ExoDiscover

Inspiration

The fascination with finding life beyond Earth and understanding what makes a planet habitable inspired ExoDiscover. We wanted to create a tool that combines scientific principles with cutting-edge technology to simulate planetary systems and determine their potential for sustaining life. What it does

ExoDiscover simulates planetary systems in 3D, visualizing the orbit of planets around their star and determining whether they lie within the habitable zone. By evaluating factors such as distance from the star, surface temperature, and atmospheric conditions, it predicts if a planet could potentially support life. How we built it

We built ExoDiscover using a combination of astrophysics algorithms, 3D visualization frameworks, and machine learning models. The simulation integrates real astronomical data to model planetary orbits and uses Python for calculations. The visualization is powered by Unity for interactive 3D rendering, while a machine learning model helps determine habitability parameters. Challenges we ran into

One challenge was accurately modeling the complex interactions between celestial bodies and computing the factors that influence habitability, such as temperature and radiation. We also faced difficulties integrating different data sources and optimizing the 3D visualization for smooth performance across devices. Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of creating a realistic simulation that combines scientific accuracy with engaging 3D visuals. Successfully integrating machine learning to predict habitability and optimizing the simulation for various platforms were major milestones. Additionally, building a tool that educates users about space exploration and planetary science is a rewarding achievement. What we learned

We gained a deeper understanding of astrophysics and the factors that determine planetary habitability. We also learned valuable lessons about integrating scientific data with real-time 3D rendering and optimizing complex algorithms for performance. What's next for ExoDiscover

We plan to expand ExoDiscover by adding support for multi-star systems, incorporating atmospheric composition data, and enabling user-driven simulations with custom parameters. We also aim to integrate more advanced AI models to improve habitability predictions and extend the educational aspects of the tool by providing interactive tutorials on exoplanet discovery.