What is the main instrument on the Kepler spacecraft?
Kepler’s focal plane array of 42 CCDs with 95 million pixels. The sole instrument aboard Kepler is a photometer (or light meter), an instrument that measures the brightness variations of stars. The photometer consists of the telescope, the focal plane array, and the local detector electronics. Kepler is a 0.95-meter (37-inch) aperture Schmidt-type telescope with a 1.4-meter (55-inch) primary mirror. For an astronomical telescope, Kepler’s photometer has a very wide field of view: it’s about 15 degrees across. It would take 30 Moons lined up in a row to span the Kepler field of view. The photometer features a focal plane array with 95 million pixels. The focal plane array is the largest camera NASA has ever flown in space. For further information, read “Photometer and Spacecraft.
