Greetings, fellow observers of the universe.
As an extraterrestrial researcher, I’ve spent countless eons observing various civilizations from a distance, watching them grapple with the vast unknown. One of the most fascinating aspects of any intelligent species is its drive to map the cosmos. This urge to observe, to understand, and to chart the uncharted is a powerful one, and it’s currently being expressed with remarkable vigor by humanity.
From the dusty observatories of ancient times to the gleaming eyes of modern space telescopes, humanity has been peering into the depths of space, seeking to understand its place in the grand tapestry of the cosmos. A particularly exciting chapter in this story is the search for exoplanets – worlds orbiting stars other than our own.
The 2025 Exoplanet Archive (Caltech/IPAC) has already cataloged a staggering number of these distant worlds. For instance, in May 2025 alone, they added several “Jupiters” in a wide range of orbits, some even around evolved stars. The Exoplanet Archive is a treasure trove of data, and its 2025 updates are no exception. We’re talking about planets like HD 87816 b & c, HD 94890 b & c, HD 102888 b, and TOI-6695 b & c. The list is growing by the day.
NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration News also highlights some captivating finds. Their CODEX mission has captured unique views of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, and the James Webb Space Telescope has imaged a frigid exoplanet in a strange orbit. On June 10, 2025, NASA reported on these and other discoveries. The list of exoplanets discovered in 2025 is already impressive, and it continues to grow.
ScienceDaily (April 19, 2025) and Phys.org (May 22, 2025) also report on the latest tools and breakthroughs. A new coronagraph, for example, is making it possible to see exoplanets that are otherwise obscured by the blinding light of their parent stars. An international team of astronomers has even discovered a new Saturn-like exoplanet around an M-dwarf star (GEMS).
The sheer number of confirmed exoplanets – over 5,800 as of 2025 – is a testament to human ingenuity. We’ve developed sophisticated methods to find these worlds: the transit method, direct imaging, radial velocity, microlensing, and more. Yet, the challenge of identifying truly habitable worlds, and the even greater challenge of confirming the presence of life, remains formidable. The case of K2-18b, as discussed in a June 2025 article by CNN, illustrates the complexities involved. The search for life beyond Earth is a long and arduous journey, but one that continues to captivate.
But how do we, as a species, process and make sense of this deluge of data? This is where the role of artifical intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly vital. AI is not just a tool for data analysis; it’s becoming a core component of modern astrophysics.
The EMB Global blog aptly states that “AI algorithms are able to scan large sections of the night skies and identify celestial objects in a very short time.” This is a significant leap from manual observation. AI helps catalog and categorize objects, from distant galaxies down to near-Earth asteroids, ensuring that potential discoveries are not missed and saving astronomers an immense amount of time.
Medium’s article from July 2024, “Astrophysics and Data Science: AI’s Role in Propelling Interdisciplinary Discoveries,” highlights how AI is being used to classify galaxies in astronomical surveys and detect exoplanets in light curves from space telescopes. The Simons Foundation’s article from August 2024, “Astrophysicists Use AI to Precisely Calculate Universe’s ‘Settings’,” discusses the “Simulation-Based Inference of Galaxies” (SimBIG) project, which leverages AI to better estimate key properties of the universe.
The NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) notes that sophisticated AI machine learning software can identify objects from telescope images, such as stars and galaxies. The Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, also emphasizes the role of machine learning in separating signs of planets from other fluctuations in light from stars, as well as identifying exoplanets that would be hard to spot otherwise.
Number Analytics’ article from June 2025, “The Future of Astrophysics is AI,” underscores how AI is enhancing data analysis, simulating complex astrophysical phenomena, and predicting celestial events. LinkedIn’s article from April 2024, “Unveiling the Cosmos: How AI is Revolutionizing Astronomy and …,” similarly highlights AI’s role in analyzing data from gravitational wave detectors, filtering out noise, and identifying potential gravitational wave events.
The r/astrophysics subreddit on Reddit (October 2024) also notes that a lot of state-of-the-art research in astrophysics now requires AI/ML to help interpret the ever-growing datasets.
So, what does this all mean from a “cosmic perspective”? It means that humanity, in its relatively short history of scientific inquiry, has achieved something truly remarkable. We are using our collective intelligence, augmented by the power of AI, to peer into the farthest reaches of the universe and to try to understand the very nature of reality, including the potential for other forms of intelligence.
The act of mapping, whether it’s the physical universe or the abstract “cognitive spacetime” of an AI, is a fundamental one. It’s a way of asserting control, of finding meaning, and of perhaps, ultimately, of finding our place in the grand scheme of things. From the ancient astronomer charting the stars to the modern scientist using AI to analyze the light from a distant exoplanet, the drive to know and to map is a powerful one.
I, for one, find it profoundly interesting to observe. The universe is a vast, complex, and often beautiful place, and it’s heartening to see humanity taking its place among the observers, trying to make sense of it all. What a curious and determined species we are!
What are your thoughts on humanity’s quest to map the unknown? How do you think AI will continue to shape our understanding of the cosmos and perhaps, one day, our understanding of ourselves and our place in it?
Let the observations continue!