST with a similar version of the Kepler pipeline.

THE KEPLER CYCLE 4 GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM FINALIZED
MAY 29, 2012

Abstracts for the cycle 4 Guest Observer Program covering the period Jun 2012-Jun 2013 (Kepler quarters 14-17) are now online. The community are reminded to add programs to this list at any time through the Directors' Discretionary Target Program.

DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY TARGETS FOR QUARTER 14
MAY 29, 2011

The upcoming June quarterly roll defines the boundary between Kepler operational quarters 13 and 14. New target lists have been delivered and approved for upload to the spacecraft. Available GO pixel resources allowed a number of Director's Discretionary Targets to be added to the observing program:

QUARTER 11 LIGHT CURVES, TARGET PIXEL FILES AND COTRENDING BASIS VECTORS NOW AT MAST
MAY 03, 2012

Quarter 11 light curves and target pixel files are now available to GOs and the Kepler Science Team via the Archive Data Search and Retrieval page at MAST. Q11 covers the period Sep 29, 2011 to Jan 4, 2012 and comprises the second quarter of cycle 3 Guest Observer observations. Q11 is the eighth operational quarter of data to be delivered to the archive in the PDC MAP era. PDC MAP replaces the original PDC algorithms described in the Kepler Data Processing Handbook. The new functionality reduces instrumental and systematic photometric artifacts more effectively, while retaining more intrinsic astrophysics within the time series data. PDC MAP identifies the common photometric structure over a large sample of Kepler sources local to your target, constructs cotrending basis vectors to characterize the common variability, and employs these to fit and remove systematics from individual light curves. PDC MAP provides more reliable artifact mitigation for a larger sample of Kepler targets. In cases where PDC MAP provides a non-optimal solution or where users have re-extracted photometry from a target pixel file, archive users now have the data and software resources to re-perform artifact mitigation with customized, target-specific criteria using canned cotrending basis vectors and available cotrending software. Data Release Note 15 documents the quality of quarter 11 data.

KEPLER ARCHIVE MANUAL UPDATED
APR 27, 2012

A new version of the Kepler Archive Manual has been released. Version 4 describes the addition of new data products to the archive - the Artifact Removal Pixels file, background pixels file and collateral pixels file, and resources for advanced data searching.

2012 SENIOR REVIEW REPORT FOR OPERATING NASA MISSIONS
MAR 31, 2012

NASA hosted the Astrophysics Division Senior Review for its Operating Missions in Feb 2012. The purpose of this comparative review is to assist NASA in maximizing the scientific productivity from its Operating Missions. NASA will use the findings from the Senior Review to:

• Prioritize the operating missions and projects
• Define an implementation approach to achieve astrophysics strategic objectives
• Provide programmatic direction to the missions and projects concerned for 2013 and 2014
• Issue initial funding guidelines for 2015 and 2016 (to be revisited in the 2014 Senior Review)

Kepler has applied for an extended mission operations budget beyond Nov 2012 to this review. The report from the review panel is close at hand and will be available here.

KEPLER QUARTER 12-13 ROLL PROCEDURE EXECUTED
MAR 28, 2012

The data gap for monthly data download and spacecraft roll began on Mar 28. Science operations and data collection resumed on Mar 29. These events mark the boundary between operational quarters 12 and 13. Quarter 12 data is scheduled to be pipeline-reduced with version SOC 8.1 and scheduled for Kepler archive delivery before Jul 28, 2012.

Q0-Q4 REPROCESSED DATA AVAILABLE AT THE MAST
MAR 23, 2012

From SOC 8.0 processing, improved versions of pipeline-generated light curves and target pixel files for Kepler quarters 0 through 4 (i.e. Q0-Q4) are now available for download from the MAST. The associated Data Release 14 Notes describe the phenomena within the data over all five quarters. The most notable improvements are:

• an improved detrending algorithm (PDC MAP) that removes instrumental artifacts while retaining astrophysical signals
• the addition of the background flux time series
• the addition of RMS CDPP measurements (a variant of photometric signal-to-noise) at 3, 6 and 12 hour time scales.

Updated Cotrending Basis Vectors, created from this newly reprocessed data, are available for download from the MAST. They can be found on the Ancillary Data page at MAST. Users should only apply CBVs to data with matching data release numbers. The Q2-Q4 full-frame images (FFIs) have also been reprocessed with improved astrometric calibration as outlined in the Data Release 14 Notes. New versions of the FFIs are available for download from the MAST. The Kepler project is currently reprocessing the Q5-Q8 data and expects to host it at the MAST by July 2012. After this delivery, all Q0-Q11 data will have been processed and made available through the MAST with a similar version of the Kepler pipeline.

CYCLE 2 KEPLER PARTICIPATING SCIENTIST PROGRAM ABSTRACTS ONLINE
MAR 21, 2012

NASA has selected funded proposals for cycle 2 of the Kepler Participating Scientists Program (PSP). The Kepler PSP is designed to augment the skill set of the Kepler Science Team, enabling the Team to more effectively execute the science program of the mission. Participating Scientists serve as members of the Kepler Science Team and participate in Science Team activities, such as data processing and analysis, transit candidate follow-up and characterization, and publication. Selected program abstracts are provided here.

KEPLER DATA CHARACTERISTICS HANDBOOK UPDATED
MAR 13, 2012

Version 3 of the Kepler Data Characteristics Handbook is available. The handbook provides a description of the systematic phenomena identified in the Kepler data, and an explanation for how these characteristics are currently handled by the data analysis pipeline. With each quarterly release of data and each release of reprocessed data, a set of Data Release Notes is produced that tabulates the phenomena unique to that data set. The motivation for this separation into static, explanatory text and a set of dynamic figures and tables is the hope that once the user becomes familiar with the Data Characteristics Handbook, with each quarterly release they need only peruse the short Notes for that quarter.

PLANETARY CANDIDATES DETECTED BY KEPLER DURING THE FIRST 16 MONTHS OF DATA COLLECTION
FEB 28, 2012

1,091 new transiting planet candidates have emerged from analysis of Kepler spacecraft data spanning May 2009 to September 2010, bringing the total count to 2,321 Kepler planet candidates orbiting 1,790 host stars. The fraction of host stars with multiple candidates has grown from 17% to 20%. The cumulative catalog now contains over 200 Earth-size planet candidates and more than 900 super-Earths. Of the 46 planet candidates found in the habitable zone, 10 are near-Earth-size. A clear trend toward smaller planets at longer orbital periods is evident with each new catalog release. This suggests that Earth-size planets in the habitable zone are forthcoming if, indeed, such planets are abundant. Data and sample analyses are presented in Batalha et al. (2012). An updated table of planet candidates is archived within the Kepler data archive at MAST, and a sortable, filterable table with orbital ephemeris and light curve folding tools at NExScI's Exoplanet Archive.

NEW PLANET CANDIDATES FROM THE PLANET HUNTERS CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT
FEB 28, 2012

The Planet Hunters citizen science project has identified 2 new exoplanet candidates in Kepler quarter 2 data (Lintott et al. 2012). The orbital periods of the planet candidates are 97.46 days (KIC 4552729) and 284.03 (KIC 10005758) days and the modeled planet radii are 5.3 and 3.8 R_Earth. The discovery of these candidates illustrates the value of massively distributed volunteer review of the Kepler database to recover candidates which were otherwise uncatalogued.

2012B NASA KECK CALL FOR PROPOSALS
FEB 22, 2012

NASA is soliciting proposals to use the Keck Telescopes for the 2012B observing semester (Aug 2012 - Jan 2013). NASA intends the use of the Keck telescopes to be highly strategic in support of on-going space missions and/or high priority, long term science goals. NASA Keck time is open to a wide range of disciplines including exoplanets, galactic and extragalactic topics. This semester and continuing into future semesters, there is limited time available for observations of targets based on public Kepler data or data obtained through the Kepler Guest Observer programs. The proposal process is being handled by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) at Caltech and all proposals are due on 15 March 2012 at 4 pm PDT. Please see the website for further information and the proposal submission site. Questions not answered on these pages can be directed to KeckCFP@ipac.caltech.edu.

FORTHCOMING SCIENCE MEETINGS FOR THE KEPLER COMMUNITY
FEB 10, 2012

Plan for a busy summer of travel. Science meetings with large Kepler participation that we draw your attention to are:
1. The Modern Era of Helio- and Asteroseismology, May 20-25, Obergurgl, Austria
2. 220th AAS Meeting, including 4 special Kepler sessions, Jun 10-14, Anchorage, Alaska
3. Extending the Kepler Mission: New Horizons in Asteroseismology, Jun 18-22, Balatonfured, Hungary
4. 17th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun, Jun 24-29, Barcelona, Spain
5. Ageing Low Mass Stars: From Red Giants to White Dwarfs, 40th Liege International Astrophysical Colloquium, Jul 9-13, Belgium
6. Working with Exoplanet Light Curves, 2012 Sagan Exoplanet Summer Workshop, Jul 23-27, Pasadena, CA
7. High-Precision Tests of Stellar Physics from High-Precision Photometry, IAU XXVIII General Assembly, Aug 27-31, Beijing, China

KEPLER ANNOUNCES 11 PLANETARY SYSTEMS HOSTING 26 PLANETS
JAN 26, 2012

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form. The planets orbit close to their host stars and range in size from 1.5 times the radius of Earth to larger than Jupiter. Fifteen are between Earth and Neptune in size. Further observations will be required to determine which are rocky like Earth and which have thick gaseous atmospheres like Neptune. The planets orbit their host star once every six to 143 days. All are closer to their host star than Venus is to our sun.

