Selecting Pixels for Kepler Downlink

Abstract

The Kepler mission monitors > 100,000 stellar targets using 42 2200 1024 pixel CCDs. Bandwidth constraints prevent the downlink of all 96 million pixels per 30-minute cadence, so the Kepler spacecraft downlinks a specified collection of pixels for each target. These pixels are selected by considering the object brightness, background and the signal-to-noise of each pixel, and are optimized to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the target. This paper describes pixel selection, creation of spacecraft apertures that efficiently capture selected pixels, and aperture assignment to a target. Diagnostic apertures, short-cadence targets and custom specified shapes are discussed.