Kepler & K2

New Kepler/K2 High Level Science Products available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 10:00:00 -0700

Over the past six months, the Kepler/K2 data archive at MAST has added or updated the following five High Level Science Products:

KG-RADII (Berger et al) is a new product which provides revised stellar and exoplanet properties from the original Kepler mission based on parallaxes from Gaia DR2.
KEPSEISMIC …

Talks from Kepler & K2 SciCon V now available online

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 10:00:00 -0700

The Kepler & K2 Science Conference V was held on March 4–8, 2019. Slide decks from the talks have now been uploaded in PDF format and are linked from the conference agenda.

In addition to the talks, we expect to upload posters in the near future. Presenters wishing to have …

K2 Campaign 5 reprocessed

Jeff Coughlin — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 09:00:00 -0700

Earlier this year we announced that we were undertaking an effort to reprocess campaigns 0–14 using the same version of the Kepler/K2 pipeline used for C15 and subsequent campaigns. This version introduced several new features and improvements, such as more sophisticated pixel calibration, better identification of spacecraft pointing …

Kepler SciCon V registration and late poster deadline approaching

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:00:00 -0800

The Kepler & K2 Science Conference V will take place March 4-8, 2019, in Glendale, California. The meeting will be a celebration of Kepler's 10 years in space and will serve as a showcase of the bountiful results that continue to come from both the Kepler and K2 missions.

Due to …

Slides from the Kepler/K2 Special Session at the Winter AAS now available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 09:00:00 -0800

The 233rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle featured a special session titled "Kepler and K2's 500,000 high-precision lightcurves: prospects for future discoveries".

The session highlighted the future discoveries which are expected to emerge from Kepler's data set over the next years, and discussed some of …

K2 Campaign 0 reprocessed

Jeff Coughlin — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 00:30:00 -0800

K2 Campaign 18 data release notes available

Jeff Coughlin — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 12:00:00 -0800

The data release notes for K2 Campaign 18 are now available online. We encourage all users to review the notes.

New white paper: Scientific Opportunities with Kepler & K2 Archive Data

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 22:00:00 -0700

The Kepler and K2 missions have provided an unprecedented data set with a precision and duration that will not be rivaled for decades. Even though the data has already contributed to nearly 2,500 scientific publications so far, the scientific community continues to extract new discoveries from the archive data …

New in Lightkurve: the Periodogram class

Christina Hedges — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 19:00:00 -0700

This month in Lightkurve, we have added a Periodogram class, which provides a quick and easy way to create Lomb-Scargle periodograms from LightCurve objects.

Periodograms can be used to find stellar rotation rates, or the oscillation and pulsation frequencies of stars. They are commonly used in asteroseismology to identify oscillation …

Abstracts & travel support requests for Kepler SciCon V are due in two weeks

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 15:00:00 -0700

Abstracts for …

K2 Campaign 18 processed data available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 24 Oct 2018 14:00:00 -0700

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 18 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

Campaign 18 saw Kepler's third visit to the K2 Legacy Field in the constellation of Cancer, which contains the benchmark star clusters M44 and M67. This field has now been observed …

Kepler spacecraft update

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 18:00:00 -0700

Following a successful return of data from K2 Campaign 19, the Kepler team commanded the spacecraft into position to begin collecting data for Campaign 20.

On Friday October 19, during a regularly scheduled spacecraft contact using NASA’s Deep Space Network, the team learned that the spacecraft had paused Campaign …

K2 Campaign 19 raw data available

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 10:00:00 -0700

The Kepler spacecraft has successfully downloaded Campaign 19 data to Earth. To enable users to make use of the current visibility of the Campaign 19 field from the ground, the raw cadence data files have been made public immediately via the K2 data archive at MAST.

The use of the …

K2 Campaign 18 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 07:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 18 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are in the process of being shipped to the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data release will be announced before the end of the month.

Campaign 18 provided Kepler's third visit to …

K2 Campaigns 2, 3, and 13 reprocessed

Jeff Coughlin — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 16:00:00 -0700

A few months ago we announced that we were undertaking an effort to reprocess campaigns 0–14 using the same version of the Kepler/K2 pipeline used for C15 and subsequent campaigns. This version introduced several new features and improvements, such as more sophisticated pixel calibration, better identification of spacecraft …

K2 Campaign 19 ended to downlink data

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 09:30:00 -0700

Kepler's latest observing campaign, K2 Campaign 19, started on August 29 after the spacecraft's configuration had been modified in order to adapt to a change in thruster performance. Since then, the spacecraft has been collecting data for the Campaign's 33,000 targets, including the well-known planet systems TRAPPIST-1 and GJ …

New in Lightkurve: interactively selecting pixel aperture masks

Michael Gully-Santiago — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:00:00 -0700

Kepler data analyses often begin with establishing which pixels your target of interest occupied, and to what extent artifacts or background signals affect those pixels. The Kepler/K2 in-house toolkit, Lightkurve, offers a new mechanism to witness — in real time — the differential impact of aperture mask pixel selection on the …

Release of Pan-STARRS C16 and C17 time series photometry

Michael Gully-Santiago — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 09:00:00 -0700

The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) observed the K2 Campaign 16 and 17 fields contemporaneously from the ground with its wide field imager. All the images from these Pan-STARRS data are available as a new High Level Science Product at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST …

K2 Campaign 20 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 09:00:00 -0700

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 20 (Oct 15, 2018 - Jan 5, 2019) have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

The target list includes 14,789 standard long cadence and 210 standard short cadence targets located towards the constellation of Taurus. The Campaign partially …

Two Kepler Special Sessions at the Winter AAS

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 09:00:00 -0700

The 233rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), which is being held in Seattle in January, will feature two Special Sessions dedicated to Kepler and K2.

The first session, titled "Kepler and K2's 500,000 high-precision lightcurves: prospects for future discoveries" will look forward to the future discoveries expected …

K2 Campaign 17 data release notes available

Jeff Coughlin — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 08:00:00 -0700

The data release notes for K2 Campaign 17 are now available online. We encourage all users to review the notes.

Abstracts for Kepler & K2 Science Conference V are due by November 15, 2018

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:00:00 -0700

Abstracts for …

K2 Campaign 19 status update

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 05 Sep 2018 07:00:00 -0700

The Kepler spacecraft began collecting science data on Aug. 29 for its 19th observation campaign. However, after being roused from sleep mode the spacecraft’s configuration has been modified due to unusual behavior exhibited by one of the thrusters. Preliminary indications are that the telescope’s pointing performance may be …

Ken Mighell and Nick Saunders join the K2 team

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 09:00:00 -0700

The Kepler/K2 team has recently had two new members join us at the Ames Research Center in California: Ken Mighell and Nick Saunders.

Dr Ken Mighell joined us from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. His background is in the analysis of CCD photometry for the study of stellar populations …

K2 Campaign 17 processed data available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 08:00:00 -0700

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 17 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

Campaign 17 provided a substantial overlap with Campaign 6, offering a longer baseline for stellar activity, asteroseismology, and AGN studies, as well as enabling dozens of K2 planet candidates to be …

Lodging for Kepler & K2 SciCon V available now

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 12:00:00 -0700

Lodging can …

K2 Campaign 18 downlink successful

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 07:00:00 -0700

The Kepler spacecraft has successfully downloaded Campaign 18 data to Earth. The raw data are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

We are monitoring the spacecraft very closely and will provide more information when its status has been fully assessed. Scientists who are carrying out …

K2 Campaign 17 data processing complete

Jeff Coughlin — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 10:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 17 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are in the process of being shipped to the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data release will be announced by next week.

Campaign 17 provided a substantial overlap with Campaign 6, offering …

Intrapixel responsivity measured on a Kepler flight spare detector

Michael Gully-Santiago — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 09:00:00 -0700

Researchers have recently characterized the Intra-Pixel Response Function (IPRF) of a Kepler flight spare CCD. Recent Center for Imaging Science PhD recipient Dmitry Vorobiev presented the study at the SPIE meeting on Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation in Austin, Texas in June 2018. The findings are posted on ArXiV and will …

K2 Campaign 16 data release notes available

Jeff Coughlin — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 08:00:00 -0700

The data release notes for K2 Campaign 16 are now available online. We encourage all users to review the notes.

