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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO
Published on: February 12, 2013
Ensemble asteroseismology of solar-type stars with the NASA Kepler mission
W J Chaplin1, H Kjeldsen, J Christensen-Dalsgaard
1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. w.j.chaplin@bham.ac.uk
Abstract:
In addition to its search for extrasolar planets, the NASA Kepler mission provides exquisite data on stellar oscillations. We report the detections of oscillations in 500 solar-type stars in the Kepler field of view, an ensemble that is large enough to allow statistical studies of intrinsic stellar properties (such as mass, radius, and age) and to test theories of stellar evolution. We find that the distribution of observed masses of these stars shows intriguing differences to predictions from models of synthetic stellar populations in the Galaxy.
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