The Impact of CoRoT and Kepler on Eclipsing Binary Science

Abstract

Abstract. The CoRoT and Kepler space missions have opened a new era in eclipsing binary research. While specifically designed for exoplanet search, they offer as by-products the discovery and monitoring of variable stars, in great majority eclipsing binaries (EB). The missions are therefore providing thousands of EB light curves of unprecedented accuracy (typically a few hundred parts per million, ppm), with regular sampling (from 1 s to 29 m ), extending over time spans of months, and with a very high duty cycle (> 90%).Thanks to this excellent photometry, research topics as asteroseismology of EB components are quickly developing, and physical phenomena such as doppler boosting, theoretically predicted but extremely difficult to observe from the ground, have been unambiguously detected. We present the main properties of the Corot and Kepler EB samples and briefly review the highlights of the missions in this field.