K2 GO Cycle 7 Phase-1 deadline postponed to August 16, 2018

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0700

In response to the drop in fuel pressure observed during Campaign 18, the K2 Guest Observer Cycle 7 call (cf. ROSES D.7 on NSPIRES) has been amended to postpone the Phase-1 deadline from July 19 to August 16, 2018. This change enables the submission of target proposals for K2 …

Kepler fuel status update & FAQ

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 05 Jul 2018 09:00:00 -0700

On Monday, July 2nd, prompted by an anomalous drop in fuel pressure, the Kepler team paused the science observations for K2 Campaign 18 and commanded the spacecraft into a no-fuel-use safe mode. It will remain in this mode until August 2nd, when the Kepler team will use the normally scheduled …

New in lightkurve: identifying time-variable background noise

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 04 Jul 2018 10:00:00 -0700

The new lightkurve open source Python package for Kepler and K2 data analysis, which we first announced in March, contains a new data analysis tutorial which demonstrates how custom aperture photometry can be used to check your target for the presence of time-variable background signals.

The background flux level of …

K2 Campaign 19 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 09:00:00 -0700

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 19 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

The target list includes 33,863 standard long cadence and 216 standard short cadence targets located towards the constellation of Aquarius. The Campaign partially overlaps with Campaigns 3 and 12 …

Save the date for Kepler & K2 Science Conference V: March 4-8, 2019

Knicole Colon — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 09:00:00 -0700

The Kepler & K2 Science Conference V will take place March 4-8, 2019, in Glendale, California. The Kepler spacecraft launched on March 6, 2009 aboard a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This meeting will be a celebration of Kepler's 10 years in space and will …

New in lightkurve: saving a lightcurve as a FITS file

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 14:00:00 -0700

The new lightkurve Python package for Kepler and K2 data analysis, which we first announced in March, contains a new feature: to_fits().

The feature solves a common use case for authors of custom lightcurves who wish to share their lightcurves with collaborators or contribute them to MAST as a High …

Release of Driftscan Full Frame Images

Michael Gully-Santiago — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:00:00 -0700

The Kepler spacecraft recently executed a short pilot program to demonstrate the acquisition of unique calibration data using a new, experimental data collection mode that requires no extra fuel. On May 10-11, 2018, during the K2 Campaign 17 (C17) Deep Space Network (DSN) downlink, the spacecraft collected and downlinked five …

Call for K2 GO Cycle 7 proposals for Campaign 20

Geert Barentsen — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 17:00:00 -0700

The solicitation for K2 Guest Observer Cycle 7 proposals for Campaign 20 has been released and made available via NSPIRES. Campaign 20 will revisit the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region in the forward-facing mode.

Kepler/K2 Extragalactic Data Analysis Meeting in Baltimore, July 16-18, 2018

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 17:00:00 -0700

Members of the Kepler Extra-Galactic Survey are hosting an Extragalactic Transient Data Analysis Meeting on July 16-18, 2018, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

This hands-on meeting, inspired by Tess Ninja and the Gaia Sprints, is designed to bring together researchers with a common interest in the analysis of …

K2 Campaign 16 processed data available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 31 May 2018 08:00:00 -0700

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 16 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

The target list featured 20,647 stars alongside 9,241 galaxies for the supernova experiment. Highlights included the M44 (Beehive) and M67 clusters, dozens of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates revealed by …

Meet Kepler/K2 staff at AAS 232 in Denver

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 29 May 2018 12:00:00 -0700

Members of the Kepler/K2 team will staff a booth in the exhibit hall at the upcoming Summer AAS meeting in Denver, Colorado.

Between July 4 and 6, 2018, you will be able to find Jessie Dotson (K2 Project Scientist), Geert Barentsen (K2 GO Director), and Knicole Colón (K2 Mission …

K2 Campaign 17 completed successfully; Campaign 18 underway

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 14 May 2018 15:30:00 -0700

Good news! The Kepler spacecraft successfully completed its K2 Campaign 17 last week, on May 8th, and the full data set has now been downlinked to Earth.

To enable users to make use of the current visibility of the Campaign 17 field from the ground, the raw C17 data have …

K2 Campaign 16 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 14 May 2018 12:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 16 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are in the process of being shipped to the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data release will be announced near May 24th.

The target list featured 20,647 stars alongside 9,241 …

New in lightkurve: inspecting pixel data using tpf.interact()

Michael Gully-Santiago — Fri, 11 May 2018 01:00:00 -0700

The new lightkurve Python package for Kepler and K2 data analysis, which we first announced in March, contains a new feature: interact().

The tool strives to solve a common stumbling block in Kepler data analysis: "I see a blip in my lightcurve. Is it real or instrumental?" interact() alleviates the …

Call for Kepler/K2 Visiting Scientists

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 08 May 2018 13:00:00 -0700

The Kepler/K2 mission operates a Visiting Scientist Program which enables users of Kepler or K2 data to visit the mission headquarters at NASA Ames in California for a period of multiple days, weeks, or months.

The program gives both junior or senior researchers the opportunity to interact closely with …

K2 uniform global reprocessing underway

Jeff Coughlin — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 14:00:00 -0700

The K2 mission has begun a global reprocessing of the C0–C14 K2 data with an updated, uniform version of the Kepler/K2 pipeline. C15 and later campaigns will be processed with the same pipeline version. This effort should enhance the scientific return of the K2 mission by providing users …

K2 Campaign 15 data release notes available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 08:00:00 -0700

The data release notes for K2 Campaign 15 are now available online. We encourage all users to review the notes.

We are hiring for a Kepler/K2 Support Scientist!

Jeff Coughlin — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 12:00:00 -0700

The Kepler/K2 Science Center is seeking to fill a staff position within the Kepler/K2 Science Office (SO) at NASA’s Ames Research Center and with the SETI Institute

K2 GO Cycle 6 Phase-2 proposals for funding due on April 19th

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:00:00 -0700

US-based users of K2 data are reminded that Phase-2 proposals for the K2 Guest Observer Cycle 6 are due in one month, i.e. by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on April 19, 2018.

The Cycle 6 Phase-2 solicitation offers the opportunity to obtain funds to execute scientific investigations …

New Kepler data analysis tools and tutorials: Lightkurve v1.0

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 12:00:00 -0700

Lightkurve v1.0 is a new Python package which offers a user-friendly way to work with the pixel and lightcurve products produced by the Kepler and TESS pipelines. The package aims to lower the barrier for both students, astronomers, and citizen scientists interested in analyzing Kepler and K2 data by …

K2 Campaign 18 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 14:00:00 -0700

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 18 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

The Campaign 18 target list includes 20,929 standard long cadence and 234 standard short cadence targets located towards the constellation of Cancer.

The field is almost identical to that …

K2 Campaign 15 processed data available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 08:00:00 -0700

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 15 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

The target list featured 23,279 standard long cadence and 119 standard short cadence targets located towards the constellations of Scorpius.

Highlights include:

hundreds of newly-formed stars in the Upper Sco …

K2 Campaign 16 completed successfully

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 06:00:00 -0800

The Kepler spacecraft successfully completed its K2 Campaign 16 on February 25th, and the full data set has now been downlinked via NASA's Deep Space Network.

To enable users to make use of the current visibility of the Campaign 16 field from the ground, the raw cadence data files have …

K2 Campaign 15 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 12:00:00 -0800

Data processing for K2 Campaign 15 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are in the process of being shipped to the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data release will be announced near March 13th.

