School student uses AI to reveal 1.5M previously unknown objects in space

Summary

Matteo Paz with Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum. Credit: California Institute of Technology Through his research at Caltech, a local high school student revealed 1.5 million previously unknown objects in space, broadened the potential of a NASA mission, and published a single-author paper. Matteo (Matthew) Paz's article published in The Astronomical Journal describes a new AI algorithm he developed that led to these discoveries and that can be adapted by other astronomers and astrophysicists for their own research. Paz has wanted to learn more about astronomy since his mother brought him to public Stargazing Lectures at Caltech when he was in grade school. In the summer of 2022, he came to campus to study astronomy and related computer science in the Caltech Planet Finder Academy led by Professor of Astronomy Andrew Howard. Astronomer and IPAC senior scientist Davy Kirkpatrick served as Paz's mentor. "I'm so lucky to have met Davy," Paz says. "I remember the first day I talked to him, I said that I was considering working on a paper to come out of this, which is a much larger goal than six weeks. He didn't discourage me. He said, 'OK, so let's talk about that.' He has allowed an unbridled learning experience. I think that's why I've grown so much as a scientist." Kirkpatrick grew up in a farming community in Tennessee and realized his dream of becoming an astronomer with the help of his ninth-grade chemistry and physics teacher, Marilyn Morrison. She told him and his mother that he had potential and explained what courses he should take to prepare for college. "I wanted to pass on that same sort of mentoring to someone else and hopefully many someone elses," Kirkpatrick says. "If I see their potential, I want to make sure that they are reaching it. I'll do whatever I can to help them out." Kirkpatrick also wanted to glean more insight from NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer), a now-retired infrared telescope that had scanned the ent...