Ever since 2015, Tabby’s Star or KIC 8462852 has been generating a great deal of intrigue and speculation among scientists. Finally, researchers have found some explanation for all the weirdness related to the appearance of Tabby’s star. Astronomers have found out some of the causes behind the bizarre long time dimming of famous Tabby’s Star. Tabby’s Star is also known as Boyajian’s star and scientifically called KIC 8462852. After studies, scientists have arrived at the conclusion that the dimming of the star has been caused by dust. Scientists have ruled out any theory relating that relates the dimming of the star with a giant network of solar panels or any other ‘megastructure’ built by super advanced aliens.
Before making any statement, scientists did some close up study of the star. Astronomers noticed that the dimming of the star was more in ultraviolet light (UV) as compared to infrared light. Scientist emphasized the fact that particles bigger than dust grain cause uniform diminishing across all wavelengths whereas if you talk about Tabby’s Star the dimming in only in UV light.
The result of the studies ruled out any theory relating to any alien megastructure. Astronomers at the University of Arizona say that there is a huge dust cloud orbiting the star. The revolution time is somewhere around 700 days. The strange dip in brightness caught the eyes of scientists as the star had dramatically dimmed by 22 percent over the last five years. Since the dip was strange and unexpected, researchers began looking for clues. There were many explanations brought forward like huge swarms of comets, cosmic dust, and even alien megastructure theories.
Astronomers studied infrared and UV light using NASA’s Spitzer and Swift space telescopes. The images with telescope suggested that the dip in light is majorly due to the interstellar dust around Tabby’s Star. Even though scientists have found some clues in the dimming phenomenon, other mysteries about KIC 8462852 remain unsolved. For instance, the sudden dip of 20 percent in brightness still remains a mystery. Amazingly researchers till now believed that the star was only diminishing in one direction. But surprisingly sometimes despite being dim, the star shows sudden spells of extreme brightness as well.
Carolyn is a technology graduate and loves to write about anything related to technology as well as writes in others sectors. Carolyn is a professional writer with over 7 years of experience. Initially starting off as a programmer, Carolyn decided to combine her knowledge about technology and writing and that’s how she joined Reporter Expert.
