[Previous] | [Session 31] | [Next]
J. M. Jenkins, H. Chandrasekaran, D. A. Caldwell (SETI Institute), N. M. Batalha, N. Silva (San Jose State Univ.), D. G. Koch (NASA A.R.C.), T. N. Gautier (JPL/CalTech)
A trade study was conducted to quantify the benefits of moving NASA Discovery's \emph{Kepler Mission} to a higher galactic latitude, b=+13.28\arcdeg. We examined the extent of the background binary confusion problem relative to the number of primary target stars: those stars for which \emph{Kepler} can detect transiting habitable planets \ge 1\;\mathrm{R}\earth. A Monte Carlo model of the Field of View (FOV) was constructed with the stellar population modeled using the Besançon galactic model (Robin et al. 2003). The number of primary target stars decreases by 4% and 7% from the original FOV center for a +5\arcdeg and a +10\arcdeg increase in b, respectively.
We chose late, main sequence stars with 8.5\le R \le 16.5 as target stars. For each target, background stars were placed randomly in the star's photometric aperture and half were selected as binaries. The orbital period and eccentricity were defined as per Duquennoy and Mayor (1991), with the remaining orbital elements chosen randomly. False positives were determined as those binaries that injected a detectable photometric signal for which none of the following were observed: disparities between secondary and primary eclipse depths, durations or epoch timings, or motion of the photocenter.
The number of expected false positives drops precipitously with increasing b. For the new FOV we expect no false positives mimicking habitable, Earth-sized planets. We do expect ~18 short-period (P<3 days) false positives. A few false positives with radii >\;1.4\;\mathrm{R}\earth are expected for P\;>\;3 days. Finally, candidates identified in the \emph{Kepler Mission} data will be subjected to both ground-based and space-based follow-up observations, which should eliminate most of these remaining false positives.
Support for this work came from the \emph{Kepler Mission} Science Office at NASA Ames Research Center.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to www.kepler.arc.nasa.gov. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: jjenkins@mail.arc.nasa.gov
[Previous] | [Session 31] | [Next]
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.