Posted on by Matt Williams

Tabby’s Star is Dipping Again!

This illustration depicts a hypothetical uneven ring of dust orbiting KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian's Star or Tabby's Star. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In September of 2015, the star KIC 8462852 (aka. Tabby’s Star) captured the world’s attention when it was found to be experiencing a mysterious drop in brightness. In the years since then, multiple studies have been conducted that have tried to offer a natural explanation for this behavior – and even an unnatural one (i.e. the “alien megastructure” theory). At the same time, multiple observatories have been tracking the star regularly for further dimming.

Well, it seems that Tabby’s Star is at it again! On Friday, March 16th, Tabetha Boyajian (the astronomer who was responsible for discovering the star’s variations in flux) and her colleagues reported that the star was dimming yet again. As they indicated recently their blog –  Where’s the Flux? – the star experienced its greatest dip since it was observed by the Kepler mission in 2013.

Continue reading “Tabby’s Star is Dipping Again!”

Posted on by Matt Williams

You Knew This Day Was Coming. Alien Megastructures Ruled Out for Tabby’s Star. Dust is the Culprit

This illustration depicts a hypothetical uneven ring of dust orbiting KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian's Star or Tabby's Star. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

In September of 2015, KIC 8462852 (aka. Tabby’s Star) captured the world’s attention when it was found to be experiencing a mysterious drop in brightness. In the years since then, multiple studies have been conducted that have tried to offer a natural explanation for this behavior. In lieu of one, there’s been plenty of speculation as to what could be causing the dimming effect – including the controversial “alien megastructure” theory.

Unfortunately, after years of excitement and speculation, the scientific community may have finally driven a nail into this theory’s coffin. According to a new study by a team of over 100 astronomers, and led by Assistant Professor Tabetha Boyajian – who made the original discovery – it now appears likely that KIC 8462852 (aka. “Tabby’s Star”) is being partially obscured by dust and not – I repeat, NOT – an alien megastructure.

Continue reading “You Knew This Day Was Coming. Alien Megastructures Ruled Out for Tabby’s Star. Dust is the Culprit”

Posted on by Matt Williams

Not an Alien Megastructure, a Cloud of Dust on a 700-Day Orbit

This illustration depicts a hypothetical uneven ring of dust orbiting KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian's Star or Tabby's Star. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The mystery of KIC 8462852 (aka. Boyajian’s Star or Tabby’s Star) continues to excite and intrigue! Ever since it was first seen to be undergoing strange and sudden dips in brightness (back in October of 2015) astronomers have been speculating as to what could be causing this. Since that time, various explanations have been offered, including large asteroids, a large planet, a debris disc or even an alien megastructure.

Many studies have been produced that have sought to assign some other natural explanation to the star’s behavior. The latest comes from an international team of scientists – which included Tabetha Boyajian, the lead author on the original 2016 paper. According to this latest study, which was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal, the star’s long-term dimming patterns are likely the result of an uneven dust cloud moving around the star. Continue reading “Not an Alien Megastructure, a Cloud of Dust on a 700-Day Orbit”

Posted on by Matt Williams

New Ideas for the Mysterious Tabby’s Star: a Gigantic Planet or a Planet With Rings

Artist's concept of KIC 8462852, which has experienced unusual changes in luminosity over the past few years. Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

KIC 8462852 (aka. Tabby’s Star) captured the world’s attention back in September of 2015 when it was found to be experiencing a mysterious drop in brightness. A week ago (on May 18th), it was announced that the star was at it again, which prompted observatories from all around the world to train their telescopes on the star so they could observe the dimming as it happened.

And just like before, this mysterious behavior has fueled speculation as to what could be causing it. Previously, ideas ranged from transiting comets and a consumed planet to alien megastructures. But with the latest studies to be produced on the subject, the light curve of the star has been respectively attributed to the presence of a debris disk and Trojan asteroids in the system and a ring system in the outer Solar System. Continue reading “New Ideas for the Mysterious Tabby’s Star: a Gigantic Planet or a Planet With Rings”

Posted on by Matt Williams

The Star That Probably Doesn’t Have an Alien Megastructure (But Maybe it Does) is Dimming Again

Artist's concept of KIC 8462852, which has experienced unusual changes in luminosity over the past few years. Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

In September of 2015, scientists announced that the star known as KIC 8462852 (aka. “Tabby’s Star” or “Boyajian’s Star”) was experiencing a strange dip in luminosity. At the time, astronomers indicated that this mysterious behavior could be the result of comets transiting in front of the star, but other (perhaps more hopeful) individuals claimed that it could also be the result of an alien megastructure.

