VanGnome Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 http://www.iflscience.com/space/milky-ways-most-mysterious-star Since its first light in 2009, the Kepler Space Telescope has been scanning the cosmos in search of habitable worlds beyond our Solar System. During its routine observations, the telescope observed something very unusual. Nestled between the constellations Cygnus and Lyra, sits a strange and intriguing star. Kepler is designed to observe stars and look for tiny dips in their brightness. These dips, especially if they repeat, can be a sign the star has one or more planets orbiting it. By measuring the timing and the size of the dips, scientists can learn a great deal about the transiting planet. The data is then processed automatically by computers with algorithms designed to look for repeating patterns – a sign that something is orbiting the star. Kepler focused on this one region for four years, observing as many as 150,000 stars simultaneously. Due to the massive amounts of data collected, Kepler scientists rely on “citizen scientists” through a website called Planet Hunters to help them scour the data for anything unusual. In 2011, one star in particular was flagged as unusual. Kepler observed the star KIC 8462852 for four years starting in 2009. Typically, orbiting planets only dim the light of their host star for a period of a few hours to a few days depending on their orbit. A group of citizen scientists noticed that this star appeared to have two small dips in 2009, followed by a large dip lasting almost a week in 2011, and finally a series of multiple dips significantly dimming the star’s light in 2013. Tabetha Boyajian, a postdoc at Yale, told The Atlantic: “We’d never seen anything like this star. It was really weird. We thought it might be bad data or movement on the spacecraft, but everything checked out.” The pattern of dips indicates that the star is orbited by a large, irregular-shaped mass. If it were orbiting a young star, this mass might be a protoplanetary disc, but KIC 8462852 is not a young star. We would also expect to see the presence of dust emitting infrared light, which hasn’t been observed. So what is this orbiting mass? Scientists predict that whatever it is, it had to have formed recently as it would have been pulled in by the star’s gravity and consumed. Boyajian recently published a paper offering several possible explanations for the bizarre transits. The leading theory is that a family of exocomets passed too close to the star, and were shredded into pieces by the star’s massive gravity. The remaining dust and debris could be left to orbit the star. But researchers from UC Berkeley’s SETI Institute think it could be something else entirely: They think this could be a sign of alien technology. Boyajian is working with SETI and Jason Wright, an astronomer from Penn State University, to develop a proposal to observe the star with NRAO’s Green Bank Telescope to search for radio waves. If they detect anything intriguing, they then have plans to use the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico to listen for what could be the sounds of alien technology. The first observations are estimated to take place in January, with a potential follow-up planned for next fall. Of course, if they stumble upon something incredible, the researchers could expect to follow-up with the VLA straight away. Kepler also plans to observe KIC 8462852 in May 2017, when the mass is expected to transit the star again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejazz97 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 As long as it isn't moving closer, we should be fine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horvat Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 As long as it isn't moving closer, we should be fine... no its probably alien technology harnessing star power, i'm pretty sure that's what mr michio kaku wants us to look for.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Light Racicot Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Seems a bit premature to suspect something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armada Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 This is so cool but terifying at the same time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jägermeister Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I heard its your mom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I'd like Sigourney Weaver ta go check this out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyLuciano Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 STRANGER DANGER!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 no its probably alien technology harnessing star power, i'm pretty sure that's what mr michio kaku wants us to look for.... Dyson Sphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 This is so cool but terifying at the same time Really? We have a satellite that has the exact same rotation as our planet, controls our tides and weather, affects animals menstrual cycles, and is exactly big enough, at the exact distance, to cause a corona and eclipse from our star. And you think this other thing is terrifying? If you haven't yet come to terms with what alien technology probably looks like...gaze up this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucklehead Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I take it you believe in moon cranes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Webster6 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I heard its your mom. Yo momma sooo fat. When she jump for joy... she gets stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon45ca Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 "We don't know what it is so.....Aliens!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 As long as it isn't moving closer, we should be fine... it's just Melmac. We are furry, but friendly aliens. Just lock up your kittens! Seriously, how did first contact ever work out for those discovered? I'm thinking, we would be used, abused, and tattooed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckylager Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Cool story, interesting stuff. I heard its your mom. Yo momma sooo fat. When she jump for joy... she gets stuck. Yo momma sooo fat, she has to iron her clothes in the driveway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tortorella Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGp_5gOww0E This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Western Red Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 As long as it isn't moving closer, we should be fine... You say some really stupid things.. like reaaally stupid. Glad that this anomaly is identified and can be checked up on for any alteration in its orbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuktravella Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 an advanced civilization capable of harnessing 20 % of a big sun means its possible that we were bioengineered possibly pretty rad if there is that advanced a cikvilzation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fateless Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Something unusual in space? Must be aliens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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