Jason Rowe (NASA Ames): Photometry is the new Spectroscopy: Results from the Kepler Mission

The Kepler mission offers a special opportunity to study the nature of stars and their companions from high-precision, high-duty-cycle photometry. Examining the lightcurve on different time-scales reveals a wealth of information about multiple-body systems. At timescales related to the orbital period one can measure mass of the companion from tidal interactions with the host star and also observations of the amplification of flux from the system due to motion of the center-of-mass. At the same timescales one also measures the reflectivity and emission characteristics of stellar companions providing insight about the companions upper-atmospheric characteristics and in special cases, even determine the rotation period. Detailed study of the lightcurve on timescales of a few hours covers the transit of the companion and yields the mean density and rotation of the host star. Combined with stellar-evolution theory one can then determine the absolute radius and density of the companion. At short timescales of a few minutes, solar-like oscillations can be observed, which provide a precise measurement of stellar-density. When combined with transit-photometry, it is possible to reconstruct the orbital properties of the companion such as eccentricity. I will present an overview of the Kepler mission and its performance as well as describe the discoveries of new extrasolar planets, low-mass stellar companions, white dwarfs and what we learn about their properties from transit photometry and asteroseismology.