The target list featured 23,279 standard long cadence and …

Bright supernova discovered in K2's ongoing Campaign 16

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 14:00:00 -0800

The ASAS-SN survey reports the discovery of a bright supernova (V=15) in a nearby galaxy that is currently being monitored by Kepler as part of its ongoing K2 Campaign 16. The event is named ASASSN-18bt (AT 2018oh) and is located at 09:06:39.6 +19:20:17.5 …

Kepler's K2 Mission reaches 300,000 standard targets and 200 confirmed planets

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 14:00:00 -0800

During Campaigns 0 through 14, the K2 mission has now targeted an estimated 297,991 objects, including 50,159 cool dwarf stars, 37,041 giant stars, 40,125 galaxies, and 1,560 white dwarfs. The number of confirmed K2 planets recently surpassed 200 and now stands at 212!

The flyer …

New K2 superstamp mosaic FITS files available at MAST

Ann Marie Cody — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 14:00:00 -0800

The K2 Guest Observer Office is excited to announce a new High Level Science Product (HLSP) available at the MAST archive. The HLSP – called K2Superstamp – consists of a series of FITS images for four open star clusters observed by K2 using so-called "superstamp" pixel masks:

M35: the ~150 Myr old …

K2 Campaign 14 data release notes available

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 12:00:00 -0800

The data release notes for K2 Campaign 14 are now available online. We encourage all users to review the notes.

In particular, we draw attention to the fact that more cadences than usual were flagged as "Spacecraft is not in fine point" (QUALITY flag bit #16, decimal=32768) due to …

K2 Campaign 17 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 14:00:00 -0800

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 17 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

The target list is based on the peer review of target proposals submitted in response to the K2 GO Cycle 6 Phase-1 opportunity. PI teams may expect to receive feedback …

Slides available from the K2 Clusters Workshop in Boston

Ann Marie Cody — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 16:00:00 -0800

The Kepler/K2 workshop on Dwarf Stars and Clusters was held on January 16-18, 2018, at Boston University. The event was attended by over 50 participants and featured talks, stimulating discussions, and new collaborations. A highlight of the workshop was the unconference held on the final day, during which participants …

New community High Level Science Products available at MAST

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 00:00:00 -0800

The mission encourages members of our community to share and archive value-added data products derived from Kepler or K2 observations via the High Level Science Products (HLSP) service offered by the data archive at MAST.

In recent months, four bespoke data products have been released or updated in this way …

The Kepler/K2 publication database surpasses 2500 papers

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 07 Jan 2018 00:00:00 -0800

The GO office curates a database of scientific publications pertaining to Kepler and K2. The list now contains 2502 publications, of which 2219 are peer-reviewed. Last year was the most productive one so far with over 500 publications recorded!

The database is available as a spreadsheet (kepler-publications.xls). If you …

K2 & TESS Splinter Meeting at #AAS231 on Jan 9th, 2018

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 12:00:00 -0800

NASA's TESS and Kepler/K2 Missions are convening a joint splinter meeting during the 231st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), which is being held in Washington, DC, next week.

The session will take place on Tuesday evening, January 9th, 2018, at 7:30 pm in room "National Harbor …

DDT deadline for K2 Campaign 18 approaching

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 12:00:00 -0800

We are currently accepting DDT proposals for Campaigns 18 and 19. The primary goal of the DDT program is to enable exceptional, time-critical observing opportunities.

Owing to the overlaps with previous fields, C18 offers the opportunity to revisit targets from C5, while C19 enables re-observations of objects from C3 and …

Kepler/K2 at the AAS 231: January 2018, Washington DC

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 01:00:00 -0800

Members of the Kepler/K2 mission team are looking forward to meeting you at the 231st AAS meeting in Washington, DC. You can find us at our exhibit booth, the K2/TESS splinter session, and several presentations.

PanSTARRS monitoring of the K2 Campaign 16 field

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 01:00:00 -0800

Because the currently-ongoing K2 Campaign 16 is partially dedicated to the Supernova Experiment, the project has acquired PanSTARRS time to monitor the entire field every night in two filters (cycling through g+r and g+i) for the purpose of providing early alerts for transients in the field. The alerts …

K2 Campaign 16 successfully underway

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 01:00:00 -0800

K2 Campaign 16 started successfully on December 7th and has continued to proceed without issues since.

Uniquely, the spacecraft is pointing along the forward-facing direction of the spacecraft's velocity vector during Campaigns 16 and 17, which allows the field to be accessed from Earth during Kepler's observations. This enables K2's …

Agenda available for the K2 Clusters Workshop in Boston

Ann Marie Cody — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 12:00:00 -0800

The draft agenda for the Kepler/K2 workshop on Dwarf Stars and Clusters is now available online.

So far, over 50 participants have registered to attend the workshop, which will take place from January 16-18, 2018, on the Boston University (BU) campus. The first two days will consist of science …

K2 Campaign 14 processed data available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 10:00:00 -0800

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 14 are now available for download from the K2 archive at MAST.

The target list featured 29,897 standard long cadence and 147 standard short cadence targets, including Wolf-359, WASP-104, and rho Leo, alongside a number of large galaxies (e.g. M95, M96, M105 …

Workshop on Dwarf Stars and Clusters with K2: Abstract deadline approaching!

Ann Marie Cody — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 14:00:00 -0800

The K2 Mission and Boston University (BU) are convening a small meeting from January 16 to 18, 2018, on the BU campus in Boston, Massachusetts.

The event will highlight the diverse science that K2 has enabled in the areas of cool stars and open clusters. Topics will include stellar rotation …

K2 Campaign 14 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 12:00:00 -0800

Data processing for K2 Campaign 14 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are being ingested into the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data release will be made public on Monday, November 20th, or shortly thereafter.

The target list featured 29,897 standard long cadence …

Kepler to image Earth and Moon on December 10, 2017

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 06:00:00 -0800

During K2's upcoming Campaign 16, the Kepler spacecraft will be operated in its forward-facing mode to enable simultaneous observations of the K2 field to be carried out using ground-based telescopes.

A consequence of the forward-facing observing geometry is that the Earth-Moon system will be moving across Kepler's focal plane during …

K2 pixel data now available in bundles from MAST

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 18:00:00 -0800

Users seeking to obtain a copy of every single Target Pixel File (TPF) for a given K2 Campaign may now retrieve the data in bundles of tar archive files from the following url at MAST:

http://archive.stsci.edu/missions/k2/target_pixel_files/bundles/

By grouping the TPFs into larger bundles …

DDT deadline for K2 Campaign 17 approaching

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 14 Nov 2017 22:00:00 -0800

A small percentage of the available K2 pixels in each campaign may be allocated by the K2 Guest Observer (GO) Office Director as Director's Discretionary Targets (DDTs). The primary utilization of DDT programs is in support of community-proposed requests that are based on exceptional, time-critical observing opportunities that cannot be …

K2 Campaign 16 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 19:00:00 -0700

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 16 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

Campaign 16 is scheduled to run from 2017 Dec 7 (~22h UT) through 2018 Feb 25 (~13h UT). The target list includes 29,888 standard long cadence and 129 standard …

Workshop on Dwarf Stars and Clusters with K2: Registration now open, space is limited!

Ann Marie Cody — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 16:00:00 -0700

The K2 Mission and Boston University (BU) are convening a small workshop on Dwarf Stars and Clusters with K2, to take place from January 16 to 18, 2018, on the BU campus in Boston, Massachusetts.

The event will highlight the diverse science that K2 has enabled in the areas of …

New Kepler/K2 postdoc and fellowship opportunities available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 15:00:00 -0700

With the astronomy job season in full swing, we alert our community to several post-doctoral job opportunities which emphasize the use of Kepler and K2 data:

postdoc position at Aarhus University (closes Dec 1);
postdoc position at the University of California, Riverside (closes Dec 15);
postdoc position at Caltech/IPAC …

Save the date: Workshop on Dwarf Stars and Clusters with K2, January 16-18, 2018

Ann Marie Cody — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 17:00:00 -0700

The K2 Mission and Boston University are convening a small workshop on Dwarf Stars and Clusters with K2, to take place from January 16 to 18, 2018, on the BU campus in Boston, Massachusetts.

The event will highlight the diverse science that K2 has enabled in the areas of cool …

K2 Cycle 6: Notable objects in Campaigns 17-18-19

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 07:00:00 -0700

Proposals for targets to be observed by K2 in Campaigns 17, 18, and 19 are currently being solicited as part of K2 Guest Observer Cycle 6, with Phase 1 submissions due on October 12, 2017.

