Thousands of new cosmic phenomena, including stars and pulsars, have been classified as to what type by scientists using machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence (AI).
Using NASA’s Chandra space observatory, researchers from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, applied machine learning techniques to millions of space objects.
The technique was used to examine roughly 2,77,000 X-ray objects, the majority of whose composition was unknown, for the study, which was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
According to the researchers, categorizing the nature of unknown items is equal to finding new objects that belong to particular classifications.
Hence, they stated, this research has reliably uncovered thousands of cosmic objects of various types, such as black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs, stars, etc. It has also created a huge chance for the astronomy community to conduct in-depth examinations of numerous intriguing new objects.
Professor Sudip Bhattacharyya from TIFR, one of the researchers participating in the study, said, “The finding highlighted how a fresh and contemporary technological improvement could benefit and revolutionize the basic and fundamental scientific research.”
According to Bhattacharyya, “Our work has showed how new methodologies could improve and revolutionize the basic and fundamental scientific research and opened up a huge possibility for the astronomical community.”
The research by the interdisciplinary team, which included Professors Samir Mandal, Deepak Mishra, and Shivam Kumaran, all from IIST, will be essential to properly utilize the data from existing and prospective observatories.
