Citizen Scientists Unearth Thousands of New Eclipsing Binary Stars
2025-07-07
NASA announced that citizen scientists, participating in the Eclipsing Binary Patrol project, have discovered thousands of previously unknown eclipsing binary star systems using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). These systems, consisting of two stars orbiting each other and periodically blocking each other's light, are crucial for studying star formation and evolution and may aid in the search for exoplanets orbiting them. The project, combining machine learning with human verification, demonstrates the immense potential of human-computer collaboration in astronomical research.
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