See here for
essential background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2016/04/mysterious-star-update.html.
At the time I wrote about the strange case of the star KIC8462852, I wondered if there were any others. The star was soon given the more memorable name of "Tabby's Star" after Dr Tabetha Boyajian, the scientist who discovered its anomalous properties; and it has shown itself to be one of the most unusual stars ever discovered. As Dr Boyajian said herself, there is no proof that the star is surrounded by a Dyson swarm or a Dyson sphere; but if it were, it would have that very attribute. Now it turns out KIC8462852 is no longer unique. Seven more like it have turned up. The seven stars are all within a thousand light-years of the earth which in cosmic terms makes them neighbours. They are all small M-types, known as "red dwarfs", which makes them smaller and dimmer than the sun. The anomalies were detected by analyzing the infrared emissions from the stars in question and detecting changes in the quality and quantity of their radiation. The same method is used to detect new planets. The astronomer Prof. Janna Levin has said: "I would say I'm very open-minded. I'm not losing sleep over the idea that we are observing an alien megastructure. I don't think that's what's happening in these scenarios, but we are in a new era in terms of our understanding of how prevalent planets are, and how planets are absolutely prolific in the universe," She is being cautious and guarded just like Dr Boyajian was. Despite her doubts, again we see the same stellar profile originally predicted by Freeman Dyson in 1960 when he came up with the idea of searching for aliens this way. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIWlHCHUWWA. I resent the jocular tone of this report. I know News Nation is better than most, but they do need to maintain their own standards. As it happens, the astronomers might have made a mistake. It could be that the seven stars are really what are known as "hot DOG's", hot dust-obscured galaxies. Hopefully further studies will confirm or deny this. Breakthrough Listen's examination of Tabby's Star showed no signals coming from it. Will they find the same with these seven new candidates?
At the time I wrote about the strange case of the star KIC8462852, I wondered if there were any others. The star was soon given the more memorable name of "Tabby's Star" after Dr Tabetha Boyajian, the scientist who discovered its anomalous properties; and it has shown itself to be one of the most unusual stars ever discovered. As Dr Boyajian said herself, there is no proof that the star is surrounded by a Dyson swarm or a Dyson sphere; but if it were, it would have that very attribute. Now it turns out KIC8462852 is no longer unique. Seven more like it have turned up. The seven stars are all within a thousand light-years of the earth which in cosmic terms makes them neighbours. They are all small M-types, known as "red dwarfs", which makes them smaller and dimmer than the sun. The anomalies were detected by analyzing the infrared emissions from the stars in question and detecting changes in the quality and quantity of their radiation. The same method is used to detect new planets. The astronomer Prof. Janna Levin has said: "I would say I'm very open-minded. I'm not losing sleep over the idea that we are observing an alien megastructure. I don't think that's what's happening in these scenarios, but we are in a new era in terms of our understanding of how prevalent planets are, and how planets are absolutely prolific in the universe," She is being cautious and guarded just like Dr Boyajian was. Despite her doubts, again we see the same stellar profile originally predicted by Freeman Dyson in 1960 when he came up with the idea of searching for aliens this way. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIWlHCHUWWA. I resent the jocular tone of this report. I know News Nation is better than most, but they do need to maintain their own standards. As it happens, the astronomers might have made a mistake. It could be that the seven stars are really what are known as "hot DOG's", hot dust-obscured galaxies. Hopefully further studies will confirm or deny this. Breakthrough Listen's examination of Tabby's Star showed no signals coming from it. Will they find the same with these seven new candidates?
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