The Dimming of Tabbys Star;

I see Tabbys Star is at it again.

This is all about the sudden dimming of an otherwise unremarkable star 1300 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. KIC 8462852 or “Tabby’s star” .

It has dimmed like this several times before, prompting some researchers to suggest that the mega-structures of an advanced alien civilisation might be blocking its light.

Of course this has still to be proved but based on new data from numerous telescopes—it’s doing it again, the dimming that is,giving rise to the claim that something is passing by the star that is causing its light to dim.

One other theory is that the star is "variable" or is surrounded by dusty clouds or dusty comets or that planets around it had collided or were still forming and that was causing the dimming.

exciting stuff, who knows maybe the first scientific recorded data of intelligence beyond the earth.

“This is the first clear dip we have seen since [2013], and the first we have ever caught in real time,” says Jason Wright, an astronomer at Pennsylvania State University in State College. If they can rope in more telescopes, astronomers hope to gather enough data to finally figure out what’s going on.

“This could be the first of several dips about to come,” says astronomer David Kipping of Columbia University. “Many observers will be closely watching.” KIC 8462852 was first noticed to be dipping in brightness at seemingly random intervals between 2011 and 2013 by NASA’s Kepler telescope. Kepler, launched to observe the stellar dimming s caused when an exoplanet passes in front of its star, revealed that the dimming of Tabby’s star was much more erratic than a typical planetary transit.

It was also more extreme, with its brightness sometimes dropping by as much as 20%. This was not the passage of a small circular planet, but of something much larger and more irregular.

LINK SOURCE;www.sciencemag.org...

I got my money on HUGE, gravitationally contorted dust clouds.

Mine is on:

Recently destroyed planet, likely result of massive orbital collision.

They have a graph of the brightness of the star:

wwwcdn.skyandtelescope.com...

It's completely erratic with no regular harmonic pattern, but there are a few deep spikes where brightness really falls.
My guess would be an inclined dust cloud with a few large planetoids.

I'm not as technically-minded or clued-in on the workings of astrophysics as some of our members on ATS. My question is, if this is any of the above, would these type of observations not be more prolific than just the one, so far? Also, if this was a permanent construction around the star [Dyson Sphere] would the light not be constantly dimmed?

It's randomness could be down to whatever is causing the effect to only be utilised if and when needed by whosoever is, or was, doing it.

originally posted by: cosmania
Mine is on:

Recently destroyed planet, likely result of massive orbital collision.

yep. or it's getting ready to nova

We should just leave it alone,

it's got feelings'n'stuff.

a reply to: scubagravy

agreed - how about creating a safe space

it's not caused by a planet - a star would gobble up a single planet like a kitkat and we'd barely see a blip.
likewise, for it to be caused by dust clouds, they'd have to be some incredibly epic clouds of dust.
which isn't to say that's not possible but would be worth investigating for the scale alone.
i'm still really hoping for a dyson swarm and so far nothing has been found to discredit the notion as such...
obviously it's gonna take a lot more study
and that's the coolest part of this whole thing, to my mind;
when was the last time we had some weird potential sci-fi come true phenomena in the news...
and then it actually got followed up six months later???
unheard of and amazing.