In a groundbreaking achievement, scientists have successfully identified over 6,000 planets orbiting stars beyond our own solar system, known as exoplanets. Remarkably, more than half of these celestial bodies were discovered utilizing data from NASA's retired Kepler mission as well as data from the currently active Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). However, the vast datasets generated by these missions still hold numerous undiscovered planets waiting to be found. Both missions have made their data openly accessible through NASA's archives, encouraging collaborative global efforts where research teams employ various techniques to uncover new planetary candidates.
In 2021, a dedicated team at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley developed ExoMiner, an open-source software tool that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to validate 370 new exoplanets derived from Kepler's data. Building on this success, they have now introduced an updated version known as ExoMiner++, which is specifically designed to analyze data from both the Kepler and TESS missions.
The new algorithm, detailed in a recent paper published in the Astronomical Journal, has already identified approximately 7,000 potential exoplanets based on initial analyses of TESS data. It's important to note that these candidates indicate signals that are likely associated with exoplanets but necessitate additional observations from other telescopes for confirmation.
ExoMiner++ is freely available for download on GitHub, allowing researchers from around the globe to utilize this resource in their quest to discover planets within TESS's expanding public data repository.
Kevin Murphy, NASA’s Chief Science Data Officer, emphasizes the importance of open-source tools like ExoMiner, stating, "Such software accelerates scientific discovery by enabling researchers to replicate findings and delve deeper into the data. This open approach to data and code is fundamental to establishing gold-standard science."
The role of ExoMiner++ is to meticulously examine possible transit observations to distinguish between those caused by actual exoplanets and those resulting from other astronomical phenomena, such as eclipsing binary stars. Miguel Martinho, a co-investigator for ExoMiner++, notes, "When faced with hundreds of thousands of signals, it presents an ideal scenario to apply deep learning technologies."
Although Kepler and TESS utilize different operational strategies—TESS surveys nearly the entire sky focusing on nearby stars while Kepler examined a limited area of the sky in greater depth—both missions generate compatible datasets. This compatibility allows ExoMiner++ to effectively train on data from both telescopes, yielding impressive results. Hamed Valizadegan, project lead for ExoMiner, points out, "With limited resources, we can achieve significant outcomes."
Future developments for ExoMiner++ will enhance its capabilities, aiding in future exoplanet detection initiatives. Currently, while ExoMiner++ can flag planet candidates from a list of possible transit signals, the team is also working on enhancing the model to autonomously identify signals from raw data.
As we continue to receive data from TESS, upcoming missions aimed at hunting exoplanets will provide even more material for ExoMiner users to analyze. For instance, NASA's forthcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is expected to capture tens of thousands of exoplanet transits. Consistent with NASA’s commitment to transparency, data from the Roman mission will also be made publicly accessible. The advancements achieved with ExoMiner models could significantly aid in analyzing Roman data as well.
Jon Jenkins, an exoplanet scientist at NASA Ames, states, "NASA's open science initiative not only leads to improved scientific outcomes but also fosters the development of better software. It is the synergy of open-source science and software that is propelling the field of exoplanet research forward at an unprecedented pace."
NASA's Office of the Chief Science Data Officer spearheads the agency's open science efforts. By making scientific data, tools, research, and software widely available, NASA maximizes the impact of its scientific missions. For more information on NASA’s dedication to transparency and the reproducibility of scientific research, visit their open science portal. To keep up with updates on NASA’s scientific contributions, consider subscribing to the NASA Open Science newsletter.
