Tabby's Star a cosmic mystery

The Odd Index

A star that dims without warning… and no one knows why. 🌌 From comets to alien megastructures, every theory is on the table for Tabby’s Star. 👽✨  #SpaceMystery #TabbysStar #Astronomy #Aliens #DysonSphere #ScienceTok #OuterSpace #Universe #WeirdSpaceFacts #CosmicMystery

Transcript

00:00some stars twinkle this one vanishes meet tabby's star also known as kic 846 to 852

00:11about 1470 light years away in the constellation cygnus and a mystery we may not have an answer for

00:20discovered in 2009 by nasa's kepler space telescope tabby's star shot to fame in 2015

00:26when astronomer tabitha boyagian noticed something bizarre the star would suddenly dim sometimes by a

00:33staggering 22 percent then brighten again these dimming events were irregular no fixed timing no

00:41neat planetary orbit and since discovery it's been fading overall here's the mystery if a planet the

00:48size of jupiter passed in front of a star we'd see only about a one percent dip so what could block

00:54nearly a quarter of the star's light without leaving a trace of heat behind the first theories

01:01were typical planetary debris or a swarm of asteroids but the infrared heat signature just isn't there

01:08a giant comet family thousands of icy bodies breaking apart and drifting across our view

01:14plausible but astronomers admit the timing would be absurdly coincidental

01:19interstellar dust super fine grains between us and the star it does explain why blue light is

01:25blocked more than red but not the decades-long fading and then came the fun theory a few scientists with

01:32totally straight faces suggested it might be an alien megastructure specifically a dyson swarm a vast

01:41network of solar collectors orbiting the star harvesting its energy this was published in a peer-reviewed

01:47paper and discussed in actual professional conferences no little green men jokes just serious consideration

01:54before the community admitted there was still zero direct evidence the leading explanation now is still

02:01weird dust possibly from shattered planets or comets but the pattern of dimming the long-term fading and the

02:10lack of heat emission don't quite add up no theory natural or otherwise fits everything we've observed

02:19so tabby's star remains an unsolved mystery maybe it's dust maybe it's debris or maybe just maybe there's

02:28something out there building in the dark like and subscribe for more and comment with your favorite space mystery

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