New funding opportunity for work on K2 solar system data

News article posted on 16 May 2016 by Geert Barentsen

(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 of Discovery Program missions by broadening the scientific participation in the analysis of data, both recent and archived.

The program intends to fund solar system science. Proposals using Kepler/K2 observations of objects outside the solar system are not eligible and should be submitted to the Astrophysics Data Analysis Program (ADAP) instead. A non-exhaustive list of K2's solar system targets is given below.

Background

Because operating in the ecliptic plane minimizes the torque exerted on the spacecraft by solar pressure, the K2 mission entails a series of sequential observing Campaigns of fields distributed around the ecliptic. A result of this observing strategy is that the K2 fields contain a large number of solar system targets, which can be observed to provide high-cadence, uninterrupted light curves to e.g. measure rotation periods, constrain object shapes and spin states, and search for activity in comets or oscillations in giant planets. Because Solar System objects move relative to the celestial sphere, long streaks of pixels are downloaded from the Kepler spacecraft to cover their trajectory (or part thereof).

Solar system targets in Campaigns 0-15

The K2 mission has so far targeted ~200 solar system objects during Campaigns 0 through 15 as part of the approved observing programs. These objects are listed below.

This list is not exhaustive because thousands of objects are known to have serendipitously been observed for short periods of time as they passed through the pixel masks of other targets. A list of these serendipitously-observed targets is not available at this time, but note that the visibility of solar system targets in past or future K2 Campaigns can be checked using the K2ephem command-line tool.

Planets and moons

Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus (C11)
Uranus and its irregular satellites Caliban, Prospero, Setebos, Sycorax (C8)
Neptune and its moon Nereid (C3)
Pluto (C7)

Main Belt Asteroids

373 Melusina (C14)
566 Stereoskopia (C15)
1129 Neujmina (C15)
1224 Fantasia (C15)
162173 Ryugu (C15)

Comets

17P/Holmes (C14)
50P/Arend (C14)
67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (C10)
90P/Gehrels (C12)
94P/Russell (C15)
95P/Chiron (C12; short cadence)
130P/McNaught–Hughes (C15)
176P/LINEAR (C12)
202P/Scotti (C14)
228P/LINEAR (C12)
246P/NEAT (C13)
331P/Gibbs (C14)
C/2013 A1 Siding Spring (C2)
P/2010 TO20 (C14)
C/2014 F3 Sheppard-Trujillo (C15)
C/2014 W2 PANSTARRS (C15)
C/2016 A3 PANSTARRS (C14)

Trans-Neptunian Objects

Ixion (C11)
Quaoar (C9)
80806 (C14)
160147 (C15)
385437 (C15)
469505 (C15)
1998 SN165 (C8)
1999 DE9 (C10)
2000 OG44 (C14)
2001 HZ58 (C15)
2001 KA77 (C11)
2001 QT322 (C8)
2001 YH40 (C5)
2002 CY224 (C14)
2002 GJ32 (C15)
2002 GP32 (C11)
2002 GV31 (C1)
2002 KX14 (C11)
2002 KY14 (C4)
2002 VS130 (C13)
2002 VT130 (C13)
2002 VU130 (C13)
2003 FC128 (C10)
2003 QW90 (C8)
2004 TF282 (C13)
2004 TV357 (C13)
2004 XR190 (C13)
2005 LC54 (C11)
2005 RS43 (C8)
2007 JJ43 (C2)
2007 OR10 (C3)
2008 CS190 (C14)
2009 YG19 (C13)
2010 ET65 (C10)
2010 FC49 (C10)
2010 GX34 (C11)
2010 JJ124 (C11)
2011 JF31 (C15)
2012 VU85 (C13)
2013 JV65 (C15)
2014 DJ143 (C15)
2014 EZ51 (C15)
2014 GJ54 (C15)
2014 HF200 (C15)
2014 JQ80 (C15)
2014 LS28 (C15)
2014 WA509 (C14)
2014 WA510 (C14)
2014 WJ510 (C14)
2014 WO509 (C14)
2015 BZ518 (C15)

