Posted on 10/15/2015 12:04:31 PM PDT by grundle
It was kind of unbelievable that it was real data, said Yale University astronomer Tabetha Boyajian. We were scratching our heads. For any idea that came up there was always something that would argue against it.
She was talking to the New Scientist about KIC 8462852, a distant star with a very unusual flickering habit. Something was making the star dim drastically every few years, and she wasnt sure what.
Boyajian wrote up a paper on possible explanations for the stars bizarre behavior, and it was published recently in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. But she also sent her data to fellow astronomer Jason Wright, a Penn State University researcher who helped developed a protocol for seeking signs of unearthly civilization, wondering what he would make of it.
To Wright, it looked like the kind of star he and his colleagues had been waiting for. If none of the ordinary reasons for the stars flux quite seemed to fit, perhaps an extraordinary one was in order.
Aliens.
Or, to be more specific, something built by aliens a swarm of megastructures, as he told the Atlantic, likely outfitted with solar panels to collect energy from the star.
When [Boyajian] showed me the data, I was fascinated by how crazy it looked, Wright said. Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilization to build.
To be sure, both Boyajian and Wright believe the possibility of alien megastructures around KIC 8462852 is very, very remote. Its worthy of hypothesis, Wright told Slate, but we should also approach it skeptically.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Trumps wall is the only Alien Mega-Structure.
It might be Farrakan’s “Planet X”
Right - in the future from their point of view... took me a second.
Lol!!
Of course these astronomers never thought of that...
That giant nuclear furnace in the center of the solar system gives energy for free.
Sure, conservatives have scoffed at solar panels ever since Reagan ripped Carter's off the White House. Truth is, a truly advanced civilization may have energy needs that would require them to capture as much of their sun's output as possible.
Under construction 1400 years ago. Could be finished by now.
Unless the Alien chapter of the Sierra Club got involved.
The astronomers' research paper on this star describe only naturally-occurring explanations. There is no mention of aliens. So yes, they have thought of that.
At issue, all of the naturally-occurring explanations they've researched have problems. They're scratching their heads.
I think plenty of us are ‘for’ solar, but it’s a case of the tech not yet being there yet. It’s ‘there’ sure, but too costly and inefficient yet.
Then there’s the political aspect about libs using what is essentially semi-vaporware to destroy the energy/extraction industries to fit their agendas. If solar was allowed to develop naturally in parallel I think there would be a lot of support. But as always, liberals ruin anything they encounter.
Then theres the political aspect...
Agree completely.
“Truth is, a truly advanced civilization may have energy needs that would require them to capture as much of their sun’s output as possible. “
They must have panels with better efficiency than ours and don’t cause as much pollution in their manufacture.
I'm pretty sure by the time an advanced civilization starts building Dyson spheres, they will have long ago ironed out the inefficiencies of solar panels. ;-)
Thanks for the links, but I suspect that with so many unknowns out there, this will prove to be another new discovery of natural phenomena. I do believe alien life exists, but I don’t believe this is an example.
Hell, I’ve been wrong before, and this stiff IS interesting as just another humbling example of what we still don’t know.
And I am having serious doubts about the competence of those so-called "serious scientists."
First thing I thought of.
“I’m pretty sure by the time an advanced civilization starts building Dyson spheres, they will have long ago ironed out the inefficiencies of solar panels. ;-) “
Or abandoned them.
To be fair, none of these scientists are seriously considering anything other than a natural explanation. The media has taken the answer to a "what if it isn't?" question and turned it into headlines around the world.
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