Since 2011, Tabby’s Star has remained a puzzle. Scientists have come up with various theories, including those involving aliens, to explain its odd behaviour.
Larger and brighter than the Sun, Tabby’s Star is located approximately 1.500 light-years from Earth. It exhibits unusual light fluctuations, including up to a 22% dimming in brightness. Typically, a stars periodic changes in brightness is caused by orbiting planets or is due to pulsations in the stellar atmosphere. As planets pass between their stars and Earth, they cause brief and predictable blips in their stars light (usually less than 1 % dimming). But the dips from Tabby’s Star appear to be more intense and almost entirely random.
Astronomers are yet to come up with a reasonable explanation for this oddity. Hypotheses range from the presence of a group of comets orbiting the star to debris from disintegrating moon impairing our view of Tabby’s Star.
At one time, scientists were seriously considering the possibility that our view was being obstructed by an alien mega-structure, something in the lines of a Dyson Sphere. A Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical mega-engineering project, set up around a star by an advanced extraterrestrial civilisation to capture and use its power output.
What’s the latest theory? That there are clouds of dust drifting between us and the star, obscuring our view and causing the blips. But it doesn’t explain everything. Scientists are still looking for a more convincing explanation. Hence, the Tabby’s Star mystery continues…
Picture Credit : Google
