Artificial Intelligence Discovers Hidden Giant, a Planet 5 Times Larger Than Jupiter

Cosmic Breakthrough: AI Outsmarts Astronomers, Discovers Massive Exoplanet

In a jaw-dropping feat, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has left astronomers in the dust by uncovering an exoplanet five times the size of Jupiter, previously undetected by human observation. This gargantuan planet orbits 75 astronomical units (AU) from its star, which had evaded astronomers’ attempts to identify any planets around it until now.

Machine Learning Unlocks New Discoveries in Space

With over 5,000 known exoplanets, the hunt for celestial bodies beyond our solar system is intensifying. As technology and techniques improve, astronomers are uncovering harder-to-detect planets. Two recent papers published in The Astrophysical Journalreveal how researchers have employed machine learning to identify the faint signs of forming planets within the dense dust disks that envelop young stars. This AI tool can significantly enhance the speed and efficiency of discovering young planets, particularly as new telescopes deliver a deluge of data on Milky Way exoplanets.

AI Stuns with Unprecedented Discovery

The AI’s spectacular success not only pinpointed locations in disks where planets are known to be forming, but also identified the disk around the star HD 142666, where astronomers had previously failed to discover any planets. Simulations conducted by the team confirmed the AI’s findings, concluding that HD 142666 hosts a planet five times the mass of Jupiter orbiting about 75 times farther from its star than Earth is from the Sun.

“This groundbreaking achievement proves that we can use machine learning to make brand-new discoveries,” said University of Georgia assistant professor and study co-author Cassandra Hall.

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