Alien megastructure star dims again
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The star known as Tabby’s star, after its discoverer Tabetha Boyajian, or its technical name KIC 8462852, has dimmed again, causing astronomers to surmise what is causing it. The SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Institute turned its attention and telescopes towards the star. However, as yet no signals have been deciphered from the star.
As the circling object is very cold and doesn’t emit levels of infrared associated with a planetary trajectory, avid intelligent lifeform spotters have posited that it could be an alien megastructure. However, scientists have disputed this claim by announcing that the dimming of the planet could be attributed to an asteroid belt or the movement of a planet previously absorbed by the star.
A group of Spanish scientists (Ballesteros et al) has advised that the inexplicable dimming could be caused by a huge gas giant planet – 5 times bigger than Jupiter – that also has tilted rings. The scientists believe that the fluctuations in light emissions from the star could be a result of tilted rings and asteroid belts surrounding the planet. Their research has been published at the following link: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1705.08427.pdf.
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If their research proves to be correct the star should expect to dim again in 2021. Scientists ought to keep their telescopes trained on Tabby’s Star, at that time, to view its potential dimming again.
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