Do Comets Explain Mystery Star’s Bizarre Behavior? by BOB KING on NOVEMBER 25, 2015

SThe Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a “Large Number of Small Dishes” (LNSD) array designed to be highly effective 

for simultaneous surveys undertaken for SETI projects (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) at centimeter wavelengths.

Credit: Seth Shostak / SETI Institute

Radio observations were carried out from the Allen Telescope Array of the reputed megastructure-encompassed star KIC 8462852.

Fig 1 from Harp et al. (2015) conveys the lack of radio waves emerging from the star KIC 8462852 (black symbols), 

however there were sensitivity and coverage limitations (see text).  The signal emerging from the quasar 3c84 is shown via blue symbols.

The hunt for an alien megastructure has made for sensational headlines, but what are the chances of finding something? 

Pictured is an artist's impression of Kepler, the spacecraft that observed the distant star KIC 8462852. 

NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle

SETI says KIC 8462852 isn't sending Extraterrestrial Laser Pulses

However, alien enthusiast claim that the alien civilization might be advanced enough to use other means 

of communication than laser pulses and radio waves, so they're still holding out hope that E.T. might be in our vicinity.

A mysterious star that erratically dims by almost a quarter as a swarm of unknown objects passes in front of it -

leading to speculations that artificial objects could be orbiting the star - continues to refuse to give up its secrets

after a search for laser pulses from the system turned up empty.

Ever since it was first announced in 2015, there has been speculation as to what could account
 for the dimming of KIC 8462852.(artist Concept)
  Credit:Sentient Developments.com

Another theory on Tabby's Star

"Still Most Mysterious Star in Universe"
--SETI Telescope Array Followup Fails To Detect Megatructure Swarm May 10, 2016

Even if aliens are not involved, Tabby's star remains "the most mysterious star in the universe" 

as Yale astronomer Tabetha Boyajian described it in a TED talk she gave last February. 

"The dips found by Kepler are real. Something seems to be transiting in front of this star

 and we still have no idea what it is!" says German astronomer Michael Hippke.

The most remarkable of these fluctuations consisted of dozens of uneven, unnatural-looking dips

 that appeared over a 100-day period indicating that a large number of irregularly shaped objects 

 had passed across the face of the star and temporarily blocked some of the light coming from it.

The attention caused scientists at the SETI Institute to train its Alien Telescope Array

 on the star to see if they could detect any radio signals indicating the presence of an alien civilization. 

 In November, 2015 it reported finding "no such evidence" of signals with an artificial origin.

IS THE “ALIEN MEGASTRUCTURE” AROUND TABBY’S STAR ACTUALLY A RINGED GAS GIANT?

Artist's impression of a gigantic ring system around a distant exoplanet.
 Credit and ©: Ron Miller

An artist impression of an exomoon orbiting a ringed exoplanet.
 Credit: Andy McLatchie

TABBY’S STAR (KIC8462852) MEGASTRUCTURE MYSTERY CONTINUES TO INTRIGUE

Artist's concept of KIC 8462852, which has experienced unusual changes in luminosity over the past few years.

 Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech

Photometry of KIC8462852 obtained by the Kepler mission, showing a period of more rapid

 decline during the later period of observation. Credit: Montet & Simon 2016
As Dr. Montet told Universe Today via email:
“Every 30 minutes, Kepler measures the brightness of 160,000 stars in its field of view (100 square degrees,

or approximately as big as your hand at arm’s length). The Kepler data processing pipeline intentionally removes long-term trends, 

because they are hard to separate from instrumental effects and they make the search for planets harder.

 Once a month though, they download the full frame, so the brightness of every object in the field can be measured.

 From this data, we can separate the instrumental effects from astrophysical effects by seeing how the brightness of any

 particular star changes relative to all its neighboring stars.”

Published on Aug 4, 2016
A in-depth look at KIC 8462582, also known as Tabby's Star. We'll explore how this star became

 famous for an anomaly, what that anomaly was, and the various theories for what might be causing it.

Listen or Download the audio of this episode from Soundcloud


Support the Channel on Patreon:


Cover Art by Jakub Grygier:

Recent Developments: 
5 Aug 2016

some new research came out the same day as the video, in terms of the overall dimming, Paul Gilster discusses it here, and Centauri Dreams is an excellent place to keep up on new developments as they occur:
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Tabby’s Star shines at magnitude +11.7 in the constellation Cygnus the Swan (Northern Cross) high in the southwestern sky at nightfall

 in late October. A 6-inch or larger telescope will easily show it.

 Source: Stellarium

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

Preliminary analysis of incoming data of KIC 8462852, showing the apparent dip.
 Credit: Matthew Muterspaugh/Tennessee State University/CEISEM

Streamed live on May 19, 2017
Tabby's Star (aka the WTF (Where's the Flux) Star, Boyajian's Star, the Most Mysterious Star in the known Universe) 
is entering another of its irregular dips. Here at UC Berkeley SETI we're lucky to have Prof. 
Jason Wright visiting this week. Join him and Berkeley SETI Director Dr. Andrew Siemion at 11 Pacific for live updates.
 Tweet your questions @BerkeleySETI.
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Diagram of the KIC 8462852 system, showing the possible influence of Trojans on its brightness.
 Credit: F. Ballesteros et al.

Short Summary of the current Natural Theory

“Whereas most of the scenarios that have already been discussed by other authors invoke the presence 
of astronomical objects that have never been directly observed, from the comet clouds in Boyajian et al. 
(2016) to the Dyson sphere in Wright et al. (2016), our model requires the presence of relatively familiar objects,
 namely a large planet with orbiting rings and a cloud of Trojan asteroids. Moreover, our model allows us 
 to make a definite prediction: the leading Trojan cloud should induce a new period of irregularities in the
 light curve approximately in 2021.”
 
Jason Wright's Website

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

LSU Astronomer Tabetha Boyajian (center) and her students and research staff.
 (Left to right) Robert Parks, undergraduate student Rory Bentley, Assistant Professor Tabetha Boyajian,
 PhD candidate Tyler Ellis, undergrad Katie Nugent, Professor Geoff Clayton and graduate student Emily Safron. 
 Credit: LSU

One of the many robotic telescopes part of the Las Cumbres Observatory used to observe Tabby’s Star. 
Credit: LSU

TABBY’S STAR IS DIPPING AGAIN!(March 2018)

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 light curve recorded for Tabby’s Star. Credit: Where’s the Flux?

Image: VVV-WIT-07 in the centre of a star field.
 Credit: Saito et al.
This is fertile ground for discovery, but even so, the object known as VVV-WIT-07 is taking everyone 
a bit by surprise. We’re dealing with a star that reminds everyone of Boyajian’s Star (KIC 8462852),
 famed for its unusual dips in lightcurve. Were they signs of a Dyson Sphere under construction,
 or a natural phenomenon the likes of which we had never seen? Uneven rings of dust,
 dusty planetesimals or comets are still in contention. Now we have a star that is apparently
 even more extreme, one whose range in lightcurve variation is extraordinary.
 Viewed by the survey over a period of eight years, VVV-WIT-07 has been seem 
 to dim first by a factor of 2, then by almost 80 percent. A week later, it was back to normal.