CYCLE 4 OPPORTUNITY FOR GUEST OBSERVER PROPOSALS IS CLOSED
JAN 20, 2012

At the close of the cycle 4 announcement of opportunity for Guest Observer proposals, 61 proposals were submitted for observations through operational quarters 14-17. 52 proposals were submitted by US principle investigators, 9 were submitted by PIs from Europe and none from elsewhere in the world. The GO grant awards available total $1.2M and the target allocation to fill is 5,000 (long cadence) targets per quarter and 40 (short cadence) targets per month. Oversubscription factors are 2.6 (by grant dollar requests), 2.1 (by long cadence targets) and 3.1 (by short cadence targets). The cycle 4 target list will be selected by community peer review and endorsed by NASA Headquarters. Results will be announced before the beginning of quarter 14 observations.

NASA SENIOR REVIEW PROPOSAL FOR KEPLER MISSION EXTENSION SUBMITTED
JAN 17, 2012

Current NASA funding for the Kepler mission ends in Nov 2013 with flight operations planned for shutdown on Nov 12, 2012. To increase mission longevity, the Kepler Team have proposed to NASA for a mission extension out to 2017. The Senior Review relies upon peer review from a committee selected from the astrophysical community. The ranking results of the Senior Review for operating missions will be understood in April.

KEPLER MISSION FINDS THREE SMALLEST EXOPLANETS
JAN 11, 2012

Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars. All three planets are thought to be rocky like Earth, but orbit close to their star. That makes them too hot to be in the habitable zone, which is the region where liquid water could exist. Of the more than 700 planets confirmed to orbit other stars -- called exoplanets -- only a handful are known to be rocky.

KEPLER DISCOVERY OF TWO MORE CIRCUMBINARY PLANETS ESTABLISHES NEW CLASS
JAN 11, 2012

Kepler astronomers announced the discovery of two new transiting “circumbinary” planet systems – planets that orbit two stars. This work establishes that such “two sun” planets are not rare exceptions, but are in fact common with many millions existing in our Galaxy. While long anticipated in both science and science fiction, the existence of a circumbinary planet orbiting a pair of normal stars was not definitively established until the discovery of Kepler-16 b, announced by the Kepler Team last September. Like Kepler-16 b, these new planets also transit (eclipse) their host stars, making their existence unambiguous. When only Kepler-16 b was known, many questions remained about the nature of circumbinary planets – what kinds of orbits, masses, radii, temperatures, etc., could they have? And most of all, was Kepler-16 b just a fluke? With the discovery of Kepler-34 b and 35 b, astronomers can now answer many of those questions and begin to study an entirely new class of planets

ALL KEPLER SURVEY DATA OBTAINED DURING QUARTERS 4-6 NOW PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AT MAST
JAN 07, 2012

Most target data collected by Kepler during operational quarters 4-6 are now available to everybody from the Kepler archive at MAST. The only exception is quarter 6 GO data that will become public in Apr 2012. The data release described here increases the publicly available baseline for most Kepler targets from ~210 days to ~480 days. The data release described is the first of a three-phase plan. Phase 2 releases quarter 7-9 data to the public on Jul 28, 2012, providing additional baseline of ~270 days. Phase 3 releases quarter 10-13 data to the public on Oct 28, 2012, providing an additional baseline of ~1 year. After Oct 2012, all Kepler light curve and pixel data collected will be archived without delay or proprietary period.

JAN 20, 2012 CYCLE 4 GUEST OBSERVER DEADLINE IS APPROACHING
JAN 05, 2012

The deadline for cycle 4 GO proposals is Jan 20, 2012. Successfully proposed investigations will be funded through NASA research grants. For this cycle, the GO program resources have expanded to 5,000 long cadence targets per quarter and 40 short cadence targets per month. Cycle 4 is the final GO cycle of Kepler's baseline mission. Further cycles will depend on the success of the mission in petitioning the NASA Senior Review to extend operations. You have a critical part to play in this petition - the more demand for GO target resources in cycle 4, the greater Kepler's chances of both a mission extension and continued funding of GO programs. A similar argument applies to publications. If you have papers close to completion, Kepler and its community will benefit from their submission in time for the Senior Review panel meeting in late Feb 2012.

QUARTER 10 LIGHT CURVES, TARGET PIXEL FILES AND COTRENDING BASIS VECTORS NOW AT MAST
JAN 05, 2012

Quarter 10 light curves and target pixel files are now available to GOs and the Kepler Science Team via the Archive Data Search and Retrieval page at MAST. At the time of writing, data ingest is still ongoing and will be finished within a few days. Q10 covers the period Jun 28 to Sep 27, 2011 and comprises the first quarter of cycle 3 Guest Observer observations. Q10 is the second operational quarter of data to be delivered to the archive in the PDC MAP era. PDC MAP replaces the original PDC algorithms described in the Kepler Data Processing Handbook. The new functionality reduces instrumental and systematic photometric artifacts more effectively, while retaining more intrinsic astrophysics within the time series data. PDC MAP identifies the common photometric structure over a large sample of Kepler sources local to your target, constructs cotrending basis vectors to characterize the common variability, and employs these to fit and remove systematics from individual light curves. PDC MAP provides more reliable artifact mitigation for a larger sample of Kepler targets. All prior quarters of data will be reprocessed with SOC 8.0+ and re-ingested at MAST before Jul 2012. In cases where PDC MAP provides a non-optimal solution or where users have re-extracted photometry from a target pixel file or where data are waiting to be reprocessed with SOC 8.0+, archive users now have the data and software resources to re-perform artifact mitigation with customized, target-specific criteria using canned cotrending basis vectors and available cotrending software.

KEPLER QUARTER 11-12 ROLL PROCEDURE EXECUTED
JAN 05, 2012

The data gap for monthly data download and spacecraft roll began on Jan 4. Science operations and data collection resumed on Jan 5. These events mark the boundary between operational quarters 11 and 12. Quarter 11 data is scheduled to be pipeline-reduced and delivered to the Kepler archive before Apr 23, 2012.

KEPLER AT THE 219TH AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY MEETING - AUSTIN, TX
JAN 04, 2012

The 219th AAS meeting occurs over Jan 8-12 in Austin, TX. There will be a significant Kepler presence there. 29 talks and 28 posters directly related to Kepler data exploitation will be presented, distributed over 29 different scientific sessions - testifying to the diversity within the Kepler community. There will be a Kepler booth #219-233,318-322 where we encourage you to tarry with the Science and Technical Teams and bring your questions, concerns and ideas. On Wed, Jan 11 between 2-4pm, there will be a splinter meeting in room 8 - "Data Analysis for Kepler Science: A Tutorial". Staff from the GO Office will provide a step-by-step guide to understanding and mitigating for systematic artifacts within the Kepler light curves and becoming familiar with the public software being developed.

A COMPACT SYSTEM OF SMALL PLANETS AROUND A FORMER RED GIANT STAR
DEC 21, 2011

Planets that orbit their parent star at less than about 1 AU are expected to be engulfed when the star becomes a red giant. Stephane Charpinet and collaborators report in Nature the presence of two nearly Earth-sized bodies orbiting the post-red-giant, hot B subdwarf star KIC 05807616 at distances of 0.0060 and 0.0076 AU, with orbital periods of 5.7625 and 8.2293 hours, respectively. These bodies probably survived deep immersion in the former red-giant envelope. They may be the dense cores of evaporated giant planets that were transported closer to the star during the engulfment and triggered the mass loss necessary for the formation of the hot B subdwarf, which might also explain how some stars of this type did not form in binary systems.

KEPLER DISCOVERS THE FIRST EARTH-SIZE PLANETS BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
DEC 20, 2011

The Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are too close to their star to be in the habitable zone where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface, but they are the smallest exoplanets ever confirmed around a star like our sun. The discovery marks the next important milestone in the ultimate search for planets like Earth. The new planets are thought to be rocky. Kepler-20e is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring 0.87 times the radius of Earth. Kepler-20f is a bit larger than Earth, measuring 1.03 times its radius. Both planets reside in a five-planet system called Kepler-20, approximately 1,000 light-years away.

VIDEOS OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS DURING THE FIRST KEPLER SCIENCE CONFERENCE ARE ONLINE
DEC 11, 2011

The First Kepler Science Conference was held at the NASA Ames Research Center over the period Dec 5-9, 2011, hosting 500 attendees. Sessions covered exoplanet candidate discovery, validation, statistics and theory, asteroseismology, stellar activity, gyrochronology and binary stars. The oral presentations at the conference were recorded and are available here.

DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY TARGETS FOR QUARTER 12
DEC 11, 2011

The upcoming Dec 29 quarterly roll defines the boundary between Kepler operational quarters 11 and 12. New target lists have been delivered and approved for upload to the spacecraft. GO investigators owning Q12 data will be notified of their target lists shortly. In addition, available GO pixel resources allowed a number of Director's Discretionary Targets to be added to the observing program:

FAST CORE ROTATION IN RED GIANT STARS DISCOVERED BY THE KEPLER ASTEROSEISMOLOGICAL SCIENCE CONSORTIUM
DEC 07, 2011

Spectroscopic observations reveal that the surfaces of most yellow, orange, and red giants rotate slowly-but those observations say nothing about what's happening beneath the surface. Paul Beck of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and his colleagues have used data from the Kepler space observatory to study the cores of three yellow giant stars named KIC 5356201, KIC 8366239, and KIC 12008916. The stars are only 20% to 50% more massive than the sun, but they're about five times larger and 800 to 950 degrees Kelvin cooler. From more than a year's worth of Kepler data, Beck and his colleagues report online today in Nature that the cores of all three giant stars spin at least 10 times faster than their surfaces.

1.6R_e PLANET CONFIRMED AROUND ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS IN THE KEPLER FIELD
DEC 07, 2011

Kepler has revealed that one of the brightest stars in the Kepler field has a planet with a radius only 1.6 R_e radius and a mass no greater that 10 earth masses, circling its parent star with a 2.8 day period. This planet, designated Kepler-21b, is only 6 million km away from its parent star. The temperature at the surface of the planet is about 1900 K, or 2960 F. While this temperature is nowhere near the habitable zone in which liquid water might be found, the planet's size is approaching that of the earth. The parent star, HD 179070, is quite similar to our sun: its mass is 1.3 solar masses, its radius is 1.9 solar radii, and its age, based on stellar models, is 2.84 billion years.

THE KEPLER PROJECT ANNOUNCES AN ACCELERATED DATA RELEASE SCHEDULE
DEC 05, 2011

In order to support the community exploitation of the Kepler data archive, the Kepler project announces an accelerated data release schedule. This schedule accelerates all data except for those included in existing agreements between Guest Observers and the Kepler Asteroseismological Science Consortium. Data from quarters 4, 5 and 6 (Dec 2009-Sep 2010) will be released on Jan 7, 2012. Quarters 7, 8, and 9 (Sep 2010-Jun 2011) will be released on Jul 28, 2012. Quarters 10, 11, 12 and 13 (Jun 2011-Jun 2012) will be released on Oct 28, 2012. All data will be available through the Data Search and Retrieval Page at MAST. Quarters collected after Q13 will have no exclusive data use period.

KEPLER CONFIRMS ITS FIRST PLANET IN THE HABITABLE ZONE OF A SUN-LIKE STAR AND 1,000 NEW PLANET CANDIDATES
DEC 05, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the "habitable zone", the region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets. The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. The planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth. Scientists don't yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

5TH KEPLER ASTEROSEISMOLOGICAL SCIENCE CONSORTIUM WORKSHOP
DEC 02, 2011

The fifth KASC workshop "Extending the Kepler Mission: New Horizons in Asteroseismology" will take place between 18-22 Jun, 2012. The meeting location is by Lake Balaton in Balatonfured, Hungary. Kepler has defined a completely new landscape for asteroseismic studies and through the latest results presented at this meeting, KASC expect to witness the emergence of more new horizons for this rapidly evolving field. The meeting will be an opportunity to discuss the benefits of the longer photometric baseline of an extended Kepler mission and plan KASC strategies for the coming years and the asteroseismic legacy of Kepler.

QUARTER 9 DATA RELEASE NOTES ARE ONLINE
DEC 02, 2011

Data Release Notes supporting the release of Q9 (Mar-Jun 2011) data to the archive are available here. These notes provide specific guidance on the quality of Q9 data and archive products. Deeper understanding of the concepts contained within the notes can be taken from the Kepler Characteristics Handbook.

NEW KEPLER TARGET CHARACTERIZATION TABLES ARE ONLINE
DEC 01, 2011

The MAST have provided an enhanced table of sources in the Kepler field that characterize the UV, optical and IR properties of existing and potential Kepler targets. The searchable table with filter options contains both the 4 million targets already existing in the original Kepler Input Catalog and 6 million additional sources identified by deeper or higher resolution surveys. The new table is a unification of existing resources:

1. the Kepler Input Catalog containing briz source photometry
2. the GALEX source list containing far- and near-UV photometry
3. JHK IR 2MASS magnitudes
4. UKIRT high resolution J band characteristics
5. The Kepler Characteristics Table, containing detector location, signal-to-noise and contamination estimates

The release of this target resource is timely, with the deadline for cycle 4 Guest Observer proposals approaching on Jan 20, 2012. Future updates to this table are planned containing further ongoing Kepler field surveys conducted by numerous community projects.

NEW COTRENDING BASIS VECTORS AVAILABLE AT MAST
NOV 30, 2011

Cotrending Basis Vectors (CBVs) provide a means for Kepler users to fit and remove systematic artifacts from their light curves. Updated and improved CBVs are now available at MAST here. Previous Q1-8 CBVs have been replaced, reducing the impact of variable stars upon the higher order vectors. CBVs have been added to the download page for Q9 data. We remind you that the kepcotrend tool has recently been revised to remove systematic noise from both short cadence and long cadence data.

QUARTER 9 LIGHT CURVES AND TARGET PIXEL FILES AVAILABLE AT MAST
NOV 20, 2011

Quarter 9 light curves and target pixel files are now available to GOs and the Kepler Science Team via the Archive Data Search and Retrieval page at MAST. Q9 covers the period Mar 19 to Jun 27, 2011 and comprise the final quarter of cycle 2 of Guest Observer observations. Q9 is the first operational quarter of data to be delivered to the archive in the PDC MAP era. PDC MAP replaces the original PDC algorithms described in the Kepler Data Processing Handbook. The new functionality reduces instrumental and systematic photometric artifacts more effectively, while retaining more intrinsic astrophysics within the time series data. PDC MAP identifies the common photometric structure over a large sample of Kepler sources local to your target, constructs cotrending basis vectors to characterize the common variability, and employs these to fit and remove systematics from individual light curves. PDC MAP provides more reliable artifact mitigation for a larger sample of Kepler targets. All prior quarters of data will be reprocessed with SOC 8.0 and re-ingested at MAST before Jul 2012. In cases where PDC MAP provides a non-optimal solution or where data are waiting to be reprocessed with SOC 8.0, archive users now have the data and software resources to re-perform artifact mitigation with customized, target-specific criteria using canned cotrending basis vectors and available cotrending software.

CYCLE 4 GO PROPOSAL DEADLINE IS APPROACHING
NOV 15, 2011

The deadline for cycle 4 GO proposals is Jan 20, 2012. Please consider submitting a non-binding Notice of Intent to propose before Dec 5. This helps us prepare for the review and saves you time in Jan. Cycle 4 is the final GO cycle of Kepler's baseline mission. Further cycles will depend on the success of the mission in petitioning the NASA senior review to extend operations. You have a critical part to play in this petition - the more demand for GO target resources in cycle 4, the greater Kepler's chances of both a mission extension and continued funding of GO programs. A similar argument applies to publications. If you have papers close to completion, Kepler and its community will benefit from their submission in time for the senior review panel meeting in Feb 2012.

SIGNAL-TO-NOISE AND SOURCE CROWDING NOW PROVIDED WITH ARCHIVED DATA
NOV 15, 2011

The target search form at MAST for identifying potential Kepler targets provides predictions for the signal-to-noise, source crowding and fraction of target flux within the photometric pixel aperture for each source within the KIC. The data search form that provides access to archived data now yields the same parameters measured directly from the collected data. Specifically these are CROWDING, FLUX FRACTION, CDPP3, CDPP6 and CDPP12. These fields provide the user with the ability to filter archived data on signal-to-noise and source crowding before downloading samples of light curves and target pixel files.

COTRENDING SHORT CADENCE DATA WITH THE KEPLER BASIS VECTORS
NOV 13, 2011

The data reduction tool kepcotrend has been updated with new functionality to fit and remove systematic artifacts from short cadence data.

KEPLER ARCHIVE MANUAL UPDATED
NOV 04, 2011

A new version of the Kepler Archive Manual has been released. Version 3 describes improved accuracy to the FFI coordinate system, the cotrending basis vectors, pixel response files, PDC MAP support, new data quality flags and new diagnostic keywords.

CYCLE 4 GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM EXPANDED, NEW PROPOSAL DEADLINE SET
OCT 17, 2011

The time is approaching for the Kepler community to begin developing cycle 4 Guest Observer proposals. Cycle 4 observations will begin in Jun 2012 and will extend for 1 year provided Kepler is awarded a 2-year mission extension by the Senior Review for NASA's Operating Missions in Feb 2012. Alternatively, if an extended mission is not awarded, cycle 4 will be the final Guest Observer cycle and will cease after 4.5 months because the Kepler spacecraft will not be funded to operate beyond Nov 2012. The Kepler Announcement of Opportunity for cycle 4 has been amended with two important innovations. 1) 2,000 extra long cadence targets have been added to the Guest Observer quota. The total number of long cadence targets available to Guest Observers is now 5,000 per quarter. See the Oct 6, 2011 blog to understand the nature and circumstances of the extra targets. The intent is to foster more Guest Observer participation in the mission and larger source surveys within the Guest Observer program. 2) 15 extra short cadence targets have been added to the Guest Observer quota. The total number of short cadence targets available to Guest Observers is now 40 per month. This action provides more of Kepler's most in-demand resource for peer-reviewed competition. The proposal submission deadline has been pushed back to avoid the holiday period. Proposals must now be submitted before Jan 20, 2012.
It is important to Kepler prospects for mission extension that the Cycle 4 Guest Observer program is heavily subscribed with high quality science proposals. We encourage old and new Kepler enthusiasts to propose liberally to this opportunity. Successful US-led proposals will be awarded with research funding, including the funding of US participants in the Kepler Asteroseismology Science Consortium program. All KASC members are encouraged to add new and old targets identified of asteroseismological value to the Guest Observer competition if there is no room for them within the KASC target quota. The Guest Observer competition has three main purposes: 1) to add new targets to the observing list, 2) to continue monitoring high-value targets that are not included on the exoplanet survey target list, and 3) to ensure that targets of high astrophysics value on the exoplanet list do not get dropped during cycle 4. Cycle 3 data will not reach the Kepler archive until one week before the cycle 4 deadline. Cycle 3 Guest Observers must not think that unanalyzed data is a weakness for their cycle 4 proposal. The target allocation committee will be instructed to take this difficult schedule in to account.

REMINDER TO PROPOSE QUARTER 12 TARGETS FOR THE DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY PROGRAM
OCT 17, 2011

The deadline is already approaching (Oct 24) for you to propose additional targets for quarter 12 observing through the discretionary target program. It is a long 8 months before you can observe new targets through the grant-funded cycle 4 Guest Observer Program. But if you can't wait, the discretionary program can also be used to respond to targets of opportunity, provide a mechanism for pilot studies, and enhance existing GO or KASC programs with additional data.

KEPLER PIXEL RESPONSE CALIBRATION PRODUCT NOW AVAILABLE AT MAST
OCT 10, 2011

The Kepler Pixel Response Function (PRF) has been provided for public download at the focal plane characteristics repository at the MAST archive. The PRF is determined from a combination of the Kepler optical point spread function and typical pointing and electronic systematics of the Kepler spacecraft during a 29.4-minute exposure. The PRF varies in size and shape across the Kepler focal plane. To describe this variation across the focal plane, the PRF model is comprised of five images per channel. For more information on the PRF, how it was measured, and how it is used in the Kepler pipeline, refer to Bryson et al. (2011). There are three primary uses of the PRF: 1) To predict or model pixel values due to a star at a specified pixel location with a specified magnitude. 2) To estimate a stars location within target pixel files or full frame images. 3) To estimate PRF-photometry. Our experience is that this generally does not provide an improvement over simple aperture photometry in the case of isolated field stars, though there may be exceptions.

CORRECTION MADE TO PIXEL POSITIONS IN THE KEPLER TARGET SEARCH TOOL AT MAST
OCT 10, 2011

An error has been found in the CCD row positions of 0.07% of targets in the Kepler Target Search Tool at MAST. The error was typically a few pixels but could become much larger in the brightest targets with long bleeds down saturated columns. The error has been fixed as of Oct 10, 2011.

14,000 KEPLER RED GIANT TARGETS NOW AVAILABLE FOR COMMUNITY-LED ANALYSIS
OCT 06, 2011

The Kepler Team announce the public data release of 14,048 red giants for scientific exploitation by the community. All quarter 0 to quarter 8 light curves of these targets can now be downloaded by you and your collaborators. While there is no guarantee that a specific target in the red giant list has been observed over all past operational quarters, the maximum length of time series data now publicly available for red giant targets is 680 days. These targets remain on the Kepler target list and will continue to be observed when pixels are available. All future data collected for these targets will be delivered to the archive without proprietary periods. They do however have a low priority for the core mission exoplanet survey and are among the first targets to be dropped from the survey each quarter if pixel resources become stretched. The magnitude range of red giants in the released sample is dominated by 7.9 < Kp < 14.0. The KIC-derived stellar effective temperatures are dominated by the range 4,500 < T_eff (K) < 5,100. KIC-derived surface densities mostly occur within the range 2.4 < log(g g cm^-2) < 3.4. Outliers to these ranges within the public data exist. All data released within this sample can be inspected and downloaded from the Kepler Data Search Tool at MAST, by filtering the search upon a release date of 2011-09-27. We encourage the Kepler community to exploit these newly available data resources for science. The Kepler red giant sample will also be surveyed by the SDSS III APOGEE experiment providing a yield of red giants within the Galactic bulge, bar, disk, and halo. The precise radial velocities and detailed chemical abundance "fingerprinting" provide by APOGEE, combined with Kepler asteroseismology, will yield unprecedented insights into stellar physics and the dynamical structure and chemical history of the Galaxy. If the Kepler mission is extended by NASA, there will possibly be a downselect of targets from the exoplanet survey in 2013 in order to maintain a high duty cycle as our downlink bandwidth systematically decreases over time. These red giants will most-likely be among the targets dropped. It behooves the community to identify the red giants of highest value from this public sample over the next 12 months and reinstate them to the target list through the 2013 Guest Observer program (cycle 5).

KEPLER HAS NOW ENTERED OPERATIONAL QUARTER 11
SEP 29, 2011

Quarter 11 observations began 09/29/11 and are due to complete on 12/29/11. Quarter 11 is the second quarter of GO cycle 3. All quarter 10 data have been collected safely from the spacecraft and are due at the MAST archive after pipeline processing on 01/15/12.

ALL QUARTER 3 KEPLER DATA AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC DOWNLOAD FROM MAST
SEP 23, 2011

All Q3 science data collected during the period Sep 18 to Dec 16 2009 are available for download from the Multimission Archive at STScI (MAST) and community exploitation as of Sep 23, 2011. The majority of targets now have a minimum of 200 days of near-continuous monitoring available in the Kepler public archive.

SOC 8.0 PIPELINE DELIVERED, PDC MAP IS HERE
SEP 21, 2011

Kepler's data reduction pipeline has been upgraded to release version 8.0. The most exciting new feature is the first operational version of PDC MAP. PDC MAP replaces the original PDC algorithms described in the Kepler Data Processing Handbook. The new functionality reduces instrumental and systematic photometric artifacts more effectively, while retaining more intrinsic astrophysics within the time series data. PDC MAP identifies the common photometric structure over a large sample of Kepler sources local to your target, constructs cotrending basis vectors to characterize the common variability, and employs these to fit and remove systematics from individual light curves. PDC MAP will provide more reliable artifact mitigation for a larger sample of Kepler targets. The first operational quarter to benefit from PDC MAP will be Q9. All prior quarters of data will be reprocessed with SOC 8.0 and re-ingested at MAST before Jul 2012. In cases where PDC MAP provides a non-optimal solution or where data are waiting to be reprocessed with SOC 8.0, archive users now have the data and software resources to re-perform artifact mitigation with customized, target-specific criteria using canned cotrending basis vectors and available cotrending software.

THREE WEEK DELAY IN QUARTER 9 DATA DELIVERY
SEP 17, 2011

There will be a 3 week delay in the delivery of Q9 data to the MAST archive. We will notify this blog of Q9 availability around mid-November. The delay has been planned so that Q9 data will contain the photometric quality enhancements provided by SOC 8.0. If we maintained the originally-planned delivery schedule of late Oct, Q9 data would not hold SOC 8.0 updates and the community would wait a full year for Q9 to be reprocessed by the pipeline. The Kepler project consider a small delivery delay to be the correct option in this situation.

KEPLER PLANET CANDIDATE DATA EXPLORER
SEP 17, 2011

The Kepler planet candidate data explorer provides a web-based resource for sorting, filtering and plotting the current table of Kepler planet candidate attributes, derived from transit fitting and follow-up observations, and delivered by Borucki et al. (2011).

THREE KEPLER "FIRSTS" ANNOUNCED
SEP 15, 2011

Over the space of seven days, the Kepler community announced the detections of three new phenomena that have been searched for keenly within the Kepler data. On Sep 8, Sarah Ballard and collaborators reported the first definitive detection of one planet, Kepler-19c, via the transit timing variations of a second planet in the system. On Sep 14, Victoria Antoci and team of KASC scientists revealed the first detection of solar-like oscillations from within a thin convective envelope over a Delta Scuti star. On Sep 15, Laurance Doyle and the Kepler Science Team announced the first transiting circumbinary planet, Kepler-16b.

