[en] In addition to its search for extrasolar planets, the NASA Kepler mission provides exquisite data on stellar oscillations. We report the detections of oscillations in 500 solar-type stars in the Kepler field of view, an ensemble that is large enough to allow statistical studies of intrinsic stellar properties (such as mass, radius, and age) and to test theories of stellar evolution. We find that the distribution of observed masses of these stars shows intriguing differences to predictions from models of synthetic stellar populations in the Galaxy. Copyright 2011 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; all rights reserved.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Chaplin, W. J.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Kjeldsen, H.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Basu, S.; Department of Astronomy, Yale University, Post Office Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101, United States
Miglio, Andrea ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'Astrophysique, Géophysique et Océanographie
Bedding, T. R.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Elsworth, Y.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
García, R. A.; Laboratoire Astrophysique, Instrumentation, et Modélisation, Commissariat À l'Energie Atomnique, Centre de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
Gilliland, R. L.; Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
Girardi, L.; Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 5, I-35122 Padova, Italy
Houdek, G.; Institute of Astronomy, University of Vienna, A-1180 Vienna, Austria
Karoff, C.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Kawaler, S. D.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
Metcalfe, T. S.; High Altitude Observatory, Scientific Computing Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
Molenda-Zakowicz, J.; Astronomical Institute, University of Wroclaw, ul. Kopernika, 11, 51-622 Wroclaw, Poland
Monteiro, M. J. P. F. G.; Centro de Astrofísica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Do Porto, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
Thompson, M. J.; High Altitude Observatory, Scientific Computing Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
Verner, G. A.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom, Astronomy Unit, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
Ballot, J.; Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, 14 avenue E. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
Bonanno, A.; INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
Brandão, I. M.; Centro de Astrofísica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Do Porto, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
Broomhall, A.-M.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Bruntt, H.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Campante, T. L.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Centro de Astrofísica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Do Porto, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
Corsaro, E.; INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
Creevey, O. L.; Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de la Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Doǧan, G.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Esch, Louis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > HEC Liège > HEC Liège
Gai, N.; Department of Astronomy, Yale University, Post Office Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101, United States, Department of Physics, Dezhou University, Dezhou 253023, China
Hale, S. J.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Handberg, R.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Hekker, S.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom, Astronomical Institute, Anton Pannekoek, University of Amsterdam, Post Office Box 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Huber, D.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Jiménez, A.; Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de la Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Mathu, S.; High Altitude Observatory, Scientific Computing Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, United States
Mazumdar, A.; Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, V. N. Purav Marg, Mumbai 400088, India
Mosser, B.; Laboratoire d'Études Spatiales et d'Instrumentationenastrophysique, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon cedex, France
New, R.; Materials Engineering Research Institute, Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Sciences, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB, United Kingdom
Pinsonneault, M. H.; Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 4055 McPherson Laboratory, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, United States
Pricopi, D.; Astronomical Institute, Romanian Academy, Str. Cutitul de Argint, 5, RO, 40557 Bucharest, Romania
Quirion, P.-O.; Canadian Space Agency, 6767 Boulevard de l'Aéroport, Saint-Hubert, QC J3Y8Y9, Canada
Régulo, C.; Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de la Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Salabert, D.; Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de la Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Serenelli, A. M.; Instituto de Cienciasdel Espacio, Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya, Facultad de Cìencies, Torre-C5, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain
Aguirre, S. V.; Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Karl Schwarzschild Strasse 1, Garching D-85741, Germany
Sousa, S. G.; Centro de Astrofísica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Do Porto, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
Stello, D.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Stevens, I. R.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
Suran, M. D.; Astronomical Institute, Romanian Academy, Str. Cutitul de Argint, 5, RO, 40557 Bucharest, Romania
Uytterhoeven, K.; Laboratoire Astrophysique, Instrumentation, et Modélisation, Commissariat À l'Energie Atomnique, Centre de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
White, T. R.; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Borucki, W. J.; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Ames Research Center, MS 244-30, Moffett Field, CA 94035, United States
Brown, T. M.; Las Cumb3r2es Observatory Global Telescope, Goleta, CA 93117, United States
Jenkins, J. M.; SETI Institute/N3A3SA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, United States
Kinemuchi, K.; Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, United States
Van Cleve, J.; SETI Institute/N3A3SA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, United States
Klaus, T. C.; Orbital Sciences Corporation, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, United States