Trojan and Hilda asteroids

Actor (C6)
Agasthenes (C6)
Agrius (C6)
Amphilochos (C6)
Amphimachus (C6)
Anchialos (C11)
Atreus (C6)
Borasisi (C12)
Bredthauer (C12)
Chijagerbs (C10)
Demophon (C6)
Dolios (C6)
Echion (C11)
Eumelos (C6)
Eupraksia (C6)
Halaesus (C6)
Halitherses (C6)
Hesiodos (C6)
Hooke (C11)
Ialmenus (C11)
Icarion (C6)
Janeausten (C14)
Kalchas (C6)
Kamerlingh (C12)
Leucus (C11)
Lipperhey (C12)
Mauderli (C14)
Medon (C11)
Muskau (C15)
Odysseus (C6)
Peiraios (C11)
Phemios (C11)
Phyleus (C11)
Podarkes (C11)
Santorini (C13)
Semois (C14)
Stichius (C6)
Telamon (C6)
Thrasymedes (C6)
Tlepolemos (C11)
Tuckia (C11)
Xanthomalitia (C12)
13035 (C14)
31819 (C14)
60381 (C14)
63293 (C14)
76820 (C14)
76835 (C14)
86435 (C14)
111113 (C14)
111231 (C14)
116567 (C14)
117113 (C14)
119942 (C14)
120962 (C14)
131635 (C14)
134652 (C14)
141557 (C14)
146961 (C14)
174074 (C14)
174077 (C14)
174089 (C14)
177640 (C14)
207644 (C14)
208290 (C14)
301013 (C14)
1981 EK47 (C12)
1986 WD (C6)
1988 RO12 (C10 & C15)
1988 SX2 (C15)
1989 BL (C6)
1989 CW1 (C11)
1989 VW (C10 & C15)
1992 DJ6 (C15)
1992 ET32 (C10)
1996 RJ33 (C6)
1997 SJ4 (C6)
1997 TV28 (C6)
1997 WA12 (C6)
1997 XR13 (C11)
1997 XX3 (C12)
1998 KZ12 (C12)
1998 SU52 (C6)
1998 TC31 (C6)
1998 TV33 (C6)
1998 UH16 (C6)
1998 US24 (C6)
1998 VD30 (C6)
1998 VL27 (C6)
1998 VU6 (C6)
1998 WA15 (C6)
1998 WX9 (C6)
1998 XA13 (C11)
1998 XX93 (C11)
1999 CL153 (C11)
1999 TJ90 (C8)
1999 TS40 (C8)
1999 VG135 (C8)
1999 WS4 (C6)
1999 XJ55 (C15)
1999 XM193 (C11)
1999 XS226 (C11)
1999 YN12 (C6)
2000 AA80 (C6)
2000 AC115 (C6)
2000 AN146 (C11)
2000 AQ231 (C11)
2000 AR25 (C6)
2000 AU31 (C6)
2000 BA27 (C11)
2000 BQ21 (C11)
2000 BV1 (C11)
2000 DC27 (C15)
2000 DC45 (C15)
2000 DP99 (C10)
2000 DS8 (C10)
2000 DV76 (C10)
2000 DY4 (C11)
2000 HR50 (C6)
2000 KE9 (C11)
2000 KJ1 (C11)
2000 OK67 (C12)
2000 QG199 (C7 & C12)
2000 QK57 (C12)
2000 QT59 (C12)
2000 UX34 (C13)
2000 WC140 (C8)
2000 WW146 (C13)
2001 AH11 (C6)
2001 BD25 (C6)
2001 BU42 (C6)
2001 CB35 (C6)
2001 CD23 (C6)
2001 CT28 (C6)
2001 CX27 (C6)
2001 CX6 (C6)
2001 DU87 (C11)
2001 EN12 (C6)
2001 FV58 (C11)
2001 HG21 (C15)
2001 OB100 (C6 & C11)
2001 OG13 (C6 & C11)
2001 OH76 (C11)
2001 OP94 (C11)
2001 OR24 (C11)
2001 PJ4 (C11)
2001 QB298 (C12)
2001 QC20 (C6)
2001 QJ298 (C12)
2001 QK43 (C11)
2001 QW127 (C6)
2001 QX297 (C12)
2001 RS52 (C11)
2001 SM251 (C7 & C12)
2001 SE182 (C11)
2001 SW273 (C12)
2001 SZ250 (C12)
2001 TG218 (C12)
2001 TL98 (C12)
2001 TQ142 (C12)
2001 UK113 (C12)
2002 CR306 (C13)
2002 EL153 (C11)
2002 EN37 (C11)
2002 EQ149 (C11)
2002 ES46 (C6)
2002 EU106 (C6)
2002 EU34 (C6)
2002 EX154 (C11)
2002 FU36 (C6)
2002 GD118 (C11)
2002 GL77 (C6)
2002 GS149 (C11)
2002 NA28 (C6)
2002 RN121 (C6 & C11)
2002 TE13 (C11)
2002 XF45 (C11)
2003 QA92 (C12)
2003 QE57 (C15)
2004 CV2 (C12)
2004 TN126 (C10)
2005 CB68 (C7)
2005 TB190 (C12)
2005 TN125 (C15)
2005 UR38 (C10 & C15)
2005 VZ17 (C10)
2006 QA138 (C11)
2006 UB219 (C8 & C13)
2007 RJ283 (C11)
2007 RL162 (C11)
2007 RY194 (C8)
2007 TP371 (C11)
2008 CW119 (C15)
2008 DN52 (C10)
2008 RR51 (C12)
2008 SA192 (C11)
2008 SG182 (C11)
2008 SO47 (C15)
2008 SY172 (C6)
2008 TJ126 (C11)
2008 VE11 (C13)
2009 QB22 (C11)
2009 UR154 (C15)
2010 PL66 (C12)
2010 VM61 (C15)
2010 XP50 (C6)
2013 PH44 (C12)

K2 Discoveries

In addition to the targeted observations, K2 discovered the following objects:

2015 BO519 (NEO in C3)
2016 BP81 (TNO in C8)