The results are now in after a year-long, crowdfunded investigation into the star KIC 8462852, and to hardly anyone’s surprise, the strange dimming produced by this star doesn’t appear to be caused by an alien megastructure. That said, astronomers are now significantly closer to knowing the true reasons for the star’s…
New research suggests that Tabby’s star—the celestial object voted most likely to host an alien megastructure—is acting weirdly because it recently annihilated an entire planet, and the shattered remains of that planet are now producing strange flickering effects. It’s probably the best theory we’ve heard so far.
“Alien megastructure” is one of those cool-sounding phrases that inspires thoughts of far-off worlds populated with little green creatures. But what exactly is it?
Last fall, a little-known star called KIC 8462852 became our planetary obsession when astronomers said that its erratic flickering could be the result of an alien megastructure. Further observation of Tabby’s Star yielded no signs of aliens, but the sudden dips in luminosity continue to defy explanation. Now, things…
Good news alien hunters! A Kickstarter to fund a year-long investigation into KIC 8462852—the star voted most likely to harbor an advanced alien civilization—just got funded. Alien megastructure or not, we may finally get to the bottom of this bewildering, flickering star.
Remember all that fuss last year about the supposed discovery of an alien megastructure? A new study is taking issue with some of the data used in support of the theory, claiming that the observations were tarnished by the inconsistent use of telescopes down here on Earth.
The Kepler Space Telescope recently picked up unprecedented flickering behavior from a distant star, leading to speculation that—among other things—it might be an alien megastructure. Now, some astronomers are saying it might just be caused by a rapidly spinning and irregularly shaped star.
