KIC 8462852 is a star 1480 light-years from earth (454 parsecs) which light changes dramatically and in a erratic way. It is stated that a big planet can opaque like 1% of a star light when passing in front of it (this is how new planets are discovered), however KIC 8462852 shows a 20-25% change in its light. Many theories has been discarded (comets, asteroids, clouds of asteroids, star rotation, etc). So, the last theory is the Dyson Sphere Hypothesis which states that extremely advanced extraterrestrial civilizations harvest stars’ energy by building unbelievable mega structures around the star. What do you think about this? Sounds plausible or just bullshit for you?
The second star is the EPIC 204278916 found 2 days ago. Its light flickers up to 65%…
If scientists are in trouble finding a common answer for this, I might try to open my sight and embrace a bigger set of possibilities. The method they use for detecting planets far far away seems very informative (little chance of mistake), so really big objects are orbiting those stars. What are those objects? I can’t tell.
Those other news are interesting btw, but not as interesting as this
Simple answer: I don’t know. And I don’t think earth’s brightest astronomers know. Not before several millenia will humans be able to travel to other worlds in my opinion. Only then we’ll find out whether there are other civilizations and if so, what they’re up to.
I do believe extraterrestrial civilizations exist out there, however, a civ being able to harvest a star energy means something very important: They are infinitely developed compared to us, million times. The other grim question is how many planets those people destroyed to build their structures… (not necessarily planets with living beings).
Agree with KMD, but this should not be interpreted as “I don’t believe in the probability of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations.” In fact, given the sheer size of the universe, it’s almost certain. That doesn’t mean they travel here, and that doesn’t mean any of them built a Dyson Sphere. All it means is that, fantastic explanations are almost always replaced by mundane explanations as we look at the history of scientific discovery. It’s just as possible that some hitherto unknown property of the universe can explain what’s happening with those observations as it is that advanced civilizations have built a super stellar cosmic structure around those stars.
wouldn’t the discovery of multiple instances increase the probability that it’s a natural phenomenon as opposed to 2 completely distinct stains of life building structures that serve the same purpose (or alternatively, solving the same problem with the same solution)? don’t know.
I’ve been following this closely. It’s one of the most intriguing deep space anomalies to date and has all the top astrophysicists stumped. So, I’m calling for a Ringworld type scenario. If anyone is unfamiliar, start reading the book now.
Alluding to what DOW wrote, you seem to be uninformed on scientific history regarding discovery with emphasis on the cosmos. Planets passing in front of their host stars is not the only way exoplanets are discovered and there are serious limitations on all methods. I suggest reading this book. It’s a fantastic read with language that makes complex subjects easy to understand.
I hate to sound all uppity on the subject. The truth is that we don’t know what it is, but it will be really cool to find out. To jump to wild hypothesis of fantastic advanced civilizations within our sight is just, well, out there.
Meh, not really. It’s not likely, but scientists have ruled out all the “common” causes that could diminish the brightness of the star(s). So it has to be something we haven’t encountered or something we have but haven’t thought of in this particular scenario before.
I guess I’m not really disagreeing with you. I’m just more hyped about it.
Trump knows what they are and he has a plan to deal with them. He can’t tell us the plan yet though because, well, because he just can’t. Hillary received a classified email about them on her homebrewed server, but she deleted the email because it came on the same day as an email about Chelsea’s wedding and she can’t remember what it said because of her undisclosed brain damage.
Note: I haven’t read about this one, yet, but I’ll throw out my own wild possibility: Dark matter actually interacts with light radiation in this case?
I will disagree with this. There are a lot of mysteries or at least non-senses still unexplained by science nowadays. Also, the “official science” try to “explain” those things in a way that lacks logic and common sense. I mean that official history and sciences contradict themselves many times. For example, the at the Giza Complex, there is a door made by 3 monoliths, the one in the top is 200 tons and historians say Egyptians didn’t know the crane, the pole, etc.
Is it a legitimate question to ask how those people lifted a 200 ton rock 2 meters on the air and put it precisely on the other two just to build a door? I think this is not a mundane question, and there are countless questions like this everywhere.
