Machine learning yields a breakthrough in the study of stellar nurseries

Artificial intelligence can make it possible to see astrophysical phenomena that were previously beyond reach. This has now been demonstrated by scientists from the CNRS, IRAM, Observatoire de Paris-PSL, Ecole Centrale Marseille and Ecole Centrale Lille, working together in the ORION-B program. In a series of three papers published in Astronomy & Astrophysics on 19 November 2020, they present the most comprehensive observations yet carried out of one of the star-forming regions closest to the Earth. The gas clouds in which stars are born and evolve are vast regions that are extremely rich in matter, and hence in physical processes. All these processes are intertwined at different size and time scales, making it almost impossible to fully understand such stellar nurseries.