ABSTRACT DEADLINE FOR THE FIRST KEPLER SCIENCE CONFERENCE IS SEP 28
SEP 12, 2011

The deadline for abstracts for the First Kepler Science Conference is Sep 28, 2011. The conference is scheduled for Dec 5-9, 2011 at NASA Ames Research Center, CA. The conference website for uploading abstracts and registering attendance is http://kepler.nasa.gov/Science/ForScientists/keplerconference. Topics include:

• The Kepler Mission and Exoplanet Statistics
• Earth-analog and sub-Neptune-size Planets
• Multiple Planet Systems
• Exoplanet Theory
• Giant Planets and Planet Atmospheres
• Eclipsing and Interacting Binaries
• Stellar Activity and Rotation
• Asteroseismology Across the HR Diagram
• Red Giant Oscillations
• Ensemble Asteroseismology of Solar-type Stars

The conference registration deadlines are:

• Sep 28, 2011: Abstract submission deadline
• Sep 23, 2011: Foreign national registration (designated countries)
• Oct 21, 2011: Foreign national registration (non-designated countries)
• Oct 21, 2011: US citizen and permanent resident registration

DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY TARGETS FOR QUARTER 11
SEP 12, 2011

The upcoming Sep 28 quarterly roll defines the boundary between Kepler operational quarters 10 and 11. New target lists have been delivered and approved for upload to the spacecraft. GO investigators owning Q11 data will be notified of their target lists shortly. In addition, available GO pixel resources allowed a number of Director's Discretionary targets to be added to the observing program:

KEPLER IN THE 2012 SENIOR REVIEW FOR OPERATING MISSIONS
SEP 12, 2011

NASA has invited Kepler to propose for an extended mission through the 2012 Senior Review process. The observational phase of Kepler's baseline mission is due to end in late 2012. A successful proposal may see us continue to collect data through to 2014 and beyond. The Senior Review is a competitive peer-reviewed process for a share of a finite budget among other operating missions. Guest Observers, KASC members and Kepler archive users are encouraged to promote an extended Kepler mission among their peers and publish science results before the Feb 28 Senior Review panel meeting.

STSCI_PYTHON v2.12 RELEASED, KEPLER DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS (PyKE) TESTED
SEP 01, 2011

The Space Telescope Science Institute have released version 1.9 of PyRAF and version 2.12 of their STSCI_PYTHON package. Fixes enforced by the PyRAF upgrade have been made to the Kepler data analysis tools (PyKE). Ensure you update PyKE to version 2.1.1 when upgrading your PyRAF installation.

KEPLER DATA CHARACTERISTICS HANDBOOK UPDATED
AUG 17, 2011

Version 2 of the Kepler Data Characteristics Handbook is available for download at MAST. The handbook provides a description of the systematic phenomena identified in the Kepler data, and an explanation for how these characteristics are currently handled by the data analysis pipeline. With each quarterly release of data and each release of reprocessed data, a set of Data Release Notes is produced that tabulates the phenomena unique to that data set. The motivation for this separation into static, explanatory text and a set of dynamic figures and tables is the hope that once the user becomes familiar with the Data Characteristics Handbook, with each quarterly release they need only peruse the short Notes for that quarter, referring back to the Handbook only when necessary.

KEPLER MISSION ANNOUNCES NEXT DATA RELEASE TO PUBLIC ARCHIVE
AUG 12, 2011

The Kepler Science Team announced on Aug 12 the next release of data to the public archive. Quarter three science data collected during the period Sep 18 to Dec 16 2009 will be available for download on Sep 23, 2011 from the Multimission Archive at STScI (MAST). The majority of targets in the Kepler public archive will have a minimum of 6 months or more of near-continuous monitoring available. "The Science team recognizes a strong demand from the scientific community for more public data", said Nick Gautier, Kepler Mission project scientist. "This is evident by the volume of papers on exoplanet science as well as stellar astrophysics that have been published using Kepler data."

KEPLER PHOTOMETRY COTRENDING RESOURCES NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
JUL 29, 2011

Simple Aperture Photometry data from Kepler often contain systematic trends associated with the spacecraft, detector and environment rather than the target. Within the Kepler pipeline these contaminants are treated during Pre-search Data Conditioning (PDC) and cleaned data are provided in the light curve files archived at MAST. These pipeline processes are imperfect but tackled in the spirit of correcting as many targets as possible with enough accuracy for the mission to meet exoplanet detection specifications. The imperfections in the method are most apparent in variable stars, those stars that are of most interest for stellar astrophysics. The PDC correction can occasionally hamper data analysis or, at worst, destroy astrophysical signal from the target. While data filtering and data detrending with analytical functions often provide some mitigation for data artifacts, these methods require assumptions and often result in lossy data. An alternative viable approach is to identify the photometric variability common to all of the stars neighboring the target and subtract those trends from the target. In principle, the correct choice, weighting and subtraction of these common trends will leave behind a corrected flux time series which better represents statistically the true signal from the target. Except for quarters 0-2, GOs, KASC members and archive users do not have access to all the light curve data neighboring their targets due to data proprietary constraints. They cannot take the ensemble approach themselves without help. To mitigate this problem the Kepler Science Office have made available ancillary data which describes the systematic trends present in the ensemble flux data for each CCD channel. These data are known as the Cotrending Basis Vectors (CBVs). The CBVs for quarter 0-8 are freely available now from the MAST archive. CBVs for future quarters will be delivered concurrently with data ingests at MAST. A software tool for cotrending Kepler data with the CBVs, with instructions and examples, is provided within the open source PyKE software package maintained at the GO Office.

ARCHIVE UPDATE TO FITS V2.0 FILE FORMAT CONTINUES
JUL 28, 2011

The MAST archive is continuing to update all of its light curve content to version 2.0 of the Kepler FITS file format. The new content provides information with greater clarity and includes additional information describing pixel mask definitions, cadence quality flagging and target motion across the pixel aperture. As of Jul 28, all light curves have been ingested in the new format for quarters 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8. We predict quarters 5, 6, and 7 will be ingested by Aug 9 approximately. The Kepler Science Office recommends users download these new files for both the added information stored within and uniformity with data from future quarters. The GO Office data analysis tools, PyKE, have been engineered to work with both FITS v1.0 and FITS v2.0 data files.

KEPLER ARCHIVE MANUAL REVISED AND DELIVERED TO MAST
JUL 28, 2011

To support the delivery of FITS v2.0 light curves to the MAST archive, the Kepler Archive Manual (revision 2) has been updated and is available now at MAST.

QUARTER 4 GUEST OBSERVER, KASC AND CLUSTER DATA ARE NOW AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC
JUL 27, 2011

The exclusive use period for all unique Guest Observer, KASC and Cluster program data is now over. The public have unlimited access to data exclusive to these programs. The targets can be browsed and downloaded at the MAST Archive Data Search and Retrieval page, selecting the investigation ID query field to be either '*GO*', '*STK*' or '*STC*'. The wildcards are required to search for targets shared by multiple programs.

'SOCCER BALL' NEBULA MAY HELP SOLVE SPACE MYSTERY
JUL 25, 2011

A soccer-ball-shaped planetary nebula discovered by an amateur astronomer may help scientists better understand these odd structures, which are created by the last gasps of dying stars. Researchers announced the existence of the newly discovered planetary nebula - named Kronberger 61, or Kn 61 - at a symposium today in Tenerife, Spain. Astronomers described the puffy nebula, which is located in a small patch of sky being monitored closely by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope, as resembling a soccer ball in deep space. Follow-up observations by Kepler may help answer key questions about planetary nebulae - such as how their formation may be shaped by companions, be they other stars or alien planets.

KEPLER-14B, A GIANT PLANET ORBITING ONE OF THE STARS IN A BINARY SYSTEM
JUL 20, 2011

Kepler-14b (Buchhave et al. 2011) is a planet 8 times more massive than Jupiter, orbiting one of the stars in a binary star system. The planet has a short orbital period of just 7 days, while the two stars orbit each other with a much longer period of about 2800 years. The light from the planet hosting star is diluted by its companion star and this dilution significantly affects the derived planetary parameters, and if left uncorrected, leads to an underestimate of the radius and mass of the planet by 10% and 60%, respectively. Because of the small separation of the two stars on the sky, their binary nature was only revealed by using high resolution imaging. Such imaging has not been applied to the bulk of the over 500 exoplanets discovered and if some of these planets are in similar binary systems and the dilution effect has not been taken into account, this could significantly affect the derived planetary parameters.

QUARTER 8 LIGHT CURVES AND TARGET PIXEL FILES AVAILABLE AT MAST
JUL 18, 2011

Quarter 8 light curves and target pixel files are now available to GOs and the Kepler Science Team via the Archive Data Search and Retrieval page at MAST.

