KIC 8462852, Tabby's Star
- Anomalous 22% dimming
- nicknamed after Tabetha F. Boyajian, LSU Baton Rouge, the astronomer who pushed for further observation
NASA: October 4, 2017: [[ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6963 | Mysterious Dimming of Tabby's Star May Be Caused by
Dust ]]
From January to December 2016, the researchers observed Tabby's Star in ultraviolet using Swift, and in infrared using the Spitzer Space Telescope.
- The smoking gun: Researchers found less dimming in the infrared light from the star than in its ultraviolet light. Any object larger than dust particles would dim all wavelengths of light equally when passing in front of Tabby's Star.
Meng, Huan Y.A.; et al. (3 October 2017). "Extinction and the Dimming of KIC 8462852". The Astrophysical Journal. 847 (2): 131. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa899c
Tabor, Abby (5 October 2017). "The scientific quest to explain Kepler's most enigmatic find" Phys.org
Some speculated a "Dyson Sphere" (which Dyson called a "shell", a collection of synchronized orbiting objects, and attributed to 1930's fantasy writer Olaf Stapledon.