Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Brice Ménard has used Anthropic’s Claude Science to assemble what is described as the first complete ultraviolet map of the sky. The project combines observations from several space missions and estimates areas that were never directly measured.
Ultraviolet light reveals structures such as dust illuminated by stars and remnants around stellar explosions. Earth’s atmosphere blocks most of it, so maps depend on spacecraft. NASA’s GALEX mission surveyed about two-thirds of the sky but avoided some bright star-forming regions.
Claude Science coordinated agents that located, downloaded, calibrated and merged the mission datasets. The system used inpainting—a model estimating missing regions from observed patterns—to fill gaps. When researchers hid known measurements and compared them with predictions, the estimated ultraviolet intensity differed by about 10 percent on average.
That error means the completed sections are modeled data, not equivalent to a telescope observation. Users need to distinguish measured pixels from inferred ones when drawing scientific conclusions. Ménard intends the map as teaching material and as an example of automating data projects that researchers often postpone. The result demonstrates useful scientific plumbing, while the value of the reconstructed regions will depend on independent validation and the sensitivity of each downstream use.