Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 13 submissions in the queue.
posted by Fnord666 on Friday October 06 2017, @08:44PM   Printer-friendly
from the just-needs-a-bit-of-swiffering dept.

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)


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday October 07 2017, @01:14AM

    by Snotnose (1623) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 07 2017, @01:14AM (#578427)

    Dust between us and the aliens (unlikely), or dust ingested by the scientists studying it (also unlikely).

    Wat do? Wat think? Who trust? Brain dead enquiring minds want to know!

    --
    Torpedoes are the only pedos Republicans are willing to fire.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2