from the all-we-are-is-dust-in-the-wind dept.
The dips in brightness observed at Tabby's star are still probably caused by dust, and not alien megastructures:
For the last two years, astronomers all over the world have been eagerly observing what is hailed as "the most mysterious star in the Universe," a stellar object that wildly fluctuates in brightness with no discernible pattern — and now they may finally have an answer for its weird behavior. Scientists are fairly certain that a bunch of dust surrounding the star is to blame. And that means that the more tantalizing explanation — alien involvement — is definitely not the cause.
It's the most solid solution yet that astronomers have come up with for this star's odd ways. Named KIC 8462852, the star doesn't act like any star we've ever seen before. Its light fluctuations are extreme, dimming by up to 20 percent at times. And its dips don't seem to repeat in a predictable way. That means something really big and irregular is passing in front of this star, leading scientists to suggest a number of possible objects that could be blocking the star's light — from a family of large comets to even "alien megastructures" orbiting the star.
Also at Sky & Telescope and Discover Magazine.
We present a photometric detection of the first brightness dips of the unique variable star KIC 8462852 since the end of the Kepler space mission in 2013 May. Our regular photometric surveillance started in October 2015, and a sequence of dipping began in 2017 May continuing on through the end of 2017, when the star was no longer visible from Earth. We distinguish four main 1-2.5% dips, named "Elsie," "Celeste," "Skara Brae," and "Angkor", which persist on timescales from several days to weeks. Our main results so far are: (i) there are no apparent changes of the stellar spectrum or polarization during the dips; (ii) the multiband photometry of the dips shows differential reddening favoring non-grey extinction. Therefore, our data are inconsistent with dip models that invoke optically thick material, but rather they are in-line with predictions for an occulter consisting primarily of ordinary dust, where much of the material must be optically thin with a size scale <<1um, and may also be consistent with models invoking variations intrinsic to the stellar photosphere. Notably, our data do not place constraints on the color of the longer-term "secular" dimming, which may be caused by independent processes, or probe different regimes of a single process.
Previously: Dust the Likely Cause of Tabby's Star Dimming
Related Stories
Tabby's star, aka KIC 8462852, is likely surrounded by orbiting dust grains that block ultraviolet light:
The bizarre long-term dimming of Tabby's star—also known as Boyajian's star, or, more formally, KIC 8462852—is likely caused by dust, not a giant network of solar panels or any other "megastructure" built by advanced aliens, a new study suggests.
Astronomers came to this conclusion after noticing that this dimming was more pronounced in ultraviolet (UV) than infrared light. Any object bigger than a dust grain would cause uniform dimming across all wavelengths, study team members said.
"This pretty much rules out the alien megastructure theory, as that could not explain the wavelength-dependent dimming," lead author Huan Meng of the University of Arizona said in a statement. "We suspect, instead, there is a cloud of dust orbiting the star with a roughly 700-day orbital period."
Aliens left to roam free once again.
Previously: Tabby's Star Under Observation After Dimming Event Detected
Tabby's Star Dimming Could be Explained by a Saturn-Like Exoplanet
Extinction and the Dimming of KIC 8462852 (DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa899c) (DX) (arXiv)
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by aristarchus on Thursday January 04 2018, @04:26AM (1 child)
Did we use a probe utilizing takyon particles? Or just takyon, his own self?
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by aristarchus on Thursday January 04 2018, @05:41AM
****
(Score: 2) by Arik on Thursday January 04 2018, @05:36AM (3 children)
Oh FFS do these people even bother to read this before they publish it?
Scientists being 'fairly certain' of something doesn't mean it's true, and even if it did, there's absolutely no reason why aliens can't be responsible for dust clouds as well.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday January 04 2018, @09:56AM (2 children)
Occam would like to give you a free shave.
By the way, what would an alien civilisation nearby see and conclude if they had been monitoring electromagnetic radiation from our sun for the last few hundred years? Supposing they have the same attitude to allocating resources (money) as us, what might they discover?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1) by Arik on Thursday January 04 2018, @05:15PM (1 child)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday January 04 2018, @09:16PM
Have a try yourself. Did you get the point of my question?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Touché) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday January 04 2018, @09:35AM (4 children)
Is that the new collective noun for dust? Or do they mean Dust [wikipedia.org]?
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday January 04 2018, @09:51AM (3 children)
A sneeze of dust? An itch of dust? A choke of dust?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @03:17PM (2 children)
A flock of dust. Get it right.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday January 04 2018, @06:34PM (1 child)
A Dyson's sphere of dust. I'm not saying it's aliens, but . . .
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday January 04 2018, @06:35PM
A murder of nanobots.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by clone141166 on Sunday January 07 2018, @01:47PM
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