New Theory for "Alien Megastructure": A Planet Like Saturn, But Close To The Sun

From Popular Mechanics</a>" data-reactid="22">From Popular Mechanics

alien megastructure</a>" KIC 8462852, otherwise known as Tabby's Star, has come forward: It could be an orbiting Saturn-like planet, with similarities including a full-bodied ring system." data-reactid="23">A new explanation of the "alien megastructure" KIC 8462852, otherwise known as Tabby's Star, has come forward: It could be an orbiting Saturn-like planet, with similarities including a full-bodied ring system.

Russian billionaire teaming up with Berkeley</a> to study the star, were hoping to hear, given the rampant speculation that Tabby's Star has bred. When Tabetha Boyajian, then of Yale University, discovered the object in 2015, she and her group weren't quite sure what to make of it. It seemed to flicker and dim in ways that science couldn't readily explain. The most popular explanation, if not the most scientifically accepted, was that it was a Dyson sphere built by aliens." data-reactid="24">That may not be the answer some, like the Russian billionaire teaming up with Berkeley to study the star, were hoping to hear, given the rampant speculation that Tabby's Star has bred. When Tabetha Boyajian, then of Yale University, discovered the object in 2015, she and her group weren't quite sure what to make of it. It seemed to flicker and dim in ways that science couldn't readily explain. The most popular explanation, if not the most scientifically accepted, was that it was a Dyson sphere built by aliens.

new paper</a>, researchers at the University of Antioquia in Colombia suggest something far more common-a ringed planet like is orbiting very close to the star. This type of planet, at that distance from a star, would dim the star's light in an irregular way during a transit. The rings would block some of the light, the planet would block out more, and then the rings would block out some light again. The rings would change slightly each go around, explaining the irregularity." data-reactid="25">In a new paper, researchers at the University of Antioquia in Colombia suggest something far more common-a ringed planet like is orbiting very close to the star. This type of planet, at that distance from a star, would dim the star's light in an irregular way during a transit. The rings would block some of the light, the planet would block out more, and then the rings would block out some light again. The rings would change slightly each go around, explaining the irregularity.

Mario Sucerquia</a>, noticed that a Saturn-style planet that close to a star would be feeling the immense tug of gravity. Ring structures are typically kept in place by what are called "shepherd moons," or moons on either side of the rings that keep them in gravitational alignment. A star's massive pull would shake this up, creating what Sucerquia and his team call a "wobbly" ring system, thus increasing the irregularity to an even greater degree." data-reactid="26">While testing out the model, the research team, led by Mario Sucerquia, noticed that a Saturn-style planet that close to a star would be feeling the immense tug of gravity. Ring structures are typically kept in place by what are called "shepherd moons," or moons on either side of the rings that keep them in gravitational alignment. A star's massive pull would shake this up, creating what Sucerquia and his team call a "wobbly" ring system, thus increasing the irregularity to an even greater degree.

Keivan Stassun</a> at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, tells New Scientist." data-reactid="27">The idea is far from definitive. Some suggest that even a wobbly ring system would still provide too much consistency for what has happened at Tabby's Star. "To my knowledge, there has not yet been a claim of quasiperiodic or periodic dimming in Tabby's star, as one would expect with something linked to material orbiting that star," Keivan Stassun at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, tells New Scientist.

Sucerquia admits that there could be other explanations, like a moon breaking apart. But he defends the work, saying that the point is "to show the community that there are mechanisms that can alter the light curves. These changes can be generated by the dynamics of the moons or the rings, and the changes in these systems can occur in such short scales as to be detected in just a few years."

New Scientist</a>" data-reactid="29">Source: New Scientist

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