The fields of these campaigns will cover roughly 100 square degrees each towards the constellations …

First version of the K2 Handbook now available

Jeff Coughlin — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 12:00:00 -0700

The first version of the K2 Handbook has been released and is available in PDF format via the K2 Documents page at MAST. The K2 handbook describes:

Operation of the spacecraft in K2 compared to Kepler.
How K2 targets are selected and apertures chosen.
How the data is processed by …

Internship and postdoc opportunities available at NASA Ames

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 06:00:00 -0700

The Kepler/K2 Science Center at NASA Ames is now accepting applications for paid internships via the NASA Internships Portal (search for the opportunity titled "Kepler/K2 Science Center"). The program enables students to gain experience in the scientific operations of a high-profile space photometry mission. PhD and graduate students …

Call for K2 GO Cycle 6 proposals for Campaigns 17, 18, and 19

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 07:20:00 -0700

The call for K2 Guest Observer Cycle 6 proposals for Campaigns 17, 18, and 19 has been released and made available at NSPIRES.

K2 Campaign 13 processed data available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 28 Aug 2017 06:30:00 -0700

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 13 are now available for download from the K2 archive at MAST.

The Campaign 13 target list featured 21,434 standard long cadence and 109 standard short cadence targets, including members of the Taurus and Hyades clusters, alongside a number of galaxies and Solar …

K2 Campaign 14 raw data available

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 20:00:00 -0700

The raw cadence data for K2 Campaign 14 were successfully downlinked from the spacecraft in the weekend of August 19th and are now available for download from the K2 archive at MAST.

The use of the raw, uncalibrated data files requires an intimate understanding of their format and caveats. For …

K2 Campaign 16 DDT deadline approaching

Michael Gully-Santiago — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 14:00:00 -0700

The deadline for 2-page Campaign 16 Director's Discretionary Time (DDT) proposals is August 31, 2017. The DDT program welcome requests for exceptional, time-critical observing opportunities of targets that have not already been included in the preliminary target list for K2 Campaign 16.

Notable targets in the Campaign 16 field include …

New community-prepared K2 light curves available at MAST

Ann Marie Cody — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 08:00:00 -0700

The project encourages members of our community to share and archive value-added data products derived from Kepler or K2 observations via the High Level Science Products (HLSP) service offered by the data archive at MAST.

In recent months, four bespoke data products have been released or updated in this way …

Recorded talks from Kepler & K2 SciCon IV now available online

Knicole Colon — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 14:00:00 -0700

The Kepler & K2 Science Conference IV was held at the NASA Ames Research Center on June 19–23, 2017. The conference was live-streamed and talks were recorded via Adobe Connect. These recordings have now been made available online via the conference webpage.

In order to view the talks, you will …

K2 Campaign 13 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 09:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 13 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are being shipped to the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data will become available in the week of August 28th, or shortly thereafter.

The target list featured 21,434 standard long cadence …

K2 Campaign 15 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 21:00:00 -0700

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 15 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

Campaign 15 is scheduled to run from August 23 through November 20, 2017, and will be observing towards the constellation of Scorpius. The target list includes 23,279 standard long …

Open source release of the Kepler data processing pipeline

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 16:00:00 -0700

The source code for the official Kepler data processing pipeline has been released to the public under the NASA Open Source License, and made available for download via the GitHub repository at https://github.com/nasa/kepler-pipeline. The release is accompanied by a Source Code Roadmap (pdf) which presents an …

K2 Campaign 12 processed data available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 07:00:00 -0700

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 12 are now available for download from the K2 archive at MAST.

The Campaign 12 target list included 29,221 standard long cadence and 141 standard short cadence targets, located in a high-Galactic latitude field (-60°) towards the constellations of Aquarius and Pisces. Notable …

Beta release of PyKE v3.0 out now

Zé Vinícius — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 06:00:00 -0700

A new major version of PyKE has been released in beta. PyKE is Python-based set of data analysis tools which offer a user-friendly way to inspect and analyze the pixels and lightcurves obtained by Kepler and K2.

PyKE v3.0 provides the following key improvements::

PyKE is now a pip-installable …

Release of high-cadence guide star photometry

Christina Hedges — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 12:00:00 -0700

The Kepler and K2 Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) data is now available online at MAST. This data contains the highest time sampling possible with Kepler, with integration times of 0.104 seconds and a median cadence of 30 seconds.

K2 Campaign 12 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 17:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 12 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are being shipped to the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data will become available in the week of July 24th, or shortly thereafter.

The target list included 29,221 standard long cadence …

TESS Guest Investigator Cycle 1 released

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:00:00 -0700

The Cycle 1 proposal call for the Guest Investigator (GI) Program of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has been released. TESS is a new NASA Explorer mission, currently scheduled for launch no later than June 2018, which will carry out a near all-sky photometric survey down to magnitude ~12 …

Share your plan for K2 Campaign 16 ancillary observations

Michael Gully-Santiago — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 16:00:00 -0700

K2 Campaign 16 (Dec 7 - Feb 25) will be "forward-facing", making possible contemporaneous ground-based observations from Earth. Many teams have now secured telescope time to provide polychromatic photometry and spectroscopy of the field during the Campaign, e.g. for the benefit of the K2 Supernova Cosmology Experiment as well as …

K2 Campaign 11 data available

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0700

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 11 are now available for download from the K2 archive at MAST.

As explained in more detail in the data release notes, Campaign 11 was operationally separated into two segments, C11a (23 days) and C11b (47 days), as a result of a necessary roll …

Live streaming available for Kepler & K2 Science Conference IV

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 10:00:00 -0700

The Kepler & K2 Science Conference IV, to be held at NASA Ames next week (June 19–23, 2017), will be live-streamed for the benefit of researchers unable to attend the conference in-person. Those interested in virtual participation will be able to sign in to the Adobe Connect URL at https …

Fields selected for K2 Campaigns 17, 18, and 19

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 09:00:00 -0700

The K2 project has selected the fields that will be observed as part of Campaigns 17, 18, and 19. The fields were selected based on the feedback received as part of a recent solicitation for community input, while also taking into account the spacecraft's constraints and fuel usage.

Campaign 17 …

K2 Campaign 11 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 20:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 11 is now complete and the pixel files and lightcurves are in the process of being shipped to the MAST archive. We anticipate that the data will become available to the public towards the last week of June. The Campaign 11 data processing proceeded more …

Ann Marie Cody, Michael Gully-Santiago, Christina Hedges, and Zé Vinícius join the Guest Observer Office

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 14:00:00 -0700

The Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office has four new members joining us at Ames Research Center in California: Michael Gully-Santiago, Ann Marie Cody, Christina Hedges, and Zé Vinícius.

Ann Marie Cody earned her PhD at the California Institute of Technology in 2011, where she investigated the properties of young brown …

DDT deadlines for K2 Campaigns 15 & 16 approaching

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 11 May 2017 13:00:00 -0700

Kepler & K2 Science Conference IV program now available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 11 May 2017 11:00:00 -0700

The conference agenda for the Kepler & K2 Science Conference IV, to be held June 19–23 at NASA Ames Research Center, is now available from the conference website.

The agenda features 85 talks and 101 posters covering topics across all science areas that are impacted by Kepler and K2 data …

ExoPAG meeting to take place in conjunction with Kepler & K2 SciCon IV

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 09 May 2017 15:00:00 -0700

NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) will hold its sixteenth meeting on Sunday, June 18, 2017 in Mountain View, CA, one day before the start of Kepler & K2 SciCon IV in the same city.