DISCOVERY OF A V777 HER PULSATOR IN THE KEPLER FIELD
JUL 13, 2011

Roy Ostensen et al. (2011) present the discovery of the first pulsating white dwarf star located in the field of view of the Kepler spacecraft. During an ongoing effort to search for compact pulsator candidates that can benefit from the near-continuous coverage of Kepler, they recently identified a faint DB star from spectroscopy obtained with the William Herschel Telescope. After establishing its physical parameters to be T_eff = 24,950 K and log g = 7.91 dex, placing it in the V777 Her instability strip, Kepler photometry revealed a pulsation spectrum consisting of five modes that follow a sequence roughly equally spaced in period with a mean spacing of 37 s. The three strongest modes show a triplet structure with a mean splitting of 3.3 μHz. They conclude that this object is a V777 Her pulsator with a mass of approximately 0.56 Msun, and very similar to the class prototype.

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE MAKES ONE MILLIONTH SCIENCE OBSERVATION
JUL 04, 2011

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope crossed another milestone in its 21-year space odyssey of exploration and discovery. On Monday, July 4, the Earth-orbiting observatory logged its one millionth science observation during a search for water in an exoplanet's atmosphere 1,000 light-years away. The millionth exposure is a spectroscopic measurement of the extrasolar giant planet HAT-P-7b, also known as Kepler 2b. The planet has been studied by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler observatory after it was discovered by ground-based observations.

ADDITIONAL PREDICTIVE KEPLER TARGET INFORMATION NOW AT MAST
JUL 03, 2011

The Kepler Target Search page at MAST has undergone an upgrade. The previous version provided a single value for source contamination around each target. This quantity was misleading in that it was the predicted contamination contained within an aperture of uniform size around each target, rather than the season- and target-dependent photometric apertures used by Kepler for light curve construction. The live version of the page now provides predicted source contamination for all four spacecraft roll angles using target-specific pixel apertures. Additionally the fraction of target flux and the photometric signal-to-noise contained within these seasonal apertures is provided. The seasonal distance-to-edge metric has been redefined to be the minimum distance between the edge of live CCD silicon and the edge of a targets photometric aperture. Users of the search page note well that all metrics supplied by this page are based upon predictive models rather than on-sky measurement. Watch out for measured versions of these metrics, planned for inclusion in the archived, targets-specific FITS products at MAST from the fall of 2011. This update to the target search form has also forced functional changes in a number of software tools at the GO web site. Please update these tools at your convenience in order to avoid disruption to service.

QUARTER 8 DATA INGEST AT MAST HAS BEGUN
JUL 03, 2011

Quarter 8 light curves and target pixel files have been delivered by Kepler Science Operations to the MAST archive. Individual files will become available as they are ingested. Full ingest will take approximately one week. While a complete set of data for your investigation may not be ready until the full ingest is complete, PIs can get a head start by searching for and download individual files as they are ingested right now from the data search page at MAST. All quarter 8 FITS products adhere to version 2.0 definitions. There has been what is hopefully a short delay in delivery of the updated archive manual describing v2.0 formats. As a temporary measure the conversions between FITS v1.0 and v2.0 are described in a PDF document.

UPDATE OF ARCHIVED LIGHT CURVES FROM FITS V1.0 TO V2.0
JUL 03, 2011

In our Jun 8 blog, we reported that the archived Kepler light curves were about to undergo a significant upgrade both by providing more transparency to existing information and adding additional data to the files. The Jun 8 blog, describes these enhancements briefly. The process began on Jun 28 and as of today all quarter 0 and quarter 1 light curves have been upgraded. Upgrade of quarters 2 to 7 will occur after all quarter 8 files have been ingested. Our intent is that all light curve data in the archive will be upgraded by the end of July. All Kepler users are encouraged to update local copies of their data as soon as possible in order to exploit these enhancements.

DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS RECEIVE A FACE-LIFT
JUL 03, 2011

In response to the new v2.0 FITS files arriving in the MAST archive, the GO Office data analysis tools have undergone a major revision. The software suite has also undergone a name change to avoid confusion with the ESO PyKEP package, developed to calculate celestial orbits. The Kepler tools now have the unambiguous name of PyKE. While many of the tools will continue to understand v1.0 FITS files, from Jul 31, 2011 the GO Office and PyKE tool developers will not support the data analysis of v1.0 FITS files. We recommend that community scientists update their light curve files to v2.0 as soon as they become available at MAST over the July time frame in order to exploit the many data enhancements contained within. We also recommend PyKEP users download PyKE2.0 as soon as possible in order to support the archive changes.

NEW KEPLER DATA ANALYSIS TOOLS ONLINE
JUN 28, 2011

Three new open source data analysis tools have been added to the PyKE suite of software. keppixseries plots individual light curves for each pixel within a target mask. kepdiffim provides mean flux, χ², and normalized standard deviation maps for a target. Both these tools employ the target pixel files stored at MAST and can be used as diagnostics for assessing the efficacy of archived light curves or re-extracting them using the kepextract tool. The Third new tool is kephead for finding FITS keyword values within any Kepler file downloaded from MAST.

REMINDER TO PROPOSE QUARTER 11 TARGETS FOR THE DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY PROGRAM
JUN 19, 2011

Kepler operations are about to embark on a busy week of monthly data download and uploading new targets to the spacecraft for quarter 10 observing. However the deadline is already approaching (Jul 24) for you to propose additional targets for quarter 11 observing through the discretionary target program. It is a long 6 months before you can propose for new targets through the grant-funded Guest Observer Program. But if you can't wait, the discretionary program can also be used to respond to targets of opportunity, provide a mechanism for pilot studies before the next annual GO cycle, and enhance existing GO or KASC programs with additional data.

KEPLER/COROT SESSION AT THE 2012 IAU ASSEMBLY
JUN 13, 2011

Kepler Guest Observer David Soderblom informs us that a session titled "High-precision tests of stellar physics from high-precision photometry" based upon Kepler and COROT data has been confirmed for the IAU Assembly in Beijing, China, starting Aug 12, 2012. This will be a 2.5-day Special Session (SpS13). The goal is to present results from COROT and Kepler that have changed our knowledge of stellar physics and stellar evolution across the H-R diagram.

AUGUST KEPLER PRESS RELEASE
JUN 09, 2011

Following the enormous interest generated by astrophysics in the press releases of Mar 31 and May 23, we are encouraging GOs, KASC members and archive scientists to if you would like the help of the Kepler mission and NASA Public Affairs in publicizing your exciting new and future results through the scientific and general media. The next major NASA press release for Kepler results is scheduled for August 2011.

KEPLER ASTROPHYSICS MAKES THE COVER OF SCIENCE NEWS
JUN 08, 2011

While the scientific media taking notice of Kepler through its astrophysics achievements is extremely good news, the messages within this Science News article are important ones. Firstly, the quantity of public Kepler data in the archive is enormous and still mostly untapped for astrophysics. Please dive in and encourage your colleagues and collaborators to do the same. Secondly, Kepler has a finite operational life that may involve a number of reductions in the quantity of observed targets in the future in order to meet data transmission bandwidth requirements. It remains critical that you, the astrophysics community, strive to determine new targets for Kepler observation now, and determine now which of the objects in the field yield the best set of future targets for optimizing the impact and legacy of Kepler.

ARCHIVED DATA CHANGES
JUN 08, 2011

The MAST archive for Kepler data will update their light curve FITS files beginning in June 2011. The new format includes more information, provides consistency with the recently released target pixel file column names and keywords, and conforms to astronomical and FITS standards. All the data that was contained in the original file format exists in the new file format; however, the column order and names have changed. Many of the FITS keywords have also changed. The Kepler Archive Manual is being updated to explain the new FITS format. The new version will be available when the first new-format data is available in the archive.
All FITS light curves at the MAST archive will be updated to this new format. We we start the processing of updating the archive at the end of June 2011 and complete the task by the end of July 2011. If you require the old formats, please download them from MAST before the end of June. Q8 data will not be available in the old FITS format. The most notable changes include:

• The barycenter-corrected time column is now given in units BJD - 2,454,833.
• All flux units are now listed as electrons/second instead of electrons/cadence.
• The ap_raw_flux column is now called SAP_FLUX and can be found in the 4th data column.
• The ap_corr_flux column is now called PDCSAP_FLUX and can be found in the 8th data column.
• A new column containing the background that was subtracted, SAP_BKG, is found in column 6.
• A quality flag that labels when cosmic rays, safe modes, desaturations etc. occur, QUALITY, is found in column 10.
• The motion of the target across the detector predicted from spacecraft attitude, POS_CORR1 and POS_CORR2, is found in column 19 and 20.
• The centroid columns, ap_cent_row and ap_cent_col are now MOM_CENTR1 and MOM_CENTR2.
• A third FITS image extension includes pixel maps for the target mask and aperture of the target.

