A new step in the field of astronomy has just been recorded when artificial intelligence (AI) helps scientists discover more than 100 previously unknown planets outside the Solar System.
This achievement opens up prospects for accelerating the process of exploring the universe, which previously relied heavily on complex manual analysis methods.
The study uses data from NASA's TESS satellite, a project specializing in hunting for exoplanets by observing the phenomenon of "transit", when a planet passes in front of the star and slightly reduces its brightness.
However, not all light fluctuations come from the planet, making verification a major challenge.
To solve this problem, a research group from the University of Warwick, one of the leading universities in the UK, has developed an AI system called RAVEN.
This tool is trained on a huge simulation dataset, allowing for accurate distinction between real transit signals and other astronomical phenomena such as binary star systems.
In the first four years of TESS operation, RAVEN analyzed data from more than 2.2 million stars, thereby confirming more than 100 new planets.
Not stopping there, the system also detected about 2,000 other potential planetary candidates, half of which had never been recorded before.
If verified, this number could significantly increase the total known exoplanets, currently around 6,000.
The noteworthy point is that RAVEN not only detects signals but also has the ability to self-enact in the same process.
According to scientists, this helps increase reliability compared to traditional methods, which require many separate check steps.
As a result, researchers can process large-scale data more consistently and objectively.
In addition to expanding the map of planetary exploration, the study also brings new insights into the structure of planetary systems.
The results show that about 10% of Sun-like stars have planets orbiting very close, with an orbital period of only about 16 days.
However, planets the size of Neptune are extremely rare in this region, a phenomenon known as the "Neptunian desert".
This discovery helps astronomers for the first time make clear estimates of the "emptyness" of this special space region, while showing that TESS's capabilities are increasingly approaching, even surpassing the Kepler mission (of NASA, launched in 2009) in planetary population research.
Experts believe that the application of AI is fundamentally changing the way humans explore the universe.
Instead of spending years processing data, smart systems can now scan millions of signals in a short time, thereby discovering new worlds that were previously almost hidden in a huge ocean of data.
