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Extraterrestrial

'Alien megastructure' star is dimming again

By T.K. Randall
May 20, 2017 · Comment icon 380 comments

Is there a massive alien structure orbiting Tabby's Star ? Image Credit: NASA / Rick Guidice
The mysterious star has been puzzling astronomers for years due to its erratic, inexplicable behavior.
Originally picked up between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra by the Kepler Space Telescope in 2009, the star known as KIC 8462852 has long proven to be something of an enigma.

Unlike most other planet-hosting stars which exhibit slight periodic dips when their planets pass in front of them, this one seemed to be exhibiting extremely erratic dips indicative of a large, tightly packed assortment of matter in orbit around it.

The phenomenon gained particular fame when astronomer Jason Wright suggested that one possible explanation was the presence of a gigantic extraterrestrial structure in space.
One recent study found that the star's dimming seemed to occur at 0.34% per year to begin with, yet inexplicably fell to 2.5% for 200 days before returning to its original dimming rate.

Now in response to yet another period of unexplained dimming that started on Monday, a call has been put out to astronomers around the world to turn their telescopes back towards the star.

With any luck, if enough people observe the phenomenon in action, it may be possible to learn something new about it that will help to explain why it is happening once and for all.

Whether the answer lies in the actions of an alien civilization however remains to be seen.

Source: Gizmodo | Comments (380)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #371 Posted by Merc14 7 years ago
I just want to say that NO reputable scientist or organization ever claimed to know what this was.  The postulated and offered what-ifs and, IMHO, oped we were all educated enough to know that was what they were doing and would enjoy the fun until more data came in.  I think, for the most part, most of us got it and enjoyed indulging our fantasies while waiting for more inf to come in but we have our hard core ignorant that never seem to disappear  My question is, is that ignorant coalition growing of shrinking?  We have just one here but maybe we have scared the rest away so is the worl... [More]
Comment icon #372 Posted by qxcontinuum 7 years ago
well "we suspect to be a large cloud of dust" is different than; we observed or we saw a large cloud of dust ! ...  
Comment icon #373 Posted by Golden Duck 7 years ago
Yeah... but, that suspicion is based on a "smoking gun"... http://www.newsnation.in/science-news/aliens-megastructure-mystery-star-tabetha-boyajian-may-finally-be-settled-nasas-scientist-shocked-article-183932.html So what is your contention with "the smoking gun"?
Comment icon #374 Posted by Merc14 7 years ago
You are truly one of a kind qx.   
Comment icon #375 Posted by bison 7 years ago
The authors of the scientific paper which reveals a dust-like spectrum for the gradual, long term dimming, are careful to admit that this does not explain the star's large, intermittant dips in brightness. Dust that remains in dense clumps, which this sort of dimming would require, is difficult to explain as an astrophysical phenomenon.      
Comment icon #376 Posted by Chrismoh67 7 years ago
what about aliens instead of alien megastructure?what about some sort of space algae,or a swarm of creatures that feed of the energy of the star.unlikely,but haven't heard that theory.  
Comment icon #377 Posted by micky 32 7 years ago
So the conclusion definately nothing to do with aliens? Shame... oh well,
Comment icon #378 Posted by Adampadum123 7 years ago
It's definitely unusual.but without further evidence and study it's all just guess work.whos to say it's not an alien race throwing a massive party 
Comment icon #379 Posted by Orphalesion 6 years ago
Well poop, would have been exiting if it really had been some alien mega structure. Of course this was always the most likely outcome, still it's fun to hope and be exited.
Comment icon #380 Posted by odiesbsc 6 years ago
It's just like our sun. you can see it in the daytime and can't see it at night. So Where's the mystery? Foolishness off...


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