• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, August 2, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Star tours

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 25, 2019
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Astronomy bot speeds up search for Jupiter’s twins

IMAGE

Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Astronomers have a new tool in their search for extraterrestrial life – a sophisticated bot that helps identify stars hosting planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn.

These giant planets’ faraway twins may protect life in other solar systems, but they aren’t bright enough to be viewed directly. Scientists find them based on properties they can observe in the stars they orbit. The challenge for planet hunters is that in our galaxy alone, there are roughly 200 billion stars.

“Searching for planets can be a long and tedious process given the sheer volume of stars we could search,” said Stephen Kane, UCR associate professor of planetary astrophysics. “Eliminating stars unlikely to have planets and pre-selecting those that might will save a ton of time,” he said.

The astronomy bot is a machine learning algorithm designed by Natalie Hinkel, a researcher formerly in Kane’s laboratory now with the Southwest Research Institute. Kane examined data produced by the bot and discovered three stars with strong evidence of harboring giant, Jupiter-like planets about 100 light years away.

A paper detailing the team’s work was published today in the Astrophysical Journal.

The algorithm uses information about the chemical composition of stars to predict whether it is surrounded by planets.

Scientists can use spectroscopy, or the way light interacts with atoms in a star’s upper layers, to measure the elements inside of it such as carbon, iron, and oxygen. These elements are key ingredients in making planets, since stars and planets are made at the same time and from the same materials.

To train and test the algorithm, Hinkel fed it a publicly available database of stars that she developed. The database has allowed the algorithm to look at the elements that make up more than 4,200 stars and assess their likelihood of hosting planets.

In addition, Hinkel looked at different combinations of those ingredients to see how they influenced the algorithm. “We found that the most influential elements in predicting planet-hosting stars are carbon, oxygen, iron and sodium,” Hinkel said.

The team used the algorithm specifically to help them identify giant planets like Jupiter that are hard to find because they are farther from their host stars. Distant giant planets like these are likely to protect the Earth-like rocky planets near them, and any life they could be home to. Kane’s team at UCR has a long track record of discovering giant planets similar to Jupiter.

“Jupiter is very close to Earth at the moment, we can see how beautiful it is without a telescope, but many of us take for granted how it makes life on this planet possible,” Kane said.

Jupiter-like planets pull meteors, comets and other flying space objects out of their trajectories before they can smash into their smaller planet neighbors. Kane likens giant planets to his older brother, who kept him safe as a boy. “In school, it was very useful to have a big brother nearby who prevented bullies from beating me up on the playground,” Kane said. “That’s what Jupiter does for Earth.”

###

Media Contact
Jules Bernstein
[email protected]

Original Source

https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.12144

Tags: AstronomyAstrophysicsExperiments in SpacePlanets/MoonsSpace/Planetary ScienceStars/The Sun
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Innovative Acid-Base Bifunctional Catalyst Enhances Production of Essential Lithium-Ion Battery Material

Innovative Acid-Base Bifunctional Catalyst Enhances Production of Essential Lithium-Ion Battery Material

August 1, 2025
Oven-Temperature Treatment (~300℃) Enhances Catalyst Performance by Six Times

Oven-Temperature Treatment (~300℃) Enhances Catalyst Performance by Six Times

August 1, 2025

5 Innovations Securing Water Sources and Ensuring Availability

August 1, 2025

Innovative Imaging Technique Reveals Elemental Distributions in Frozen Solvents within Nanomaterials

August 1, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Study Reveals Beta-HPV Directly Causes Skin Cancer in Immunocompromised Individuals

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

AI Virtual Lab Engineers New SARS-CoV-2 Nanobodies

GBA1 Variants’ Impact on Parkinson’s: In Silico Analysis

Rotterdam Oncology: Premier Head & Neck Biobank

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.