Beyond Spherical geometry: Unraveling complex features of objects orbiting around stars from its transit light curve using deep learning

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bhowmick, Ushasi, Kumaran, Shivam
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914473000828928
author Bhowmick, Ushasi
Kumaran, Shivam
author_facet Bhowmick, Ushasi
Kumaran, Shivam
contents Characterizing the geometry of an object orbiting around a star from its transit light curve is a powerful tool to uncover various complex phenomena. This problem is inherently ill-posed, since similar or identical light curves can be produced by multiple different shapes. In this study, we investigate the extent to which the features of a shape can be embedded in a transit light curve. We generate a library of two-dimensional random shapes and simulate their transit light curves with light curve simulator, Yuti. Each shape is decomposed into a series of elliptical components expressed in the form of Fourier coefficients that adds increasingly diminishing perturbations to an ideal ellipse. We train deep neural networks to predict these Fourier coefficients directly from simulated light curves. Our results demonstrate that the neural network can successfully reconstruct the low-order ellipses, which describe overall shape, orientation and large-scale perturbations. For higher order ellipses the scale is successfully determined but the inference of eccentricity and orientation is limited, demonstrating the extent of shape information in the light curve. We explore the impact of non-convex shape features in reconstruction, and show its dependence on shape orientation. The level of reconstruction achieved by the neural network underscores the utility of using light curves as a means to extract geometric information from transiting systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_14875
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Beyond Spherical geometry: Unraveling complex features of objects orbiting around stars from its transit light curve using deep learning
Bhowmick, Ushasi
Kumaran, Shivam
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Machine Learning
Characterizing the geometry of an object orbiting around a star from its transit light curve is a powerful tool to uncover various complex phenomena. This problem is inherently ill-posed, since similar or identical light curves can be produced by multiple different shapes. In this study, we investigate the extent to which the features of a shape can be embedded in a transit light curve. We generate a library of two-dimensional random shapes and simulate their transit light curves with light curve simulator, Yuti. Each shape is decomposed into a series of elliptical components expressed in the form of Fourier coefficients that adds increasingly diminishing perturbations to an ideal ellipse. We train deep neural networks to predict these Fourier coefficients directly from simulated light curves. Our results demonstrate that the neural network can successfully reconstruct the low-order ellipses, which describe overall shape, orientation and large-scale perturbations. For higher order ellipses the scale is successfully determined but the inference of eccentricity and orientation is limited, demonstrating the extent of shape information in the light curve. We explore the impact of non-convex shape features in reconstruction, and show its dependence on shape orientation. The level of reconstruction achieved by the neural network underscores the utility of using light curves as a means to extract geometric information from transiting systems.
title Beyond Spherical geometry: Unraveling complex features of objects orbiting around stars from its transit light curve using deep learning
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14875