BEACON TRANSCRIPT – While studying a star system with seven planets, NASA scientists discovered there was an eighth one hidden in it. This is the first proof our Solar System is not unique, as the newly-studied planetary formation was the first to have as many planets as our own. The scientists made the discovery with the help of the Kepler space telescope, and with a little help from an AI.
We are not the only star system with eight planets
The star with eight planets orbiting around it is called Kepler 90, and is situated in the constellation of Draco, 2,500 light-years away from Earth. The newly-discovered planet got the name Kepler 90i, and surprised the scientists with its characteristics. It resembles our own planet, but it’s about 1.3 times larger than Earth, and much hotter. Its surface can even reach 420 degrees Celsius, making it completely uninhabitable.
The NASA scientists who spotted the eighth planet said they couldn’t have done it without Google. They used a special AI mechanism which looked at all the information captured by the Kepler space telescope, which detects the shadows cast by planets on their stars.
The AI will keep looking for more hidden planet
Until now, the Kepler telescope looked at about 150,000 stars, and managed to detect the existence of over 2,300 planets. However, the scientists didn’t think it could spot all the planets out there, and feared they might miss the faint traces of shadow cast by faraway planets.
Therefore, they asked Google to offer them assistance with the AI, which could detect any kind of shadow. The same mechanism helped them detect the sixth planet in the Kepler 90 system, and will continue looking at other stars and possible hidden planets orbiting around them. As the machine has already found planets which were regarded as non-existent before, researchers hope it will help them find more of the kind.
Image Source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory