Tag: KIC 8462852
-
Alien megastructure? Forget about it, weird star’s discoverers say after further study
Astronomer Tabetha Boyajian discusses Tabby’s Star, “the most mysterious star in the universe,” during a TED talk in February 2016 in Vancouver, B.C. (TED via YouTube) The astronomers who once speculated that an alien megastructure might be responsible for the weirdly fluctuating light from a distant star have now fully ruled out that way-out explanation.…
-
Astronomers catch mysteriously dimming ‘alien megastructure’ star in the act
Tabby’s Star – also known as KIC 8462852 or the “alien megastructure” star – is at it again. And this time the world is watching. The star in the constellation Cygnus has intrigued astronomers for a year and a half because they can’t quite explain why it periodically dims. One hypothesis is that aliens are building an…
-
Spectral signals from alien civilizations? Fresh set of SETI claims stirs up criticism
The Breakthrough Listen project will use the Automated Planet Finder to observe a controversial sampling of stars. (Credit: Vogt et al. 2014 / UC-Berkeley / Lick Observatory) Two astronomers have generated a debate by claiming that they may have found the spectral signature of messages from an extraterrestrial civilization – but the debate is mostly…
-
Astronomers round up the unusual suspects for ‘alien megastructure’ star
This illustration shows a star behind a shattered comet. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech) That mysterious “alien megastructure” star is still a mystery, but the most plausible explanations appear to be dense patches of interstellar gas or dust that just happened to pass in front of the star. That’s the upshot of analyses conducted by the…
-
Astronomers’ latest analysis turns ‘alien megastructure’ star into a triple mystery
This illustration shows a star behind a shattered comet. Astronomers say it’s possible that such a phenomenon could explain some aspects of the dimming pattern for a mysterious star called KIC 8462852, but not all aspects. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech) It’s been almost a year since astronomers first speculated that a strangely dimming star called…
-
‘Alien megastructure’ revisited: Oddly dimming star poses new mystery
An artist’s representation shows a crumbling megastructure known as a Dyson sphere orbiting KIC 8462852. (Credit: Danielle Futselaar / SETI International) He’s not saying it’s aliens – but an astronomer has raised new questions about KIC 8462852, the strange star that stirred up a debate about “alien megastructures” months ago. In a paper submitted to Astrophysical Journal…
-
Those mysterious bright spots on Ceres? Probably salty ice, scientists say
This color-coded representation of Ceres’ Occator Crater shows differences in surface composition, highlight bright patches inside the crater. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA) For months, scientists have puzzled over weirdly bright spots of material shining on the asteroid Ceres, but now they say the spots are probably made of salty…
-
Alien megastructure? Nothing to see around formerly weird star, scientists say
This illustration shows a star behind a shattered comet. Observations of the star KIC 8462852 by NASA’s Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes suggest that its unusual light signals are probably due to dusty comet fragments that blocked the light of the star. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech) Recent infrared observations of a star that once showed…
-
‘Alien megastructure’ update: SETI telescope detects no sign of E.T., but search goes on
The Allen Telescope Array looks for alien radio signals. (Credit: Seth Shostak / SETI Institute) The SETI Institute says it hasn’t detected any alien radio signals coming from a star whose light seems to be dimming in a weird way, but it’s too early to determine what kind of phenomenon is behind the pattern. The star,…