This led to a flurry of studies and articles that sought to offer entirely natural explanations for what has been observed. Even SETI weighed in, indicating that they would begin searching for indications of radio signals coming this mysterious star. But after two years and multiple studies that offer explanations other an alien Dyson Sphere (or some other type of megastructure), the star is at it again! Continue reading “The Star That Probably Doesn’t Have an Alien Megastructure (But Maybe it Does) is Dimming Again”

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Weekly Space Hangout – January 13, 2017: News Roundup Plus Update on Tabby’s Star!

Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain)

Guests:
Carolyn Collins Petersen (thespacewriter.com / space.about.com / @spacewriter )
Paul M. Sutter (pmsutter.com / @PaulMattSutter)
Kimberly Cartier ( KimberlyCartier.org / @AstroKimCartier )

Their stories this week:
New studies of Boyajian’s Star

Breakthrough Starshot hunting for planets

Probing the Nearby Space Between Stars

Looking for the stuff of life

A new star in 2022

We use a tool called Trello to submit and vote on stories we would like to see covered each week, and then Fraser will be selecting the stories from there. Here is the link to the Trello WSH page (http://bit.ly/WSHVote), which you can see without logging in. If you’d like to vote, just create a login and help us decide what to cover!

If you would like to join the Weekly Space Hangout Crew, visit their site here and sign up. They’re a great team who can help you join our online discussions!

If you would like to sign up for the AstronomyCast Solar Eclipse Escape, where you can meet Fraser and Pamela, plus WSH Crew and other fans, visit our site linked above and sign up!

We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today, or the Universe Today YouTube page<

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Weekly Space Hangout – May 20, 2016: Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin

Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain)

Special Guests:
Mike Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at CalTech. Konstantin Batygin is Assistant Professor of Planetary Science at CalTech. They’ll be here discussing their discovery of Planet 9 and what’s been happening since that amazing announcement.

Guests:
Jolene Creighton (fromquarkstoquasars.com / @futurism)

We’ve had an abundance of news stories for the past few months, and not enough time to get to them all. So we’ve started a new system. Instead of adding all of the stories to the spreadsheet each week, we are now using a tool called Trello to submit and vote on stories we would like to see covered each week, and then Fraser will be selecting the stories from there. Here is the link to the Trello WSH page (http://bit.ly/WSHVote), which you can see without logging in. If you’d like to vote, just create a login and help us decide what to cover!

We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Universe Today or the Universe Today YouTube page.

You can also join in the discussion between episodes over at our Weekly Space Hangout Crew group in G+!

Posted on by Fraser Cain

Weekly Space Hangout – May 13, 2016: Christer Fuglesang

Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain)

Special Guest:
Arne Christer Fuglesang is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on December 10, 2006, making him the first Swedish citizen in space.

Guests:
Morgan Rehnberg (MorganRehnberg.com / @MorganRehnberg)
Kimberly Cartier (@AstroKimCartier )

Their stories this week:

Kepler’s planet count doubles

An update on Boyajian’s Star

Boeing crewed launch slips to 2018

A four-planet system demonstrates migration

We’ve had an abundance of news stories for the past few months, and not enough time to get to them all. So we’ve started a new system. Instead of adding all of the stories to the spreadsheet each week, we are now using a tool called Trello to submit and vote on stories we would like to see covered each week, and then Fraser will be selecting the stories from there. Here is the link to the Trello WSH page (http://bit.ly/WSHVote), which you can see without logging in. If you’d like to vote, just create a login and help us decide what to cover!

We record the Weekly Space Hangout every Friday at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. You can watch us live on Google+, Universe Today, or the Universe Today YouTube page.

You can also join in the discussion between episodes over at our Weekly Space Hangout Crew group in G+!