What is the “KIC” and how does it relate to what I see on the MAST/Kepler search pages?
The KIC, or Kepler Input Catalog, is the primary source of information about objects observed as part of the ground-based Kepler Spectral Classification Program (SCP) in preparation for the selection of Kepler PI and GO targets. The KIC lists objects down to 21st magnitude, but it is not complete to this limit. Light from only about 1/3 of these objects, some 4.4 million, falls on the Kepler CCD detector. A small number of the KIC objects are calibration objects distributed across the sky. For this reason the full KIC should never be used for Kepler target selection. (By “target” we mean any fixed celestial object observable by Kepler). Information from the KIC is combined with data in two other catalogs to allow searches on the Kepler Target and Data Search pages; see next FAQ. MAST provides a portal to those who want to see the contents of the full KIC. Also, Release Notes for this compilation have been posted by the SCP team. A gzipped pip-delimited ASCII file of the entire KIC (inc
