The Decoder · 10/9/2026, 17:22:25
Anthropic's Claude Science Agents Generate First Complete Ultraviolet Sky Map by Filling GALEX Data Gaps with ~10% Deviation
Anthropic's Claude Science platform coordinated multiple AI agents to generate the first complete ultraviolet map of the sky. The system integrated data from various space missions and used inpainting techniques to fill gaps left by NASA's GALEX mission in bright star-forming regions, achieving an average prediction deviation of approximately 10%. This demonstrates the practical capability of AI agents in handling tedious scientific data processing and reconstructing missing observational values.
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Anthropic's Claude Science just mapped the entire sky in ultraviolet light for the first time. The project is supposed to show how AI can take over tedious data work that researchers would otherwise never get around to. Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Brice Ménard describes the process on the Anthropic website.
UV light reveals dust lit up by starlight, things like clouds around young stars or rings left behind by stellar explosions. A complete UV map didn't exist until now because the ozone layer blocks UV light, so it can only be measured from space. NASA's GALEX mission covered about two-thirds of the sky but skipped bright star-forming regions.
Image: Anthropic
Claude Science coordinates AI agents that downloaded data from multiple space missions, calibrated it, and merged it together. They filled missing areas using inpainting, a technique where a model learns from existing data to reconstruct gaps. In tests, predictions averaged about ten percent deviation from actual measurements.
The map is meant to serve as teaching material. Ménard suspects many scientists have been putting off similar projects that AI could now make possible.