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Star exhibits strange light patterns which could be a sign of alien activity

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D

dabig2

Member
Slayer-33 said:
All this space news is awesome. Shit is getting more frequent nowadays.
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Askherserenity said:
All this space news is fantastic. It's been a pretty jam packed year for this stuff right?
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Just wait. A couple more years till James Webb Space Telescope launches (fingers crossed) and space news will become even more prevalent than today. As long as we don't destroy ourselves, I think we're heading for for another big space enthusiasm era. Lots of other cool space stuff on the horizon with emerging tech and insights.
 
F

fallout

Member
The Artisan said:
is this related to that thread with the super earth in the next door solar system
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Not directly, but both were discovered using similar observational techniques which have gotten a lot better in recent years (the Kepler spacecraft being one of the biggest boons to exoplanet hunting).
 
E

Ensirius

Member
dabig2 said:
Just wait. A couple more years till James Webb Space Telescope launches (fingers crossed) and space news will become even more prevalent than today. As long as we don't destroy ourselves, I think we're heading for for another big space enthusiasm era. Lots of other cool space stuff on the horizon with emerging tech and insights.
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Please be true.
 
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efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Bumping with some news that may disappoint many a GAFer. Don't kill the messenger ;)

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-just-found-a-second-dyson-sphere-star

Edit: Basically a second star with similar changes in brightness (actually more extreme) to KIC 8462852 has been observed, but this time there may be a simpler explanation than "aliens".

From the article:

The German team behind the new EPIC 204278916 observations suggests that its massive dips in the light curve could be caused by the existence of a protoplanetary disk that’s oriented 'edge-on' in relation to Earth. That orientation could mean it's not only blocking the light from the star at certain times, we're also at the wrong angle to be viewing its own infrared radiation.

A protoplanetary disk is a rotating disk of dense gas and dust that tends to surround a newly formed star, which is plausible in this case, seeing as EPIC 204278916 appears to be relatively young - no older than 11 million years. To put that in perspective, our Sun is estimated to be around 4.5 billion years old.

"Many disks are very thin, and we’re used to seeing them at an angle. However, every once in a while, we’re bound to be aligned with a star that has its disk oriented edge-on to us, which means that any infrared radiation would be invisible," Ethan Siegel explains over at It Starts With a Bang.

"Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) are known to have the large flux dips that this weird star has, and they’ve recently been shown to come in a variety of inclination angles."

The best part is the hypothesis could be applied to KIC 8462852 too, says Siegel.
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More information here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startsw...structures-theory/?ICID=ref_fark#1497fd8269b0
 
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ElectricKaibutsu

Member
efyu_lemonardo said:
Bumping with some news that may disappoint many a GAFer. Don't kill the messenger ;)

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-just-found-a-second-dyson-sphere-star

Edit: Basically a second star with similar changes in brightness (actually more extreme) to KIC 8462852 has been observed, but this time there may be a simpler explanation than "aliens".

From the article:



More information here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startsw...structures-theory/?ICID=ref_fark#1497fd8269b0
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Yup, that sounds about right.
 
Slayer-33

Slayer-33

Liverpool-2
efyu_lemonardo said:
Bumping with some news that may disappoint many a GAFer. Don't kill the messenger ;)

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-just-found-a-second-dyson-sphere-star

Edit: Basically a second star with similar changes in brightness (actually more extreme) to KIC 8462852 has been observed, but this time there may be a simpler explanation than "aliens".

From the article:



More information here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startsw...structures-theory/?ICID=ref_fark#1497fd8269b0
Click to expand...

Oh hell no, noooooo. Fuck that
 
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efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Not knowing any better and based on previous statements I'd assumed that a protoplanetary disk emits IR radiation in all directions so as to be measurable regardless of the disks angle relative to our solar system's plane, but evidently that's not quite the case.

Assuming this fact was known to astronomers, I'm a bit surprised (as a layman) that this possibility wasn't brought up sooner.
 
U

Unai

Member
So in the end it wasn't even some new natural phenomenon that we've never seen before?! Now I'm disappointed, assuming that this also covers the previous star.
 
S

Sane_Man

Member
efyu_lemonardo said:
Bumping with some news that may disappoint many a GAFer. Don't kill the messenger ;)

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-just-found-a-second-dyson-sphere-star

Edit: Basically a second star with similar changes in brightness (actually more extreme) to KIC 8462852 has been observed, but this time there may be a simpler explanation than "aliens".

From the article:



More information here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startsw...structures-theory/?ICID=ref_fark#1497fd8269b0
Click to expand...