ExoPAG is responsible for soliciting and coordinating community input into the development and execution of …

K2 Campaign 14 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 04 May 2017 16:00:00 -0700

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 14 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

Campaign 14 is scheduled to run from May 31 through August 19, 2017, and will be observing towards the constellations of Leo and Sextans near the North Galactic Cap. The …

Release of dithered data obtained during Kepler commissioning

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 03:00:00 -0700

During Kepler’s commissioning phase in April 2009, the spacecraft observed 33,424 stars in a dither pattern for the purpose of measuring the Pixel Response Function (PRF). The pattern consisted of 122 pointings, each with a duration of 14.7 minutes, observed across a 2.5-day period on April …

Request for input on the Campaign 17 and 18 field placement

Knicole Colon & Geert Barentsen — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 17:00:00 -0700

The fields for K2 Campaigns 17 and beyond have not yet been set. Although these future Campaigns are at risk of not being executed due to Kepler running low on fuel, there is a significant chance that the spacecraft will continue to function well into 2018 and the project must …

Kepler DR 25 KOI Catalog now available

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 15:00:00 -0700

The latest version of the Kepler Objects of Interest (KOI) Catalog, version DR25, is now available in the NASA Exoplanet Archive.

The catalog details all the transit-like features across the full data set of the original Kepler mission, i.e. Quarters 1 through 17, as found by the Kepler pipeline …

Raw data for K2 Campaign 12 and TRAPPIST-1 now available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 06:00:00 -0800

The raw, uncalibrated data files for K2 Campaign 12 are now available for download from the data archive at MAST.

The raw files are made public straight away to aid astronomers in preparing proposals due this month to use ground-based telescopes to further investigate TRAPPIST-1. These are not the project's …

Funding available for exoplanet research through NASA's XRP

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 19:00:00 -0800

Our US-based Kepler/K2 community is being alerted to the open call for proposals to be submitted to NASA's Exoplanet Research Program (XRP). Investigations are expected to directly support the goal of understanding exoplanetary systems, by doing one or more of the following:

detect exoplanets and/or confirm exoplanet candidates …

K2 Campaign 16 preliminary target list available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 09:00:00 -0800

A limitation that K2 users have faced in previous Campaigns is that simultaneous observations from the ground were only possible during challenging twilight conditions, owing to K2's strategy to observe in the backward-facing direction along its velocity vector.

This will change in Campaign 16 (Dec 2017 - Feb 2018), when K2 …

K2 Campaign 13 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 16:00:00 -0800

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 13 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

Campaign 13 is scheduled to run from March 8th through May 27th, 2017, and will be observing towards the constellation of Taurus in the Galactic Anti-Center direction.

The target list …

Funding available for Kepler & K2 data analysis through ADAP

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 22:00:00 -0800

The Kepler/K2 community is being alerted to the open call for proposals to be submitted to the Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP), which provides financial support for US-based investigations whose primary purpose is the analysis of NASA space astrophysics data that are archived in the public domain at the …

K2 Campaigns 14, 15 and 16 Director's Discretionary Targets program

Knicole Colon — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 15:30:00 -0800

We are hiring! Job opportunities available at the Kepler/K2 Science Center

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 10:00:00 -0800

The Kepler/K2 Science Center is seeking to fill multiple staff positions within the Kepler and K2 Guest Observer (GO) Office at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

First Announcement: Kepler & K2 SciCon IV, June 19-23, 2017

Knicole Colon — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 09:30:00 -0800

To celebrate the legacy and latest science results of Kepler/K2 we invite the community to the 4th Kepler & K2 Science Conference, hosted at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA.

Dr. Geert Barentsen to take over as Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office lead on April 1

Tom Barclay — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 08:00:00 -0800

Dr. Geert Barentsen has been appointed to Director of the Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office at NASA Ames and will take up this new position on April 1. Geert earned a Ph.D in astrophysics from Queens University Belfast and has a background in star formation. Geert has been with …

Visiting Scientist opportunities available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 13:10:00 -0800

The Kepler & K2 missions are launching a Visiting Scientist Program.

The Program enables users of Kepler or K2 data to visit the mission headquarters at NASA Ames in California, for a period of multiple weeks or months, to work on a research project that would benefit from close interaction with …

Student Internship opportunities available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 13:00:00 -0800

The Kepler & K2 missions are offering internship opportunities to graduate and undergraduate students wishing to to gain experience in the scientific exploitation and operations of a major NASA mission.

The internships are based at Kepler/K2's mission headquarters at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

Example projects …

Raw data for K2 Campaign 12 to be released after downlink

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 12:00:00 -0800

The project has decided that raw data from the currently on-going K2 Campaign 12 will be released immediately after downlink. C12 includes the high-profile TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system.

The raw data will be available from a public directory at the MAST data archive on or near March 6th. The use of …

K2 Campaign 10 data release notes now available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:00:00 -0800

The K2 Campaign 10 Data Release Notes are now available online.

We strongly encourage all users to review the notes to learn more about the impact of the pointing offset, which affected the first 6 days of the Campaign, and the loss of Module 4, which resulted in a 14-day …

Galactic Archeology Special Session at AAS 229

Tom Barclay — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 13:00:00 -0800

At the upcoming American Astronomical Society meeting in Grapevine, Tx there will be a special session on Galactic Archeology with K2 and Kepler. This is an exciting area of astrophysics that will only continue to grow over the coming years. The organizer of the event is Jennifer Johnson from Ohio …

K2 Campaign 10 data available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 10:30:00 -0800

The pipeline-processed data for K2 Campaign 10 are now available for download from the K2 archive at MAST.

As explained in detail in the data release notes, the data were processed in two separate sets:

The first six days of data, dubbed C10a, were collected with a pointing error of …

K2 Campaign 10 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 10:00:00 -0800

Pipeline processing for K2 Campaign 10 is now complete and the data are in the process of being shipped to the data archive at MAST. We anticipate that the data will become available for download on or before December 22nd.

Alongside 28,345 standard long cadence and 138 short cadence …

Reprocessed data for K2 Campaign 1 now available

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 14:00:00 -0800

The original data release for K2 Campaign 1 in 2014 used a prior version of the pipeline (v9.2) which only produced "Type-1" FITS Target Pixel Files. The Campaign has now been re-processed using the mature version of the pipeline (v9.3) which updates the pixel files to "Type-2" TPFs …

K2 & TESS Splinter Session at #AAS229 on 4 Jan 2017

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 20:00:00 -0800

The TESS and K2 Missions are convening a joint special session at the 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) being held in Grapevine, Texas, this January.

The session will take place on Wednesday evening, January 4th, 2017, at 7:30 pm in room "Texas C" at the Gaylord …

K2 Campaign 12 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 15:00:00 -0800

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 12 have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

The Campaign 12 target list includes 29,221 standard long cadence and 141 standard short cadence targets, all located in a high-Galactic latitude field (-60°) on the boundary between the …

Small changes to Campaigns 13, 14, and 15

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:00:00 -0800

K2 users are alerted to a small but necessary adjustment to the fields of Campaigns 13, 14, and 15.

To better compensate for the radiation pressure exerted by one of the spacecraft's low-gain antennae, these fields have been rotated by 0.365°. This change minimizes the roll drift rate and …

K2 Cycle 5 deadline fast approaching

Tom Barclay — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 11:00:00 -0700

The deadline for K2 Cycle 5 Step-1 proposals is just over a week away. This call is for targets falling into fields for Campaigns 14, 15 and 16. Proposal submission is a 2-step process and both steps are mandatory. Step-1 proposals are required to be submitted through the NSPIRES website …

K2 Supernova Experiment Workshop on Feb 14-16, 2017

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 07:00:00 -0700

We previously announced that in order to maximize the science return from the remaining fuel, the K2 Campaign 16 field has been changed to enable a forward-facing supernova survey. In addition to benefiting from low galactic extinction, the new field allows simultaneous observations to be made from the ground to …

K2 Users' Panel selected

Knicole Colon — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 14:00:00 -0700

The K2 mission has developed a K2 Users' Panel (K2UP), whose role will be to represent the voice of the community in regards to mission science, management policies, and products from the project. More information on the panel's responsibilities and any reports generated can be found on the K2UP page …

K2 Campaign 9 data available

Knicole Colon — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 08:00:00 -0700

Target pixel files, full frame images, and thruster firing lists for K2 Campaign 9 are now available for download from the MAST archive. The C9 data release notes are available here.

