Weirdly Dimmable 'Alien Megastar' Darkens Again

[Judi Lynn]

By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science Contributor | March 26, 2018 05:13pm ET


A faraway megastar that once raised questions about aliens because of its weird pattern of dimming has darkened once again.

By now, though, researchers have figured out that it's not an alien megastructure that is causing the dimming; it's just dust. Still, astronomer Tabetha Boyajian of Louisiana State University and colleagues are keeping a close eye on the far-off star, trying to figure out what the dust is and where it came from. On March 16, the brightness of the star started dipping, Boyajian and her colleagues reported on their blog. The dip in brightness was the largest observed dip in the star since 2013, Boyajian wrote.

As of March 22, the star's brightness was increasing rapidly and was almost back to normal.

The vagaries of KIC 8462852, the star better known as "Tabby's star" in honor of Boyajian, have been the subject of scientific sleuthing for years. In 2015, researchers led by Boyajian reported that the Kepler space telescope had captured a completely new phenomenon at Tabby's star. At irregular intervals and for odd lengths of time, the light from the star would dim by as much as 22 percent. Nothing could really explain it. One theory was that the star might be surrounded by an alien megastructure such as a Dyson sphere, an orbiting array of solar panels designed by some intelligent life-form. [Greetings, Earthlings! 8 Ways Aliens Could Contact Us]

More:
https://www.space.com/40091-alien-megastar-darkens-again.html

[Sancho]

1. hahah..."They think we are dust!!"