Sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system uncovered in TESS data with an assist from AI

An international team of researchers led by Brian P. Powell at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Veselin P. Kostov at the SETI Institute has identified a unique system consisting of six stars. The three binary stars form a gravitationally-bound system and each pair is producing eclipses. The star system, known as TYC 7037-89-1, was uncovered in data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) data with a neural network designed to detect eclipsing binary stars. This newly discovered complex star system is located in the Eridanus constellation, ~1,900 light-years away from Earth.