C9 was largely dedicated to a search for gravitational microlensing events in a region around the Galactic bulge. A …

K2 GO Cycle 5: Notable targets in Campaigns 14-15-16

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 18:00:00 -0700

Proposals for targets to be observed by K2 in Campaigns 14, 15, and 16 are currently being solicited as part of K2 Guest Observer Cycle 5, with Step 1 submissions due on November 3, 2016.

The fields of these campaigns will cover roughly 100 square degrees each towards the constellations …

New forward-facing position of Campaign 16 finalized

Tom Barclay — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 11:00:00 -0700

We previously announced that in order to maximize the science return from the remaining fuel, K2 Campaign 16 will now be a forward-facing campaign. This is to facilitate science that benefits from simultaneous observations from Earth.

The position of this field has been finalized. The position was chosen to maximize …

K2 Campaign 9 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 14:00:00 -0700

Pipeline processing for K2 Campaign 9 is now complete and the data are in the process of being shipped to the MAST archive. We anticipate that the data will become available for download on or before September 30.

The majority of the Campaign 9 pixel budget was dedicated to a …

Raw data for K2 Campaign 10 to be released immediately after downlink

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 14:00:00 -0700

The currently on-going K2 Campaign 10 includes targeted observations of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the comet currently being studied by the ESA Rosetta Mission.

To provide members of the Rosetta science team with fast access to the data, the uncalibrated level 1 files for Campaign 10 will be made available immediately after …

Change to Campaign 16 field position and delay to GO Cycle 5 deadline

Knicole Colon, Tom Barclay — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 08:00:00 -0700

In order to maximize the science return from K2 using the remaining fuel, the mission has decided to change the position of the field for Campaign 16 and to delay the upcoming K2 Cycle 5 deadline by about a month.

The position of the Campaign 16 field is being changed …

K2 Campaign 11 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 22:00:00 -0700

The science program and target lists for K2 Campaign 11 (Sep 24 - Dec 8) have now been posted on the approved targets & programs page.

The C11 target list includes 14,209 standard long cadence and 65 standard short cadence targets. The number of targets is lower than usual because it …

Changes to Kepler and K2 Project Scientist personnel

Tom Barclay — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 11:00:00 -0700

There have been personnel changes at the Kepler and K2 Project Scientist role.

Effective August 15, Dr. Natalie Batalha became the new Kepler Project Scientist. Natalie has been a member of the Kepler team since the proposal stages and has served as Kepler Mission Scientist for the past several years …

21st Microlensing Conference, February 1–3, 2017

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 11:00:00 -0700

The 21st International Microlensing Conference—entitled "Ushering in the New Age of Microlensing from Space"—will take place on February 1–3, 2017, in Pasadena, California.

The conference intends to highlight results from K2's Campaign 9, a combined ground- and space-based microlensing survey that was carried out using the Kepler …

Retirement of CCD Module 4 confirmed

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 13:30:00 -0700

As reported in detail in the latest Kepler Mission Manager Update, additional spacecraft telemetry appears to confirm the loss of CCD Module 4 during K2's current Campaign 10.

Module 4 is the third of the 21 science modules to have failed in-flight. Such hardware failures were foreseen in the initial …

Reprocessed Kepler Q0-Q17 short cadence data available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 11:00:00 -0700

The final reprocessing of the Kepler Q0-Q17 short cadence data has been completed. The new target pixel and lightcurve files have been ingested into the Kepler data archive at MAST.

This release (DR25) corrects both the scrambled collateral smear issue reported in the Global Erratum for Kepler Q0-Q17 & K2 C0-C5 …

Break in science collection during K2 Campaign 10

Tom Barclay — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 16:00:00 -0700

The K2 Campaign 10, ongoing since July 6, has suffered a couple of unexpected reductions to the intended science.

The initial line of sight pointing of the spacecraft at the start of the campaign was offset from its intended target by 12 arcsec, sufficient to lose much of the expected …

Release of reprocessed short cadence data for K2 Campaigns 3, 4, 5

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 14:00:00 -0700

Reprocessed short cadence target pixel files for K2 Campaigns 3, 4, and 5 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

This release, formally called K2 Data Release 10, corrects the short cadence pixel calibration bug described in the Global Erratum for Kepler Q0-Q17 & K2 C0-C5 …

Call for K2 GO Cycle 5 proposals for Campaigns 14, 15, and 16

Geert Barentsen, Knicole Colon — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 12:00:00 -0700

Proposals are now being solicited for the K2 Guest Observer Cycle 5, which includes Campaigns 14, 15, and 16. The due date for Step 1 proposals is 23:59 EST 3 Nov 2016. Step 2 proposals are due by 23:59 EST 15 Dec 2016. Investigators may not submit a …

Kepler 3D puzzle available for outreach

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 11:00:00 -0700

With the help of the NASA Ames SpaceShop Rapid Prototyping Facility, the Kepler team has created a 3D-printable puzzle of the spacecraft for educational purposes.

The model files and documentation are available on our GitHub repository at https://github.com/KeplerGO/kepler-3d-printing-model. We would love to hear about your experiences …

K2 mission recruiting members for the K2 Users' Panel

Knicole Colon, Tom Barclay — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 16:00:00 -0700

The K2 mission is developing a K2 Users' Panel (K2UP), whose role will be to represent the voice of the community in regards to mission science, management policies, and products from the project. Specifically, the panel will be expected to:

provide input on data products and documentation from the mission …

K2 Campaign 8 data available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:00:00 -0700

Long cadence light curves, target pixel files, and full frame images for K2 Campaign 8 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST. The data are not yet searchable using the K2 data search interface, which will be available later this week.

The Campaign 8 target …

K2 mission officially extended through end of mission

Knicole Colon — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 09:30:00 -0700

Today NASA announced that the K2 mission is officially extended, based on a recommendation from NASA's Astrophysics Division's 2016 Senior Review of operating missions. The extension includes funding for three additional years plus a closeout period. K2 science operations will therefore be covered beyond when the on-board fuel is fully …

K2 Campaign 10 science program now available

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 17:00:00 -0700

The K2 Campaign 10 science program has been posted online. The target list includes 28,345 standard long cadence and 138 short cadence targets.

Owing to the high galactic latitude of the field, the standard long cadence targets include 4,950 small galaxies. In addition, 27 larger galaxies are targeted …

Save the date for Kepler & K2 SciCon IV, June 19-23, 2017

Knicole Colon — Tue, 31 May 2016 11:30:00 -0700

The Kepler & K2 SciCon IV: Legacy & Scion will take place June 19-23, 2017, at NASA Ames Research Center in California. This conference will celebrate the legacy of the Kepler mission and will explore how the K2 mission is extending that legacy.

Stay tuned for additional details!

Stellar properties available for EPIC targets from Campaigns 1-8

Knicole Colon — Tue, 31 May 2016 10:00:00 -0700

The K2 Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog (EPIC), which is hosted at MAST, has been updated to include stellar classifications for 138,600 targets (~88% of all targets) in Campaigns 1-8. The stellar properties were derived using colors, proper motions, spectroscopy, parallaxes, and galactic population synthesis models. This update supports target …

Raw data for K2 Campaign 9a now available at MAST

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 23 May 2016 10:00:00 -0700

The currently on-going K2 Campaign 9 is dedicated to a microlensing experiment, aimed at simultaneously observing gravitional microlensing events with K2 and from Earth in order to see a parallax effect in the shape and time of the lensing events. To allow such events to be identified and characterized rapidly …

New funding opportunity for work on K2 solar system data

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 16 May 2016 12:00:00 -0700

(Last updated on 2017 Oct 15 to include Campaign 15 solar system targets.)

A recent amendment to NASA's Discovery Data Analysis Program (DDAP) permits the submission of proposals for work on Kepler/K2 observations of solar system targets. The objective of the DDAP program is to enhance the scientific return …

More community generated light curves available at MAST

Tom Barclay — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 10:30:00 -0700

The Oxford Exoplanets group announces the release at MAST of a new set of K2 light curve High Level Science Products. The Oxford group has applied the K2 Systematics Correction (K2SC) Gaussian Process-based detrending algorithm to project generated long-cadence light curves from Campaigns 3 to 6. This algorithm simultaneously models …

K2 Campaign 7 data available

Knicole Colon — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 15:00:00 -0700

Target pixel files for long and short cadence targets for K2 Campaign 7 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST. Light curves are also available for long cadence targets.

