KSwAGS: A Swift X-Ray and UV Survey of the Kepler and K2 Fields
Abstract
We present the first phase of the Kepler-Swift Active Galaxies and Stars survey (KSwAGS), a simultaneous X-ray and UV survey of 6 square degrees of the Kepler field. Kepler/K2 is the most precise photometer of our time, producing exquisite light curves of both stellar targets and active galaxies. We detect 93 unique X-ray sources with signal-to-noise ratio > 3 with the XRT, of which 60 have UV counterparts. The survey produces a mixture of stellar sources, extragalactic sources, and sources which we are not able to classify with certainty. We have obtained optical spectra for a majority of these targets, providing necessary parameters for study of the light curves in an astrophysical context; for example, surface gravities and rotation velocities for stars, and black hole mass estimates for AGN. Our survey provides the first X-ray and UV data for a number of known variable stellar sources, as well as a large number of new X-ray detections in this well-studied portion of the sky. The KSwAGS survey is currently ongoing in the K2 ecliptic plane fields, and provides a wide array of X-ray selected targets for photometric study with archival Kepler light curves and new data from K2.
- Publication:
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AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #15
- Pub Date:
- April 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016HEAD...1510605S