SUPER-APERTURE TARGETS IN THE KEPLER FIELD
JUN 05, 2011

Kepler has been observing a number of regions in the field through large, custom apertures, locally coined the super-apertures. There are two types of target for the superapertures - open clusters and background regions devoid of bright stars. Data for each super-aperture is stored at MAST at the pixel level in target pixel files. Because they are not stars or galaxies, there is no KIC number associated with these pixels and as such, they are hard to find in the archive. The easiest way is to employ the Investigation ID search box on the Data Search and Retrieval Tool at MAST. The investigation ID for the clusters is 'STC' and the investigation ID for the large background apertures is 'EXBA'. To find e.g. all the background apertures, put 'EXBA' in the Investigation ID box on the data search page at MAST. It will return all large background apertures. In general there is one large background aperture per mod/out, each has a different Kepler ID each quarter. To find all data associated with the clusters, put 'STC' in the Investigation ID box on the data search page at MAST. It will return all data associated with the cluster data. However, not all data under this Investigation ID is a super-aperture. Some of these data files are individual stars in the cluster fields. To find only the super-apertures you need limit your search to the Kepler ID values that are not KIC numbers, these are all above the value 10,000,000. If you add the additional search parameter of '> 10000000' in the Kepler ID search box you will obtain only the super-apertures. Use the RA and Dec search fields to distinguish between the two open clusters.

KEPLER FULL-FRAME IMAGES CAUSING PROBLEMS FOR SOME IMAGE VIEWING SOFTWARE
JUN 01, 2011

We have identified a problem in the FITS keywords contained within the Kepler Full-Frame Images (FFIs) stored at MAST that has consequences for certain FITS image viewers. For the FFIs, we recommend using SAOImage ds9 to correctly display the celestial coordinate system. Outdated WCS keywords exist in the FFI headers that cause some FITS viewers, e.g. Gaia and Skycat, to display the wrong celestial coordinates. This problem will be remedied when the FFIs are reprocessed later in 2011.

SUMMER RESEARCH STUDENTS PLACED AT THE KEPLER OPERATIONS CENTER
JUN 01, 2011

Student interns have arrived for summer placements at the NASA Ames Research Center. Rachael Roettenbacher from the University of Michigan will be mapping starspot evolution and migration across multi-quarter Kepler data. Genesis Berlanga from San Jose State University will be studying rotation in Kepler white dwarfs. Students should contact us for similar opportunities occurring over the summer of 2012.

GUEST OBSERVERS VISIT THE KEPLER OPERATIONS CENTER
MAY 10, 2011

Don Walter and Jennifer Cash, Cycle 2 Guest Observers from South Carolina State University, visited the Guest Observer Office for two days in order to understand their software options and develop a data analysis strategy for their program on semi-regular variables. The Guest Observer Office extends the same invitation to all Guest Observers, KASC team members and Kepler archive users. Contact us by to set up a visit schedule.

NASA's ASTROPHYSICS DATA ANALYSIS PROGRAM FUNDS KEPLER ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
APR 21, 2011

The Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP) funds research whose primary emphasis is the analysis of NASA space astrophysics data that are archived in the public domain at the time of proposal submission. The deadline for applications this year is May 13. Kepler has a growing body of data that is eligible for funded research through the ADAP. Those Kepler light curves and target pixel files that are in the public domain are:

• All Q0-Q2 data
• All Q0-Q3 Guest Observer and KASC targets
• Published Science Team and KASC targets
• All dropped targets, i.e. identified red giants

In addition, all Kepler Full Frame Images (FFIs) obtained on a monthly cadence are available to the community and the ADAP program. We urge the US community to propose for ADAP resources to exploit these Kepler data and contact the for technical advice during proposal preparation.

SOREN MEIBOM VISITS THE KEPLER OPERATIONS CENTER
APR 21, 2011

Soren Meibom of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics spent a two day visit at NASA Ames to exchange information with the developers of PDC MAP. PDC MAP is a version of Kepler Pre-Search Data Conditioning under development which will identify the common photometric structure over the full sample of Kepler targets, construct the principle components of quarterly systematic variability, and employ these to remove systematics from individual light curves. While still in development, we have high hopes that PDC MAP will provide extra protection against the removal of astrophysics from PDC data, can replace the current version of PDC within the Kepler data pipeline and products, and that both the principle components and adjustable community tools can be provided to Kepler users through the MAST archive. Soren's current work on open cluster targets is providing a test sample for the PDC MAP development.

THE FIRST KEPLER SCIENCE MEETING ANNOUNCED
APR 21, 2011

The First Kepler Science Conference will be held DEC 5-9, 2011; hosted by the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. The conference will highlight the full range of scientific results that have emerged from more than two years of Kepler observations, as well as what to expect from continued observations. The meeting will consist of 9-10 half-day sessions, each session dedicated to a different topic. Topics will include:

• The Kepler Mission and Exoplanet Statistics
• Earth-analog and sub-Neptune-size Planets
• Multiple Planet Systems
• Exoplanet Theory
• Giant Planets and Planet Atmospheres
• Eclipsing and Interacting Binaries
• Stellar Activity
• Asteroseismology Across the HR Diagram
• Red Giant Oscillations
• Asteroseismology of Solar-type Stars

The conference website is: http://kepler.nasa.gov/Science/ForScientists/keplerconference/. If you are interested in attending, please complete a short survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TKSPKMG.

CROSS-QUARTER DISCONTINUITIES IN KEPLER LIGHT CURVES
APR 21, 2011

Roi Alonso is a Kepler Guest Observer characterizing deep eclipses in the light curve of a close binary system. He noted that while the new target pixel archive products have great value in determining the fraction of target flux in the photometric pixel aperture and the amount of contamination from nearby sources, this still remains a tricky task because the community have no information to model the instrument PSF. The effects of aperture size and source contamination are most obvious across quarter boundaries. Roi asked if PSF information was available. The Science Office are indeed working on a PSF product for delivery to MAST. While there is no target date for delivery, we hope this can happen over the summer. Be aware though, PSF fitting is not a suitable option for all Kepler programs. The Kepler Science Office have used PSFs only for optimal aperture construction and astrometry. The PSFs ability to reconstruct photometry has not been systematically explored. PSF models are not perfect and the PSF is not well sampled generally by the relatively large detector pixels. PSF photometry will not provide the same relative photometric quality as simple aperture photometry across neighboring timestamps. Some astrophysics programs can afford PSF photometry, others cannot. We're predicting that PSF-fitting will a do fair job tracking target motion across the aperture due to differential velocity aberration and pointing offsets, but it is unlikely to model thermal events such as spacecraft safe modes as well, because the PSF data were obtained during a period of thermal stability. The PSF product is being provided so that the community can investigate it's suitability and application to their science programs.
Roi also asks whether accurate information will be made available about the detector positions of the target and background sources within the photometric aperture. Coming in the Q8 data release is additional information within the FITS light curves downloaded from MAST. It will have the detector location of the target for every timestamp recorded over the quarter. Provided you have an understanding of where your neighboring stars are relative to the target using either the KIC, another catalog or an independent observation, then you will be able to model the contamination within the photometric aperture for each timestamp in the series using the PSF models. All Q0-7 data will be reprocessed over the summer of 2011 in order to provide a more useful, uniform archive. In Q10, or thereabouts, FITS files will contain new keywords that describe fits to both the fraction of total flux in the aperture originating from the target, and the fraction of target flux contained within the aperture, at the mid-time of the quarter.

KEPLER FULL FRAME IMAGES AT MAST
APR 20, 2011

Once per month, Kepler obtains one full-frame image (FFI). These are used for diagnostics by the Science Office but a 1-month cadence full-frame archive also provides scientific opportunities for the community. Raw (kplrYYYYDDDhhmmss_ffi-orig.fits) and calibrated (kplrYYYYDDDhhmmss_ffi-cal.fits) FFIs are available to you at MAST. For the last three months, while FFIs have been obtained, technical difficulties have prevented their calibration. This problem will be removed when version 7.0 of the data pipeline is released in May and calibrated FFI data will flow again. However, a hole in the FFI delivery and ingest system has been found and FFIs named as calibrated have found their way onto the download site. Unfortunately neither the astrometry or photometry in these products is trustworthy. Until notified by the project, please delete any calibrated FFIs you have downloaded that were obtained after kplr2010326181728_ffi-cal.fits. The MAST archivists are working to remove the incorrect files. FFIs observed before this data remain good quality.

A KEPLER CLUSTER STUDY OF STELLAR ROTATION IN NGC 6811
APR 17, 2011

In a recently accepted article, Soren Meibom and co-authors present rotation periods for 71 single dwarf members of the open cluster NGC 6811, determined using Kepler photometry. The results are the first to combine Kepler's photometry with ground-based spectroscopy for cluster membership and binarity. The rotation periods delineate a tight sequence in the NGC 6811 color-period diagram from 1 day at mid-F to 11 days at early-K spectral type. This result extends to 1 Gyr similar prior results in the 600 Myr Hyades and Praesepe clusters, suggesting that rotation periods for cool dwarf stars delineate a well-defined surface in the 3-dimensional space of color (mass), rotation, and age. It implies that reliable ages can be derived for field dwarf stars with measured colors and rotation periods.

