Kepler & K2
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 microlensing events with K2 and from Earth in order to see a parallax effect in the shape and time of the lensing event.
The Microlensing Science Team (MST) was selected through a peer-review process during K2 GO Cycle 3 by a panel of experts. The aim of the MST is to both coordinate with and make recommendations to the K2 mission regarding the best observational methods to use during Campaign 9, allowing the highest value science return. Additionally, the MST will serve the interests of the community by, for example, facilitating simultaneous ground-based data collection, developing novel methods for crowded field photometry, and providing completeness and reliability studies of detected microlensing events.
The MST is comprised of the following people:
- David Bennett (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
- Calen Henderson (JPL/Caltech)
- David Hogg (New York University)
- Matthew Penny (Ohio State University)
- Rachel Street (Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network)
The latest updates on the Campaign 9 microlensing experiment will be posted here.
Since Campaign 9 differs from previous and future K2 Campaigns (where targets are proposed by the community at large), the Guest Observer Office is offering a small number of pixels for approved Director's Discretionary Target (DDT) programs.