Asteroseismic classification of KIC objects

Due to their high scientific value, in particular for Galaxy population studies and stellar structure and evolution, their Kepler light curves were made public in late 2011. More than 13000 (over 85%) of these stars show intrinsic flux variability caused by solar-like oscillations making them ideal for large-scale asteroseismic investigations.

We automatically extracted individual frequencies and measured the period spacings of the dipole modes in nearly every red giant. These measurements naturally classify the stars into various populations, such as the red giant branch, the low-mass (M/M_{sun}_<~1.8) helium-core-burning red clump, and the higher-mass (M/M_{sun}_>~1.8) secondary clump. The period spacings also reveal that a large fraction of the stars show rotationally induced frequency splittings.