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Recently, some astronomers and others have excitedly pointed to Tabby's Star (KIC 8462852) as a possible example of alien megastructures causing a star to dim. A new study favors a more terrestrial explanation - a planetary collision with the star:
A new study set to be published Monday in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society suggests that smart aliens aren't responsible for KIC 8462852's dimming. Instead, the authors suggest, a planetary collision with Tabby's Star is to blame. This crash would explain not only why Tabby's Star has had wild fluctuations in brightness as of late, but why the star has been dimming gradually over the course of the last century.
It seems strange that a spectacular collision between a star and planet would cause a star to become dimmer, explains Ken Shen, a UC Berkeley astronomer and author on the study. But, says Shen, "the star has to eventually go back to being dimmer—the equilibrium state—the state that it was at before the collision."
KC 8462852's more recent and erratic dimming episodes, however, can be explained by a mess of debris moving around the star and absorbing its light, sometimes making it appear significantly dimmer to us Earthlings.
Previously:
Mysterious Star May Be Orbited by Alien Megastructures
I'm STILL Not Sayin' Aliens. but This Star is Really Weird.
"Breakthrough Listen" to Search for Alien Radio Transmissions Near Tabby's Star
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 15 2017, @05:15PM
I've been messing with people's minds by turning the rheostat up and down randomly. I bought it at a yard sale, brought it home, and found Tesla's name scratched into the back side of it. It's almost like magic - science so advanced that I can't understand it!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 15 2017, @07:36PM
Did you reply to the wrong thread? Cause it sure looks that way... However it would be so hilarious if aliens put such effort into screwing with humans :)
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 15 2017, @07:50PM
Maybe this was the wrong thread. I was responding to a thread discussing why a star grows brighter and dimmer. And, the explanation is, my rheostat. Or, Tesla's rheostat, which came to be in my possession, much as most dead people's property ends up in other people's possession. Watch this - I turn it to the right, the star gets brighter - I turn it left, the star grows dimmer. I don't know what happens if I push the button above the dial, want me to try?