But in the article they state this disk forming is likely due to the relatively young age of the sun. Isn't the sun where the strange light patterns originate much older?
 
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efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Sane_Man said:
But in the article they state this disk forming is likely due to the relatively young age of the sun. Isn't the sun where the strange light patterns originate much older?
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It's mentioned somewhere that KIC is a few hundred million years old, which doesn't strike me as particularly old. But more importantly the way we determine the age of stars may not be 100% certain. We need a physicist to clarify this part.

Edit: this is the relevant part:
While KIC 8462852's age was initially estimated to be hundreds of millions of years old, a number of astronomers have argued that it could be much younger - just like EPIC 204278916.

And even if it's not, mature stars have been known to host rings of 'cometary-like debris', or dust, called circumstellar disks, which always include a vast outer disk, but often an inner one as well.
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D

DragonSworne

Banned
efyu_lemonardo said:
Bumping with some news that may disappoint many a GAFer. Don't kill the messenger ;)

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-just-found-a-second-dyson-sphere-star

Edit: Basically a second star with similar changes in brightness (actually more extreme) to KIC 8462852 has been observed, but this time there may be a simpler explanation than "aliens".

From the article:



More information here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startsw...structures-theory/?ICID=ref_fark#1497fd8269b0
Click to expand...

Or go with the more plausible answer: both stars have alien tech rotating around it
 
Tal Shiar Agent

Tal Shiar Agent

Member
Does a protoplanetary disc account for the consistent year-after-year dimming of the star and not just the spikes? Shouldn't the star get brighter as the protoplanetary disc coalesced into bodies?

It's also possible that if an alien civilization wanted to build a Dyson swarm but didn't have energy-to-matter conversion technology, a young star with a large protoplanetary disc would provide more than ample material resources to construct the swarm.
 
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efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
DragonSworne said:
The aliens originated from another star system.
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s_mirage said:
The aliens don't have to be from that system...
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You're both technically right, it's just that the entire reason the original system (KIC) was even considered to have an alien megastructure around it was that simpler explanations didn't fit the observations. For example a protoplanetary disk was expected to emit observable IR radiation and such was not detected.

This new star however (EPIC) does emit some IR radiation, so that would probably rule out any more sophisticated theories about the cause of its flux changes. But because EPIC seems to be a kind of "middle of the road" case (some IR radiation is observed but not as much as we're used to seeing from systems whose disk is more perpendicular to our plane of observation) it brings up the possibility that KIC is just a slightly more extreme case of the same phenomenon, i.e. the protoplanetary disk around KIC is at such an angle that next to no IR radiation can be observed.
 
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efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
SG-17 said:
Does a protoplanetary disc account for the consistent year-after-year dimming of the star and not just the spikes? Shouldn't the star get brighter as the protoplanetary disc coalesced into bodies?

It's also possible that if an alien civilization wanted to build a Dyson swarm but didn't have energy-to-matter conversion technology, a young star with a large protoplanetary disc would provide more than ample material resources to construct the swarm.
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Your second sentence comes off as wishful thinking to me. But regarding your first sentence, it could be that the short term and long term dimming were a result of different disks orbiting the star at different rates (an inner and outer disk are mentioned in the new article). I don't think we should expect to be able to notice the process of planet formation over the handful of years we've been looking at this star, it's probably a process that takes millions of years to happen, at the very least.

But these are just my thoughts and I'm not a physicist. We really need to wait for more astronomers to comment on this recent explanation. Who knows, it may end up being debunked as well..
 
F

fallout

Member
DragonSworne said:
Or go with the more plausible answer: both stars have alien tech rotating around it
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How is that the more plausible answer? There's zero evidence for that being the case. If we went with that option, we may as well blame aliens for every unexplained phenomena and give up on the scientific method entirely.

Don't get me wrong. It's fun (or terrifying, depending on your outlook) to think about aliens being out there, but if we're going to talk about this stuff seriously, then skepticism is paramount.

efyu_lemonardo said:
Assuming this fact was known to astronomers, I'm a bit surprised (as a layman) that this possibility wasn't brought up sooner.
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It's probably been discussed, but nobody had bothered doing the work to publish something until now.
 
M

Malvolio

Member
Not writing this off completely, but the thought that we would "discover" a civilization capable of a Dyson sphere is really a stretch.
 
C

Crisco

Banned
It is kind of disappointing that it's not even a particularly abnormal phenomenon. Basically just normal star behavior, ah well.
 
