Basics
Why X-rays?
X-rays reveal extreme and energetic phenomena: exploding stars, black holes, galaxy clusters, and more. For over a quarter of a century, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has been the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope. It has captured enormous amounts of data on the universe — giving us a unique and invaluable treasure trove across time and space.
What breakthroughs wait to be found in the vast amounts of Chandra data?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, especially those based on machine learning, can help scientists using make discoveries by:
• Finding patterns in huge datasets that might otherwise be missed.
• Classifying objects like stars, galaxies, black holes, or potentially new classes of objects, based on subtle signals.
• Speeding up discovery, and making it more efficient, by automating parts of the scientific process.
Glimpes of the Future
• Scientists have trained AI to recognize unique X-ray signatures, find black holes and other intriguing objects.
• Researchers developed a novel machine learning approach to search for rare high-energy transients in Chandra’s archival data including the discovery of a powerful X-ray flash.
• AI’s demonstrated ability to detect such fleeting events shows its potential in mining vast astronomical datasets for rare phenomena.
• Experts are exploring using AI to describe images and to “translate” X-ray data into sound (sonification), making the data more accessible for larger audiences.
Why It Matters
How will we use the vast collections of data our newest and most powerful telescopes are gathering? With its deep and expertly-constructed archive, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory provides a perfect testbed for using AI to make important discoveries about the cosmos even faster.
The Universe is vast and complex. By combining data from a world-class telescope, Chandra, with the latest in AI, we can unlock mysteries that would have otherwise remained hidden. Let us see where the future can take us.
Developed by the Chandra X-ray Center, at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, in Cambridge, MA, with funding by NASA under contract NAS8-03060 | Privacy | Accessibility