AI helps astronomers discover new planet outside solar system; read to know details

Researchers from the University of Georgia have discovered a new planet outside our solar system with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The significant breakthrough has revolutionised the planet discovery and the use of Artificial Intelligence.

“This newly-discovered planet increases the already extensive collection of over 5,000 exoplanets identified beyond our solar system,” said Jason Terry, a doctoral student at the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences according to a report in India Today.

“We confirmed the planet using traditional techniques, but our models directed us to run those simulations and showed us exactly where the planet might be,” he added.

The findings have been published in ‘The Astrophysical Journal’, which is found around a star dubbed HD 142666. Researchers said that AI and Machine Learning have revealed new processes underlying the formation and evolution of planetary systems.

Although astronomers had previously analysed the data, the planet went unnoticed until the AI spotted it once again.

“When we applied our models to a set of older observations, they identified a disk that wasn’t known to have a planet despite having already been analysed. Like previous discoveries, we ran simulations of the disk and found that a planet could re-create the observation,” Jasaon further stated.