Mission Overview
Map of Observations
Wavelength Coverage
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The Kepler spacecraft was launched into an earth trailing orbit and stared at a 100 sq. degree patch of sky near Cygnus in order to measure the brightness variations of about 200,000 stars. It's primary mission was to find exoplanets transiting these stars and to determine the prevalence of exoplanets in the Galaxy. The Kepler spacecraft rotated by 90 degrees every 90 days in order to keep the solar panels pointing at the sun and thus the Kepler data is divided into 90-day quarters. Kepler only downloaded the pixels surrounding selected stars of interest at either a 30-minute or 1-minute cadence. The mission produced a flux time series for each star and searched these light curves for the presence of a transiting exoplanet. In addition to discovering exoplanets, Kepler data has been used to study the variability of stars and eclipsing binaries.
Active From
Launch: March 6, 2009
Observing: May 2, 2009 - May 11, 2013
Resolution
4 arcseconds / pixel
Capabilities
- Time Series
- Photometry
- Imaging
On this Page
Download light curves and target pixel files for a few targets. Download full frame images. Find data from other missions for your target.
Find MAST data (including Kepler) for known planets or KOI's, matched to orbital phase. Plot quarter-stitched DV light curves. Access exoplanet parameters with references.
Search for, and retrieve, Kepler data products programmatically based on a list of coordinates or target names. Interact with observational data in programs you write.
Kepler-specific target pixel and light curve search. Query on target or observational metadata.
Download scripts to retrieve complete sets of Kepler data, such as light curves, target pixel files, full frame images, or engineering files.
Featured Data Products
Primary Documents
All Documents
July 16, 2020
MAST Kepler Archive Manual
The archive manual describes the file formats and their contents for the light curve files, target pixel files, full frame images, and other engineering files.
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