W. J. Borucki et al., Science 327, 977 (2010); 10.1126/science.1185402.
W. J. Borucki et al., Science 325, 709 (2009).
R. L. Gilliland et al., Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac. 122, 131 (2010).
D. Stello et al., Astrophys. J. 700, 1589 (2009).
J. Christensen-Dalsgaard et al., Astrophys. J. 713, L164 (2010).
R. A. García et al., Science 329, 1032 (2010).
D. H. Hathaway, L. Rightmire, Science 327, 1350 (2010).
A.-M. Broomhall, W. J. Chaplin, Y. Elsworth, S. T. Fletcher, R. New, Astrophys. J. 700, L162 (2009).
T. M. Brown, R. L. Gilliland, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 32, 37 (1994).
J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, Sol. Phys. 220, 137 (2004).
G. Houdek et al., Astron. Astrophys. 351, 582 (1999).
R. Samadi et al., Astron. Astrophys. 463, 297 (2007).
D. O. Gough et al., Science 272, 1296 (1996).
J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, Rev. Mod. Phys. 74, 1073 (2002).
S. V. Vorontsov, V. A. Baturin, A. A. Pamyatnykh, Nature 349, 49 (1991).
C. Aerts, J. Christensen-Dalsgaard, M. Cunha, D. W. Kurtz, Sol. Phys. 251, 3 (2008).
T. R. Bedding, H. Kjeldsen, in 14th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun, G. van Belle, Ed. [Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) Conference Series, San Francisco, CA, 2008], vol. 384, pp. 21-32.
T. R. Bedding et al., Astrophys. J. 713, 935 (2010).
T. Appourchaux et al., Astron. Astrophys. 488, 705 (2008).
E. Michel et al., Science 322, 558 (2008).
W. J. Chaplin et al., Astrophys. J. 713, L169 (2010).
Solar-type stars oscillate in nonradial modes. The radial part is described by the order (i.e., overtone number) n, whereas the surface pattern may be described in terms of a spherical harmonic function of degree l and azimuthal order m.Thelargeseparation is the separation between consecutive overtones n of the same l.
T. M. Brown, R. L. Gilliland, R. W. Noyes, L. W. Ramsey, Astrophys. J. 368, 599 (1991).
H. Kjeldsen, T. R. Bedding, Astron. Astrophys. 293,87 (1995).
D. An et al., Astrophys. J. 700, 523 (2009).
T. M. Brown et al., http://arxiv.org/abs/1102.0342 (2011).
Materials and methods are available as supporting material on Science Online.
J. De Ridder et al., Nature 459, 398 (2009).
T. R. Bedding et al., Astrophys. J. 713, L176 (2010).
T. S. Metcalfe et al., Astrophys. J. 723, 1583 (2010).
C. Turon et al., Report of the ESA-ESO Working Group on Galactic Populations, Chemistry and Dynamics [European Space Agency-European Southern Observatory (ESA-ESO) Working Group Report no. 4, Paris, 2008].
G. Torres, J. Andersen, A. Giménez, Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 18, 67 (2010).
P. Marigo et al., Astron. Astrophys. 482, 883 (2008).
L. Girardi, M. A. T. Groenewegen, E. Hatziminaoglou, L. da Costa, Astron. Astrophys. 436, 895 (2005).
A. Miglio et al., Astron. Astrophys. 503, L21 (2009).
Kepler is a NASA discovery class mission, which was launched in March 2009 and whose funding is provided by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The authors thank the entire Kepler team, without whom these results would not be possible. The asteroseismology program of Kepler is being conducted by the Kepler Asteroseismic Science Consortium.