In Campaign 7 there was a significant drop in the number of targets observed relative to …

Kepler recovered and K2 mission underway again

Knicole Colon — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 11:00:00 -0700

The Kepler spacecraft has officially been recovered since it was first discovered to be in Emergency Mode on April 7. Science operations are now resuming as planned, with K2 Campaign 9 beginning today, April 22. Campaign 9 involves the spacecraft looking toward the Galactic Center to primarily search for gravitational …

K2 Campaigns 11, 12 and 13 Director's Discretionary Targets program

Knicole Colon — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 14:30:00 -0700

As in Cycle 3, the Guest Observer (GO) Office is providing a faster mechanism for headline astrophysics in K2 GO Cycle 4, via the Director's Discretionary Target (DDT) program. The purpose of the DDT program for K2 is to:

respond to targets of opportunity, e.g. newly discovered exoplanets or …

K2 Special Session at #AAS228 on 13 Jun 2016

Knicole Colon — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:30:00 -0700

The K2 mission will have a special session at the 228th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) being held in San Diego, California this summer.

On Monday, 13 Jun 2016, from 10:00 am - 11:30 am in room "Indigo A" at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, we will …

K2 Campaign 7 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 19:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 7 is now complete and the pixel files are in the process of being shipped to the MAST archive. We anticipate that the data will become available to the public shortly.

The Campaign 7 target list included 13,469 standard long cadence and 72 standard …

Start of K2 Campaign 9 delayed

Geert Barentsen — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 16:00:00 -0700

During a scheduled contact on Thursday, April 7, mission operations engineers discovered that the Kepler spacecraft was in Emergency Mode (EM). As a result, the start of K2 Campaign 9 is delayed.

Updates will be provided via the Mission Manager Updates.

K2 Campaign 6 short cadence data available

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 12:00:00 -0800

Short cadence target pixel files for K2 Campaign 6 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

Whilst data for 28,289 long cadence targets in C6 were already released two weeks ago, the data for the 84 short cadence targets were delayed slightly to allow …

Submit your abstract to the K2 Special Session at #AAS228

Knicole Colon — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 12:00:00 -0800

The NASA K2 Mission will have a special session at the 228th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), which is being held in San Diego, California this June.

The K2 special session will be held Monday, 13 June 2016 at 10:00am and will consist of both invited and …

K2 Campaign 6 long cadence data available

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 11:00:00 -0800

Long cadence target pixel files and light curves for K2 Campaign 6 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

The short cadence data will follow in approximately two weeks, to allow the pixel calibration issue that we described last week to be resolved.

The Campaign …

Problem with Kepler and K2 short cadence pixel calibration

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 13:00:00 -0800

A K2 Guest Observer notified the Kepler Science Center in November 2015 of a puzzling difference between the short- and long-cadence calibrated pixel data for a specific K2 target.

After investigation, the problem was traced to an accounting error for the short-cadence collateral smear data. Under some conditions, these data …

Minor changes in the fields of Campaigns 11, 12, and 13

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 16:00:00 -0800

K2 users are alerted to a small but necessary adjustment in the position of Campaigns 11, 12, and 13, for which target proposals are currently being solicited as part of the K2 Guest Observer Cycle 4.

The change, explained below, alters ~0.2% of sky area covered and is unlikely …

Campaign 6 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 14:00:00 -0800

Data processing for K2 Campaign 6 is now complete and the pixel files are in the process of being shipped to the MAST archive. We anticipate that the data will become available to the public by February 11, 2016.

The Campaign 6 target list included 28,289 standard long cadence …

Previous short cadence data available at NExScI

Thomas Barclay — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 16:00:00 -0800

As previously reported, Kepler Q2--Q16, data release 24, short-cadence data was calibrated incorrectly, making it unsuitable for use in projects requiring high photometric precision. This is described in this erratum. As a service to the community, the NASA Exoplanet Archive has made available the short cadence data that were released …

K2 Cycle 4: Highlights in future fields

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 13:00:00 -0800

Proposals for targets to be observed by K2 in Campaigns 11, 12, and 13 are currently being solicited as part of K2 Guest Observer Cycle 4. Step 1 submissions for these proposals are due on February 5, 2016.

The fields of these campaigns will cover roughly 100 square degrees at …

K2 Cycle 4: Target selection tools

Geert Barentsen — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 12:00:00 -0800

Proposals for targets to be observed by K2 in Campaigns 11, 12, and 13 are currently being solicited as part of K2 Guest Observer Cycle 4. Mandatory Step 1 submissions for these proposals are due on February 5, 2016, followed by a Step 2 deadline on March 4th, 2016.

Proposals …

Campaign 8 target list now available online

Tom Barclay — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 12:00:00 -0800

The K2 Campaign 8 Target List has now been posted. The Campaign 8 target list includes 24187 standard long cadence and 54 short cadence targets. The planet Uranus will be observed for roughly a month in short cadence and the remaining time in long cadence, in addition four of its …

Presenting results at AAS that have public appeal? Let us know!

Knicole Colon — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 12:00:00 -0800

The K2 mission is well into its second year of operations and is routinely producing exciting and significant science from its observations of fields along the ecliptic. The prime Kepler mission also continues to yield scientifically significant results from its four-year-long observations of the Cygnus-Lyra region.

While we consider each …

Call for K2 GO Cycle 4 proposals for Campaigns 11, 12, and 13

Knicole Colon — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 12:00:00 -0800

Proposals are now being solicited for the K2 Guest Observer Cycle 4. Cycle 4 includes Campaigns 11, 12, and 13. The due date for Step-1 proposals is 23:59 EST February 5, 2016. Step-2 proposals are due by 23:59 EST March 4, 2016. Investigators may not submit a Step-2 …

K2 Special Session at #AAS227 on 5 Jan 2016

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 16:00:00 -0800

The K2 mission will be the subject of a special session at the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Kissimmee, Florida, next month.

On Tuesday evening, 5 Jan 2016, between 7:30 and 9:00 pm in room "Sun A", we will update the audience on the …

Problem with DR24 short cadence data

Knicole Colon — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 16:00:00 -0800

The Q2--Q16 Data Release 24 (DR24) short-cadence (SC) data, which was processed with the SOC 9.2 pipeline, is incorrect and virtually unusable for projects requiring high photometric precision. The problem was traced to an error in the pipeline module that calibrates the pixels, specifically in how it handles the …

K2 Campaign 9 Microlensing Science Team selected

Knicole Colon — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 15:00:00 -0800

K2 Campaign 9 will be executed in April 2016 and will be dedicated to a study of gravitational microlensing events. The Campaign 9 microlensing experiment involves the Kepler spacecraft observing in the +VV direction at fields toward the Galactic bulge. The aim of this program is to simultaneously observe gravitational …

K2 Campaign 5 data release

Geert Barentsen — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 12:00:00 -0800

Target pixel files, light curves, and full frame images for Campaign 5 are now available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST.

In Campaign 5, 25,850 long cadence and 204 short cadence targets were observed. We additionally collected large pixel masks over dwarf planet (126154) 2001 YH140 …

New Kepler/K2 Science Center website launched

Geert Barentsen — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 12:00:00 -0800

The Kepler/K2 Science Center has launched a new website. The reorganized pages, which you are looking at right now, provide resources for scientists interested in using data from the missions.

New features of the website include:

an updated list of future K2 campaign fields;
instructions to apply for Director's …

Special K2 workshop at the DPS on 10 November 2015

Geert Barentsen — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 07:00:00 -0700

The K2 mission will be part of a special workshop at the 47th annual meeting of the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) in National Harbor, Maryland, next month.

