A major and lasting scientific contribution of the prime kepler mission (2009-2013) is the sample of over 4000 planet candidates having orbital periods extending out to 1 year. This distribution…

This research grant was awarded to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) by a civilian federal agency to support scientific analysis of exoplanet data from the Kepler Mission. The project, with a ceiling value of $425,813, runs through December 31, 2024, and aims to construct a high-precision sample of 2,600 Kepler planets by supplementing existing Kepler datasets with spectroscopy and imaging data from the Keck Observatory. The research will examine the formation and erosion of small planet cores and envelopes while exploring how planet occurrence varies as a function of stellar mass and metallicity. This work builds directly on the Kepler Mission's discovery of over 4,000 planet candidates with orbital periods extending to one year, data that encodes critical information about planet formation physics including core growth, gas accretion, photoevaporation, and orbital migration.

The award is classified as a research grant with no set-aside designation, indicating competitive selection based on scientific merit. UCLA's Office of Research Administration serves as the performing organization, with work conducted at the university's Los Angeles campus. As a major federal research partner, UCLA brings substantial expertise in astronomical research and data analysis to this initiative, which contributes to advancing understanding of planetary system formation and the diversity of exoplanet architectures observed throughout the galaxy.

A major and lasting scientific contribution of the prime kepler mission (2009-2013) is the sample of over 4000 planet candidates having orbital periods extending out to 1 year. This distribution encodes key aspects of planet formation physics including the growth of solid cores, accretion of gas, photoevaporation of gaseous envelopes, and orbital migration. In this project, we will construct a high-precision, high-purity sample of 2600 kepler planets, supplementing the kepler dataset with our keck spectroscopy/imaging.