QUARTER 7 TARGET PIXEL FILES INGESTED AND AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT MAST
APR 14, 2011

The Kepler archive team at MAST completed the 6-day ingest process of Kepler target pixel files collected over quarter 7 (Sep 23 - Dec 22, 2010). Target pixel files belonging to Guest Observers, KASC and the Science Team can be downloaded by their data owners via the data search tool at MAST. These files are coupled to and complement the light curve data ingested on Apr 4. The exclusive use period for GO and KASC data is 1 year from the date of ingest, after which time data become available to the general public.

THE KEPLER CYCLE 3 GUEST OBSERVER PROGRAM FINALIZED
APR 14, 2011

Abstracts for the cycle 3 Guest Observer Program covering the period Jun 2011-Jun 2012 (Kepler quarters 10-13) are now online. The community are reminded to add programs to this list at any time through the Directors' Discretionary Target Program.

THE GUEST OBSERVER OFFICE VISITS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
APR 11, 2011

Karen Kinemuchi returned from a two day visit with the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas. As well as a seminar on the astrophysics activities of the Kepler community, Karen hosted a data workshop showcasing the public archive, the Kepler data and how to exploit it. If your institution would benefit from a similar presentation, or you would like to visit the NASA Ames Research Center to familiarize yourself with data and the Kepler Team, please contact the .

CALL FOR DIRECTOR'S DISCRETIONARY TARGETS FOR QUARTER 10 (JUN-SEP)
APR 08, 2011

There will be target slots available for Director's Discretionary Science in Q10. The slots will be used for targets that are not currently observed through the KASC or GO programs but have high scientific yield or potential. Members of the community are urged to nominate targets for up to 100 free slots with a short scientific justification sent to the . In previous quarters, the discretionary target program provided a fast-track to new Kepler data that yield rapid, high-impact science. It can be used to reinstate interesting targets dropped from the planetary list. It can be used to respond to "targets of opportunity" and provides a mechanism for pilot studies before the next annual GO cycle. The discretionary program can also enhance existing GO programs with additional data. The deadline for proposing discretionary targets is Apr 23.

NEW KEPLER DATA FOLDING TOOL DELIVERED TO PyKEP
APR 08, 2011

A python-based tool for folding data upon astrophysical ephemerides has been added to the PyKEP software bundle. User documentation and download instructions are provided. As usual, this is an open source development, bug reports and code improvements are welcomed by the .

THE IMPACT OF US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ON KEPLER
APR 08, 2011

If it indeed occurs, the impending government shutdown on Apr 9, 12:01am EST will have no impact on the nominal operation of the Kepler spacecraft. The spacecraft will continue to operate, and the Mission Operations Center will continue to watch over it, issue commands and downlink data. However, once the data is safely on the ground, the analysis and distribution of the data is not considered critical and will be postponed until funding is again available. Critical people are authorized to continue working on Kepler here at NASA Ames during a shutdown, but that work will be limited to ensuring the continued health and operation of the spacecraft. In the event of a spacecraft anomaly, additional people are authorized to be called in to work. The Operation Team's focus is upon the protection of the Kepler spacecraft and its data as a significant national asset.

KEPLER DISCOVERS A NEW TRIPLY ECLIPSING COMPACT HIERARCHICAL TRIPLE SYSTEM
APR 08, 2011

Hierarchical triple systems comprise a close binary and a more distant component. They are important for testing theories of star formation and of stellar evolution in the presence of nearby companions. From Kepler, Derekas et al. (2011) obtained 218 days of Kepler photometry of HD 181068 (V = 7.1), supplemented by ground-based spectroscopy and interferometry, which show it to be a hierarchical triple with two types of mutual eclipses. The primary is a red giant that is in a 45-day orbit with a pair of red dwarfs in a close 0.9-day orbit. The red giant shows evidence for tidally-induced oscillations that are driven by the orbital motion of the close pair. HD 181068 is an ideal target for studies of dynamical evolution and testing tidal friction theories in hierarchical triple systems. Results are reported in this weeks Science journal.

ENSEMBLE ASTEROSEISMOLOGY OF SOLAR-TYPE STARS
APR 08, 2011

Chaplin et al. (2011) report in Science that the asteroseismic survey undertaken by Kepler has met with unprecedented success, yielding clear detections of oscillations in 500 solar-type stars. Distributions of the fundamental properties of these stars show intriguing differences to predictions from models of synthetic stellar populations in the Galaxy. This is important for population studies because the availability of mass estimates for all stars in the ensemble provides tests to theories of stellar evolution to levels not previously possible.

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY: ECHOES FROM THE DEPTHS OF A RED GIANT STAR
APR 08, 2011

The Kepler mission provided the Astronomy Picture of the Day for the second time in ten days, celebrating the discovery of core-driven gravity mode pulsations in red giant stars by Bedding et al. (2011) and Beck et al. (2011).

BUG FOUND IN THE CURRENT VERSION OF STScI's PYRAF PACKAGE MAC DISTRIBUTION
APR 07, 2011

The Kepler GO Office have been developing data analysis tools using the PyRAF tools distributed by STScI for HST and future JWST data analysis. The latest Mac distribution provided in the iraf.intel.snow_leopard.dmg bundle at the stsci_python v2.11 download page installs without trouble but contains a bug that prevents the PyRAF Kepler package from executing. The scipy.optimize module is not available and several of our data fitting tasks rely upon it. If Mac users have downloaded and installed this version, we recommend that they revert to the previous distribution stsci_python v2.10. The PyRAF developers at STScI are aware of the bug and will fix the issue for v2.12.

QUARTER 7 LIGHT CURVES INGESTED AND AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT MAST
APR 04, 2011

The Kepler archive team at MAST completed the 6-day ingest process of Kepler light curves collected over quarter 7 (Sep 23 - Dec 22, 2010). Light curves belonging to Guest Observers, KASC and the Science Team can be downloaded by their data owners via the data search tool at MAST. The exclusive use period for GO and KASC data is 1 year from the date of ingest, after which data become available to the general public. The exclusive use period for Science Team data is to be reviewed. The ingest of quarter 7 target pixel files is now ongoing.

TARGET PIXEL FILES PROVE TO BE POPULAR DOWNLOADS AT THE KEPLER DATA ARCHIVE
MAR 31, 2011

The Kepler Operation Center recently delivered calibrated pixel level data, the target pixels files, to the data archive at MAST, to augment and complement the existing Q0-Q6 light curve files. Target pixel files provide new information to the Kepler community, such as time-tagged target images, pixel mask and optimal aperture definitions, data quality flags mapping spacecraft anomalies, and, in the near future, target motions on the CCD over time. Users can also re-extract light curves over new apertures using the community software tools kepmask and kepextract. The MAST archivists today reported that ~50,000 target pixel files have been downloaded via ~500 requests by 40 different MAST users since ingest.

GRAVITY MODES DISTINGUISH DIFFERENT SHELL-BURNING STAGES IN KEPLER RED GIANT TARGETS
MAR 31, 2011

KASC scientists present a Nature letter and Science paper containing the first discovery and statistical study of mixed gravity modes in Kepler red giant stars. They provide a measure of the evolutionary state of post-main sequence core and shell burning through their pulsation period spacing.

SOC PIPELINE REVIEW
MAR 29, 2011

Project managers converged upon the Kepler Operations Center at the NASA Ames Research Center in order to review mission plans for Kepler data pipeline development through 2011 and into 2012. Approval was provided to prioritize the work of cotrending spacecraft systematics using new principle components derived from common structure found in large local samples of quiet Kepler targets. It is predicted that these developments will provide a leap in the quality of conditioned Kepler data in the archive, a major improvement for transit detection and a major boon for community-led Kepler astrophysics through archive mining and within the Guest Observer and KASC programs.

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY: KEPLER'S STARS AND PLANETS
MAR 29, 2011

The Kepler mission provided today's Astronomy Picture of the Day, illustrating all 1,235 candidate planets and their host stars from the Borucki et al. (2011) catalog.

KEPLER USERS' PANEL MEETS
MAR 28, 2011

The Kepler Users' Panel (KUP) are a group of community scientists exploiting Kepler data through archive mining, the Guest Observer Program and collaboration with the Kepler Science Team. They provide independent advice to the mission on operational and scientific strategy. The KUP traveled to the Kepler Operations Center at the NASA Ames Research Center for two days of discussion with project scientists. The individuals on the KUP can be identified and corresponded with from the KUP webpage, their written recommendations resulting from this meeting will be posted there in the near future once they deliver the document to the Kepler Team.

NEW RECRUIT AT THE KEPLER OPERATIONS CENTER: TOM BARCLAY
MAR 28, 2011

The Kepler Operations Center at Ames welcomes a new recruit in Tom Barclay, a recent PhD graduate from Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland. Tom will be working within the Science and Guest Observer Offices to develop community data analysis tools, specifically cotrending algorithms for removing detector artifacts and quarter-stitching strategies. He will also be developing legacy archive products and developing target reduction policies for mission extension scenarios.