In a distant part of space, among many different celestial bodies, there is one not quite ordinary star. It is distinguished by a chaotic change in brightness and a tendency to periodic tarnishing. Many scientists have been working on understanding this phenomenon for several months.
Unusual stars
The celestial body KIC 8462852, or "Tabby's Star", is a star very distant from the solar system. Its unusualness lies in the fact that over a hundred years it emitted into space approximately 22% less infrared radiation than in the next similar period of time.
In this regard, astronomers have a hypothesis that something very massive was passing in front of the celestial body during this period of time. Some of them even put forward an absolutely unscientific theory that an enormous Dyson sphere was built around the star by an extraterrestrial civilization.
Several years ago, astronomers discovered another star in deep space, characterized by similar changes in radiation intensity. The star EPIC 204278916, equal in diameter to the Sun, but twice lighter than it, made scientists again seriously think about the reasons for this behavior.
Since its discovery in 2014 by the Kepler telescope, astronomers have been staring at this shimmering star. A group of astrophysicists led by Simon Skirinji, representing the Max Planck Institute (Germany), reported that for almost 80 days, scientists continuously monitored EPIC 204278916. During this time, the star was darkened in different ways for more than 25 days, and the maximum eclipse rate was 65% …
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Inexplicable phenomenon
Scientists were confused by the findings. Indeed, even the largest planet orbiting its star can overlap it by a maximum of 1%. What's so incredibly large in there that gives 65% obscuration?
Several theories have been put forward to explain this unusual cosmic phenomenon.
Swarm of comets
The most plausible theory seemed to be that the irregular brightness of the star was caused by a massive stream of comets that revolve around the star.
But many astronomers have abandoned this hypothesis. Numerous studies and calculations have shown that for a star to darken by 20% within one century, almost 650 thousand comets must revolve around it. Moreover, each of them must have a core with a diameter of at least 200 kilometers!
Wrong shape
Some astronomers explain the changeable brightness of the star by its irregular shape. Rotating very quickly, it has become flattened, respectively, the equatorial radius significantly exceeds the polar one.
That is why, rotating around its axis at a certain angle to terrestrial observers, the star constantly changes its brightness.
Young star
A group of German astronomers have suggested that EPIC 204278916's changeable brilliance may be caused by a huge rotating disk of dust and gas. This ball periodically blocks some of the infrared radiation from the star, making it twinkle.
The plausibility of this assumption is that many young stars surround such protoplanetary disks. EPIC 204278916 is estimated to be less than 11 million years old. Compared to the Sun, which is more than 4 billion years old, this star is very young.
According to astronomer Ethan Siegel, the disk is very thin when viewed from a certain angle. But when it rotates around the star, there are periods when it completely or partially absorbs all infrared radiation. Many young celestial bodies are characterized by variable brightness depending on their angle of inclination.
Creation of an extraterrestrial civilization
Among the various hypotheses, there is one completely incredible and similar to a sci-fi story, but with a right to life idea. According to some researchers, the darkening of the star EPIC 204278916 is caused by a giant ball containing a huge number of solar panels. This design is known as the "Dyson Sphere", and it was built by an extraterrestrial race.
Many optical and radio telescopes are aimed at the star in the hope of catching at least the faintest hint of the presence of intelligent alien life there.
All astronomers agree on one statement. Much more research needs to be done to finally unravel the mystery of the "darkening" stars. Perhaps centuries will pass until this mystery is fully solved.
Oksana Grabenko
