Star’s mysterious dimming continues to confound astronomers
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029821
Atlantic : A star spotted by the Kepler space telescope has provoked a certain amount of controversy. The star caught the attention of astronomers who noted an unusual series of dips in the light it emits. Such dips can indicate the transiting of a planet or the presence of a disk of dust and debris. However, after several years of study, researchers have ruled out those two possibilities. One suggestion, which has received a fair amount of attention, is that it is an alien megastructure built to harvest starlight. More pragmatic explanations include the presence of a family of comets circling the star. To better understand the star’s unusual behavior, a worldwide effort is being mounted to monitor it over the next several years with a series of professional telescopes.
