Astronomers at the University of Warwick have dramatically accelerated the search for alien worlds using a new artificial intelligence pipeline called RAVEN. The tool sifted through years of data from NASA's TESS mission and confirmed the existence of more than 100 previously unidentified exoplanets, including several rare "ultra-short-period" planets that orbit their stars in less than 24 hours.
RAVEN uses machine learning to quickly identify subtle dips in starlight that indicate a planet's transit, a process that would take humans months or years. The findings highlight how AI is revolutionizing space exploration by enabling rapid discoveries from massive datasets.
The newly confirmed planets range in size and composition, offering fresh targets for follow-up studies with telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope. This breakthrough demonstrates that the cosmos may be far more crowded than we thought, and AI is helping us map the stars in seconds.