The workshop, called "NASA Planetary Science and Astrophysics Assets," will be held all day on Tuesday, 10 November 2015, in the …

K2 Science Conference deadline fast approaching

Thomas Barclay — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 11:00:00 -0700

The September 18 deadline for early registration, hotel reservation, & abstract submission for the K2SciCon is just a few days away. The K2 Science Conference is hosted by the LCOGT and will celebrate the science from the first year of the K2 mission in sunny Santa Barbara. Hotel rooms are currently …

K2 Campaigns 8, 9 and 10 Director's Discretionary Targets program

Thomas Barclay — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 14:00:00 -0700

The Guest Observer Program solicitation for K2 occurs roughly twice per year and includes a call for multiple K2 campaigns. Given the proposal review timeline, and associated data processing and archive activities, there can be a significant delay between proposal submission and final target selection for each K2 campaign. To …

K2 Campaign 7 science program available

Thomas Barclay — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 15:00:00 -0700

The K2 Campaign 7 Target List has now been posted. In Campaign 7 there was a significant drop in the number of targets observed relative to previous campaigns. This drop was because the number of targets we can observe is a function of our on-board compression efficiency. The extremely dense …

Updated K2 data release schedule

Thomas Barclay — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 14:00:00 -0700

The K2 project have updated the dates we expect to release K2 data to the MAST. These revised dates are available from the K2 fields information website. Of particular note is our plan to release Campaign 5 data on Nov 20, 2015 and Campaign 6 data on Dec 28, 2015 …

K2 Campaign 4 data release

Knicole Colon — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 11:00:00 -0700

Target pixel files, light curves, and full frame images for Campaign 4 are available for download from the K2 data archive at MAST. In Campaign 4, 15,853 long cadence and 122 short cadence targets were observed. Additionally, large circular pixel masks were collected that cover bright 3-5 mag B-stars …

Call for spectroscopy targets for UKIRT program

Knicole Colon — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 14:00:00 -0700

The Kepler/K2 project office has been awarded 30 hours to use UIST on the UK Infrared Telescope, UKIRT, for spectroscopic characterization of K2 targets. The aim of the UKIRT program is to provide a uniform catalog of K-band spectra of K2 targets of interest, with a focus on cool …

K2 Campaign 3 data release

Geert Barentsen — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 10:00:00 -0700

Campaign 3 target pixel files, light curves, and full frame images are now available for download from the K2 data archive.

The C3 target list included 16,375 standard long cadence and 55 standard short cadence targets. In addition, custom pixel apertures were collected along the trajectories of dwarf planet …

Got a hook? The Kepler/K2 press team would like to hear from you.

Tom Barclay — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 02:00:00 -0700

The K2 mission, the repurposing of the prolific planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, is an achievement that spans well beyond the NASA team and across the science and engineering communities. The resulting new scientific observation opportunities are a testament to ingenuity and teamwork, and we would like to help bring attention to …

Anticipated observing and archiving dates now listed online

Tom Barclay — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0700

To assist folks with planning their K2 related activities (follow-up observing, graduate student work, etc.) we have made available the anticipated dates that we will archive pixel level and light curve data at the MAST for all K2 campaigns through to C13. These dates are subject to change due of …

Campaign 3 data processing complete

Geert Barentsen — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0700

Data processing for K2 Campaign 3 is now complete and the pixel files are in the process of being transferred to the MAST archive. We anticipate that the data will become available to the public by July 15, 2015. This data release will include both pixel level data and project …

Campaign 6 target list available online

Thomas Barclay — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 09:00:00 -0700

The K2 Campaign 6 Target List has now been posted. This target list consists of 28,289 standard long cadence and 84 standard short cadence targets. In addition we have included large pixel masks over 65 Trojan Asteroids. Bodies within our own Solar System move relative to the celestial sphere …

Save the date for the K2 Science Conference. November 2-5, 2015

Thomas Barclay — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 06:00:00 -0700

The LCOGT (Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network) invites the whole astronomical community to celebrate the science from the first year of the NASA K2 mission in Santa Barbara, California. The meeting will take place November 2-5, 2015.

The organizers encourage K2 users to present early scientific results from all …

Campaign 5 target list available online

Thomas Barclay — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 09:00:00 -0700

The K2 Campaign 5 Target List has now been posted. The Campaign 5 target list consists of 25,099 standard long cadence and 204 standard short cadence targets. In addition we have included large pixel masks over dwarf planet (126154) 2002 YH140. We also observed the open cluster M67. The …

Additional targets available in future K2 campaigns

Thomas Barclay — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 05:00:00 -0700

As some of you prepare your K2 Cycle 3 proposal target lists I wanted to alert you to an increase in the number of targets that we can observe with K2.

Our pointing has been significantly better than our conservative pointing assumptions we used when we built our pixel cost …

Due date for K2 Guest Observer Cycle 3 Step-1 proposal fast approaching

Thomas Barclay — Fri, 29 May 2015 05:00:00 -0700

The K2 Guest Observer Cycle 3 proposal call is observations of targets in Campaigns 8 and 10. The due date for Step-1 proposals (essentially a compulsory notice of intent) is June 2, 2015 at midnight Eastern Time. Investigators may not submit a Full Proposal (Step-2) without first submitting a Step-1 …

ExoFOP-K2 website launched

Thomas Barclay — Tue, 05 May 2015 12:00:00 -0700

ExoFOP-K2 is a web site designed to optimize resources and facilitate collaboration in follow-up studies of K2 targets. It serves as a repository for community-gathered follow-up data and is supported by the NASA Exoplanet Archive infrastructure.

In addition to continuing to support Kepler via the original CFOP website, this new …

Geert Barentsen and Knicole Colón join the Guest Observer Office

Thomas Barclay — Mon, 04 May 2015 01:00:00 -0700

The Kepler/K2 Guest Observer Office has two new members joining us at Ames Research Center in California: Geert Barentsen and Knicole Colón.

Dr Geert Barentsen joins us from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK. Geert's background is in the exploitation of photometry from wide-area surveys. In Hertfordshire he …

K2 Microlensing Campaign draft agenda now available

Thomas Barclay — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 06:00:00 -0700

A draft agenda is now available for the K2 Microlensing Workshop. This will likely be updated as we get closer to the workshop.

The venue for the workshop will be the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA. Note that this is a change to the originally advertised venue.

There will …

K2 Microlensing Campaign workshop, May 7-8, 2015, SETI Inst., CA

Thomas Barclay — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 05:00:00 -0700

In April of 2016, the NASA K2 mission will execute Campaign 9, a continuous 75-day long campaign targeting the galactic bulge dedicated to a single Microlensing Science Experiment. The NASA K2 mission is sponsoring a 1.5-day workshop on the topic of the K2 Microlensing Experiment on May 7-8, 2015 …

K2 Campaign 2 data release

Thomas Barclay — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 02:00:00 -0700

Target Pixel Files from K2 Campaign 2 have been delivered and are available at the MAST. Campaign 2 target list consists of 13,399 standard long cadence and 54 short cadence targets. In addition we have included large pixel masks over the clusters M4 and M80. If a target falls …

Kepler robovetted KOI table released

Thomas Barclay — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 01:00:00 -0700

The Kepler project has opened the Q1-Q17 DR24 KOI table at the NASA Exoplanet Archive, adding 1368 new Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs) to the cumulative table. This is a milestone release because it utilizes the first uniform processing of the entire Kepler data set and it represents a first …

Extracted K2 lightcurves from Vanderburg and Johnson now available at MAST

Thomas Barclay — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0700

A new MAST High Level Science Product from K2 has been delivered that includes extracted lightcurves. Courtesy of Vanderburg and Johnson (2014), long-cadence targets from Campaigns 0 and 1 now have detrended, extracted lightcurves available at MAST, including 20 different photometric apertures. There's a MAST Classic Search Interface so you …

Two-wheel engineering test data online

Thomas Barclay — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 09:00:00 -0700

Nine days of two-wheel engineering data have been delivered to the MAST archive and are accessible to all interested users within the community. This data was collected between Feb 4-13, 2014, before Campaign 0, and points to a different region of sky to Campaign 0, RA = 359 deg, Dec = -2 …