The star KIC 8462852 has been getting a lot of attention recently. Earlier this year, the star, nicknamed ‘Tabby’s star’, began dipping in brightness with no obvious explanation. It wasn’t the first time the star’s light had sharply dropped, and astronomers have been keeping a close eye on it while theorizing why it kept acting so odd.
Typically when a distant star dips in brightness it’s because a planet or some other object has momentarily blocked its light from our view. because the star drops in brightness as much as 20%, and no planet could possibly be large enough to block that much of its light, some say that’s where the possibility of alien megastructure comes in. The scientists listened in the star’s direction for radio signals, but there was nothing.
With the help from donors, the researchers paid over $100,000 for the privilege to study the star in closer detail.The answer that seems more likely is that a massive cloud of dust is circling the star, which is pretty odd, blocking out light. On top of that, the amount of dust needed is enormous ,which is another mystery.
Space Learning Web 