Studying RR Lyrae Stars with Kepler/K2 (Abstract)

Volume 44 number 2 (2016)

Charles Kuehn

University of Northern Colorado, Campus Box 127, 0232 Ross Hall, Greeley, CO 80639; charles.kuehn@unco.edu

Abstract

(Abstract only) While RR Lyrae stars have long been studied from the ground, the high photometric precision, high cadence, and long observing times offered by the Kepler Space Telescope have yielded exciting discoveries that are revolutionizing our understanding of these stars. In its new K2 mission, Kepler is observing an even larger sample of RR Lyrae stars, promising to provide new insights into them and our Milky Way. In this talk I will present some of the most exciting new discoveries about RR Lyrae stars from the K2 mission with a special focus on what we are learning about the RR Lyrae in the globular cluster M4, our first chance to observe a single population of RR Lyrae with Kepler.