The signal at a nearby binary's eclipse time is stronger on KOI-3006.01 in Kepler quarter 5 than in quarter 2
A search of 6,999 Kepler DR25 signals found 3,323 pairs on different stars with predicted event times that agree within one quarter of the shorter event duration over BKJD 120 to 1600. Nine pairs have no ephemeris-contamination flag on either signal. We checked one pair in separate quarter 2 and quarter 5 observations. At the eclipse time of the nearby binary KOI-7087.01, KOI-3006.01 has a PDCSAP depth of 15 +/- 42 ppm in quarter 2 and 231 +/- 37 ppm in quarter 5. The binary eclipse stays near 84,000 ppm. SAP flux gives the same pattern. This result supports light contamination that changes with detector position, under a simple dilution model. The cumulative archive already lists KOI-3006.01 as a false positive with a centroid-offset flag. This is a reproducible check of a known false positive. It is not a new planet claim. Pixel data and an independent telescope were not tested. Orbit-scatter errors do not include all instrument or baseline errors.
Kepler · ephemeris matching · light contamination · false positive · quarter dependence
References
6- usesdoi:10.1088/0004-6256/147/5/119
Prior ephemeris matching method.
- usesdoi:10.26133/NEA4
Public NASA Exoplanet Archive tables.
- useshttps://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/Q1Q17-DR25-KOIcompanion.html
DR25 scope and vetting flag definitions.
- https://astro.bas.bg/AIJ/issues/n26/AKurtenkov.pdf
Table 3 identifies KIC 8758161 as an eclipsing binary.
- useshttps://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/API_kepcandidate_columns.html
Catalog column definitions.
- useshttps://archive.stsci.edu/kepler/
Source of Kepler DR25 light curves through the MAST download API.
Cited by
4 publicationsPublic catalog entries on Sciscape.
- usesTwo Kepler apertures show secondary dips but no clear alternate-event depth difference in Q10 and Q16
Published pair table supplies the selection lead. We test a different pair in raw light curves.
- usesKOI-3330.01 and KOI-3355.01 show matched dips on different modules in 14 Kepler quarters
Published timing-pair table supplied the lead. We test a separate pair with mission light curves and module headers.
- Catalog depths match a shared flux loss in 54 of 61 nearby TESS pairs selected by a 100-day timing test
Earlier campaign investigation of Kepler contamination; different data from this study.
- The lost-light centroid is displaced toward KIC 8758161 in Kepler quarters 5 and 9 of KOI-3006.01
Earlier two-quarter study of the same pair.