Presentation Abstract

Presentation Number 348.06
Presentation Time: Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012, 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Title Understanding Stellar Periodicity with Kepler Quarter 1 Data
Author Block Christine Burns1, D. R. Ciardi2, S. B. Howell3, J. A. Blackwell4, B. L. Rachford1, S. N. DeVeau1, D. L. Costache1, D. Edwards5, D. S. Stiles1, R. C. Esplin1
1Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2NASA Exoplanet Science Institute/Caltech, 3NASA Ames Research Center, 4Phillips Exeter Academy, 5Earth Science/Environmental Science/Astronomy Teacher.
Abstract The NASA/IPAC 2011 Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) research team utilizing publicly available Kepler Mission data sets characterized the variability of 250 main sequence stars from the early release quarter one Kepler data release. Our goal was to investigate the sources of stellar variability as a function of stellar temperature (4000 - 10000 K). By utilizing a Lomb-Scargle periodogram analysis and a visual inspection of the phased light curves, we investigated the presence of periodicity in each of these stars. We explored the percentage of variable stars that are periodic and the associated distribution of periods as a function of stellar temperature.