Hold onto your telescopes, space lovers! 🌌 Chinese scientists just made history by combining AI and astrophysics to uncover five mysterious exoplanets—and they’re smaller and faster than anything we’ve seen before. Led by Professor Ge Jian from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, the team used a cutting-edge deep learning algorithm to sift through data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope.
The algorithm, which blends GPU-powered phase folding with neural networks, spotted planets with orbital periods under 24 hours—some as tiny as Mars! This marks the first time AI has been used both to detect candidate signals and confirm them, according to their study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
🔭 Why does this matter? Ultra-short period planets like these could help scientists unravel how extreme environments shape planetary systems. Plus, it’s a giant leap for AI’s role in space exploration—think of it as ChatGPT for the cosmos! 🪐
