A researcher discovered a potential exoplanet using Claude Code while analyzing NASA's TESS telescope data. The planet orbits a star 116 light-years away with a 3.18-day orbital period, causing a 0.05% dimming lasting two hours. The signal was verified across TESS observations from 2018, 2020, and 2025, suggesting it's a 1.4× Earth-sized candidate planet.
The analysis involved 74 separate studies and 1,000+ scripts using Claude Code with Opus 5.5 and Fable 5.1 for data processing, transit fitting, and false positive elimination. The researcher emphasizes a key insight: the best way to validate agent-generated science is to continuously challenge it rather than seek confirmation.
Independent audits using Codex and fresh agent sessions caught errors, including an overstated statistical claim. A cross-reference of 36 catalogs and 340,505 TESS alerts found no prior reports of these signals.
The researcher submitted and received approval for TESS program #100 to observe the star every 2 minutes from October 31 to November 26. Predictions were published beforehand, making the results falsifiable. An interactive 3D model and preprints are available online.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing