In a groundbreaking achievement, artificial intelligence (AI) has successfully automated the entire process of discovering a supernova. A team of international scientists led by Northwestern University has developed an advanced AI tool known as the Bright Transient Survey Bot (BTSbot), marking the first instance of a fully automated supernova discovery process that involves searching for, detecting, confirming, classifying, and announcing findings without human intervention.
The university has reported that this innovative system not only streamlines the search for new supernovae across the night sky but also eradicates human error, significantly enhancing the speed of the process.
BTSbot is a machine-learning algorithm that has been trained using a vast dataset comprising over 1.4 million images from nearly 16,000 sources, as explained by the researchers. It’s worth noting that over the past six years, humans have collectively spent approximately 2,200 hours visually inspecting and classifying supernova candidates.
Northwestern’s Adam Miller, who led this groundbreaking project, highlighted the significance of the achievement, stating, “For the first time ever, a series of robots and AI algorithms has observed, identified, communicated with another telescope, and ultimately confirmed the discovery of a supernova.” This monumental accomplishment not only marks a milestone in the field but also liberates the research team from routine tasks, allowing them to invest more time in analyzing their observations and developing new hypotheses to explain the origins of the cosmic explosions they observe.
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