Generating Transit Light Curves with Variational Autoencoders

We leverage variational autoencoders to generate transient light curves of distant exoplanets and stars in order to demonstrate the efficacy of deep learning techniques for this class of data. The ability to generate accurate light curves with desirable characteristics becomes more and more necessary with the success of recent astronomical missions and upcoming missions and will be a key enabler of the development of future models and research. The first study of its type to date, our initial results indicate a promising new research direction worthy of further development.