Ensemble Asteroseismology of Solar-Type Stars with the NASA Kepler Mission

Chaplin WJ; Kjeldsen H; Christensen-Dalsgaard J; Basu S; Miglio A; Appourchaux T; Bedding TR; Elsworth Y; Garcia RA; Gilliland RL; Girardi L; Houdek G; Karoff C; Kawaler SD; Metcalfe TS; Molenda-Zakowicz J; Monteiro MJPFG; Thompson MJ; Verner GA; Ballot J; Bonanno A; Brandao IM; Broomhall AM; Bruntt H; Campante TL; Corsaro E; Creevey OL; Dogan G; Esch L; Gai N; Gaulme P; Hale SJ; Handberg R; Hekker S; Huber D; Jimenez A; Mathur S; Mazumdar A; Mosser B; New R; Pinsonneault MH; Pricopi D; Quirion PO; Regulo C; Salabert D; Serenelli AM; Aguirre VS; Sousa SG; Stello D; Stevens IR; Suran MD; Uytterhoeven K; White TR; Borucki WJ; Brown TM; Jenkins JM; Kinemuchi K; Van Cleve J; Klaus TC

Science, Vol.332, No.6026, 213-216, 2011

DOI10.1126/science.1201827 Export Citation

Ensemble Asteroseismology of Solar-Type Stars with the NASA Kepler Mission

Chaplin WJ, Kjeldsen H, Christensen-Dalsgaard J, Basu S, Miglio A, Appourchaux T, Bedding TR, Elsworth Y, Garcia RA, Gilliland RL, Girardi L, Houdek G, Karoff C, Kawaler SD, Metcalfe TS, Molenda-Zakowicz J, Monteiro MJPFG, Thompson MJ, Verner GA, Ballot J, Bonanno A, Brandao IM, Broomhall AM, Bruntt H, Campante TL, Corsaro E, Creevey OL, Dogan G, Esch L, Gai N, Gaulme P, Hale SJ, Handberg R, Hekker S, Huber D, Jimenez A, Mathur S, Mazumdar A, Mosser B, New R, Pinsonneault MH, Pricopi D, Quirion PO, Regulo C, Salabert D, Serenelli AM, Aguirre VS, Sousa SG, Stello D, Stevens IR, Suran MD, Uytterhoeven K, White TR, Borucki WJ, Brown TM, Jenkins JM, Kinemuchi K, Van Cleve J, Klaus TC

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.