H

Himynameischris

Member
efyu_lemonardo said:
Bumping with some news that may disappoint many a GAFer. Don't kill the messenger ;)

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-just-found-a-second-dyson-sphere-star

Edit: Basically a second star with similar changes in brightness (actually more extreme) to KIC 8462852 has been observed, but this time there may be a simpler explanation than "aliens".

From the article:



More information here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startsw...structures-theory/?ICID=ref_fark#1497fd8269b0
Click to expand...

I always thought they were debunking this with the whole "it can't be comets/dust" thing but I guess this is slightly different....still a decrease that massive on such a young star makes sense so I guess they might have figured it out
 
S

SkyOdin

Member
It is certainly a plausible, even likely, theory, but there are still a lot of "if"s in that article. It is still far too early to say that the issue is solved. There is a lot of science yet to be done.
 
K

kamakazi5

Member
SkyOdin said:
It is certainly a plausible, even likely, theory, but there are still a lot of "if"s in that article. It is still far too early to say that the issue is solved. There is a lot of science yet to be done.
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This is very true. I just wish I understood why so many of us start jumping to wild conclusions when stories like this come out. It's fun to play the "what if" game but so many speak in such strict terms with relatively little evidence and rationale seems to go out the window.
 
T

TheSecondSpitter

Member
s_mirage said:
The aliens don't have to be from that system...
Click to expand...
Then there is likely to be a trail of Dyson like megastructures in the immediate vicinity.

SG-17 said:
Does a protoplanetary disc account for the consistent year-after-year dimming of the star and not just the spikes? Shouldn't the star get brighter as the protoplanetary disc coalesced into bodies?

It's also possible that if an alien civilization wanted to build a Dyson swarm but didn't have energy-to-matter conversion technology, a young star with a large protoplanetary disc would provide more than ample material resources to construct the swarm.
Click to expand...

NeoGAF: where religion is openly mocked and ridiculed, but every unknown cosmic phenomena must be attributed to aliens however remotely improbable and fanciful.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
The Second Spitter said:
Then there is likely to be a trail of Dyson like megastructures in the immediate vicinity.



NeoGAF: where religion is openly mocked and ridiculed, but every unknown cosmic phenomena must be attributed to aliens however remotely improbable and fanciful.
Click to expand...

Neogaf, where light hearted speculation about a scientific and statistical likelihood is still not causing genocide in the America's, strife in the middle east or the burning of witches in England and Africa.
 
L

LookAtMeGo

Member
efyu_lemonardo said:
Bumping with some news that may disappoint many a GAFer. Don't kill the messenger ;)

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-just-found-a-second-dyson-sphere-star

Edit: Basically a second star with similar changes in brightness (actually more extreme) to KIC 8462852 has been observed, but this time there may be a simpler explanation than "aliens".

From the article:



More information here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/startsw...structures-theory/?ICID=ref_fark#1497fd8269b0
Click to expand...
Pfffft haha, yeah, right. Suuure thing there scientist. I dont fall for controlled misinformation anymore. We were onto something and now they trying to deflect.
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
SG-17 said:
Does a protoplanetary disc account for the consistent year-after-year dimming of the star and not just the spikes? Shouldn't the star get brighter as the protoplanetary disc coalesced into bodies?

It's also possible that if an alien civilization wanted to build a Dyson swarm but didn't have energy-to-matter conversion technology, a young star with a large protoplanetary disc would provide more than ample material resources to construct the swarm.
Click to expand...

It probably takes thousands to millions of years for a noticeable coalescence. Maybe if it is a protoplanetary disc there are still countless or significant collisions going on and that's why we are seeing a lot of non-periodic dimming.
 
P

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
I hope this explanation is correct. Only wish the entire "but we don't see any IR consistent with dust" wasn't so quickly believed, myself included.
 
H

HeySeuss

Member
DragonSworne said:
The aliens originated from another star system.
Click to expand...

s_mirage said:
The aliens don't have to be from that system...
Click to expand...

11 million years in celestial time is like a single grain of sand on a beach. That system is so new that the star or any planets wouldn't be geologically stable enough to support life yet.

For perspective, Earth was around for about 800 million years before thr first known types of microbial life formed.
 
K

Koren

Member
HeySeuss said:
11 million years in celestial time is like a single grain of sand on a beach. That system is so new that the star or any planets wouldn't be geologically stable enough to support life yet.

For perspective, Earth was around for about 800 million years before thr first known types of microbial life formed.
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Like as we know, and they could even not live on planets, especially if they're from another system. You could pretty much imagine anything (even if I totally expect something natural here)
 
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