Artificial Intelligence
Claude Science maps the sky in ultraviolet
Anthropic said Claude Science helped assemble the first full ultraviolet map of the sky by pulling together space-mission data, filling gaps, and reaching about ten per cent average deviation in tests.
- Anthropic said Claude Science produced the first complete ultraviolet map of the sky.
- Brice Ménard, described as a Johns Hopkins astrophysicist, explained the process on Anthropic’s website.
- NASA’s GALEX mission had covered about two-thirds of the sky but missed bright star-forming regions.
- Claude Science coordinated AI agents that downloaded, calibrated and merged data from several space missions, then filled missing areas with inpainting.
- The article said the system’s predictions averaged about ten per cent deviation from the measured values in tests.
Anthropic said Claude Science had created the first complete ultraviolet map of the sky. Brice Ménard, described as a Johns Hopkins astrophysicist, set out the method on Anthropic’s website.
The article said ultraviolet light can reveal dust illuminated by starlight, including material near young stars and debris from stellar explosions. It also said a full map had not existed before because the ozone layer blocks ultraviolet light, so observations must come from space.
NASA’s GALEX mission had already covered about two-thirds of the sky, but it left out bright star-forming areas. Claude Science was said to have brought together data from several space missions and then aligned and combined it.
The system used inpainting to reconstruct missing sections from the available data. In tests, its predictions averaged about ten per cent away from the measurements.
The map was intended as teaching material. Ménard said he thought many scientists had delayed similar work that AI might now make possible.
Named in this story
People
- Brice Ménard
- described the process on Anthropic’s website
Companies
- Anthropic
- said Claude Science had mapped the sky
Governments and agencies
- NASA
- ran the GALEX mission
Products and systems
- Claude Science
- co-ordinated AI agents for the mapping work
- GALEX mission
- covered about two-thirds of the sky in ultraviolet light
How the source tells it
The piece was mostly descriptive, but it leaned on novelty and product-demonstration framing.
- novelty a first-of-its-kind claim framed the map as an unprecedented result
- vendor boosterism the article repeated the company’s intended use case and product name without independent support