Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: The K2 mission will make use of the Kepler spacecraft and its assets to expand upon Kepler's groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of exoplanets and astrophysics through new and exciting observations. K2 will use an innovative way of operating the spacecraft to observe target fields along the ecliptic for the next 2–3 years. Early science commissioning observations have shown an estimated photometric precision near 400 ppm in a single 30 minute observation, and a 6-hr photometric precision of 80 ppm (both at V = 12). The K2 mission offers long-term, simultaneous optical observation of thousands of objects at a precision far better than is achievable from ground-based telescopes. Ecliptic fields will be observed for approximately 75 days enabling a unique exoplanet survey which fills the gaps in duration and sensitivity between the Kepler and TESS missions, and offers pre-launch exoplanet target identification for JWST transit spectroscopy. Astrophysics observations with K2 will include studies of young open clusters, bright stars, galaxies, supernovae, and asteroseismology.
DOI: 10.1086/676406
Authors: Steve B. Howell, Charlie Sobeck, Michael Haas, Martin Still, Thomas Barclay, Fergal Mullally, John Troeltzsch, Suzanne Aigrain, Stephen T. Bryson, Doug Caldwell, William J. Chaplin, William D. Cochran, Daniel Huber, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Andrea Miglio, Joan R. Najita, Marcie Smith, J. D. Twicken, Jonathan J. Fortney
Institutions: Ames Research Center, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, University of Oxford, Aarhus University, University of Birmingham, McDonald Observatory, University of California, Berkeley, The University of Texas at Austin, University of California, Santa Cruz
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2040496510