On October 5, 2023, an artificial intelligence (AI) system called the Bright Transient Survey Bot (BTSbot) detected, identified and classified its first supernova without human intervention. “For the first time ever, a series of robots and AI algorithms observed, then identified, then communicated with another telescope to finally confirm the discovery of a supernova,” said Northwestern’s Adam Miller, who led the work.
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Currently, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. The traditional method involves using robotic telescopes to capture repeated images of the same parts of the night sky. These images are then visually inspected by astronomers to look for new sources of light. If a new source of light is found, astronomers will use follow-up observations to determine if it is a supernova.
What is BTSbot?
BTSbot was developed by a team of scientists from Northwestern University in the United States. The system was trained on a huge dataset of images of supernovae and other celestial objects. This dataset included more than 1.4 million images from nearly 16,000 sources.
How does it work?
Image before (left) and after of the galaxy in which SN2023tyk appeared. (Image: Northwestern University)
BTSbot discovered a new supernova called SN2023tyk. BTSbot detected the supernova in data from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), a robotic camera in California that scans the northern sky every two days.
Miller explains: “We can definitely know that a candidate is indeed a supernova by collecting its spectrum – the scattered light of the source, which reveals the elements present in the explosion.”
BTSbot automatically requested the spectrum of the potential supernova from the Palomar Observatory, where another robotic telescope, the Spectral Energy Distribution Machine (SEDM), performed a deep observation to obtain the spectrum. The spectrum was then sent to SNIascore, a tool developed by Caltech astronomer Christoffer Fremling, to determine the type of supernova.
The importance of artificial intelligence in astronomy
The discovery of a supernova by the AI tool BTSbot is a significant milestone in astronomy for several reasons. First, it demonstrates the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize the way astronomers detect and study supernovae.
AI can be used to scan large amounts of data from robotic telescopes much faster and more efficiently than humans can, while reducing the risk of false positives. This means that artificial intelligence could help astronomers detect many more supernovae, especially those that are faint or distant.
“Ultimately, removing humans from the loop gives the research team more time to analyze their observations and develop new hypotheses to explain the origins of the cosmic explosions we observe.” Miller added.
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Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn