KIC 8462852 Observations |
KIC 8462852 Observations |
Oct 15 2015, 04:45 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Kepler found one very, very strange case:
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive...-galaxy/410023/ In a nutshell, while Kepler was observing it, the star (larger and brighter than the Sun) exhibited four dimming events that took place at irregular intervals, blocked a lot more light than a Jupiter-sized planet would block, and had a "shape" that varied in all four cases and did not resemble a planet. This case is attracting some wild speculation… in fact, it is seemingly certain that something wild must be going on; it's just a matter of which wild scenario is the correct one. If I had to throw my hat in the ring, I'd guess that a distant collision and breakup has placed big swarms of matter into a very long-period orbit. But there's no hypothesis that's been offered that doesn't seem problematic. |
|
|
Jan 23 2016, 05:29 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 68 Joined: 27-March 15 Member No.: 7426 |
KIC 8462852 is reportedly being watched for another instance of dimming. It was proposed to then analyze the light spectroscopically. It was indicated that this could determine if it was dust, or larger objects that were responsible for the dimming.
Dr. Schaefer's findings now seem to show that the star is already being substantially dimmed on a continuing basis. Wouldn't the spectroscopic work already done, which failed to find excess dust, indicate that larger objects cause the dimming? But what sort of larger objects? Dr. Schaefer's work seems to call the cometary explanation into very serious doubt. Disrupted planets were already doubted, due to the absence of dust. Dimming of 15 and 22 percent suggest objects on the order of 500,000 to 700,000 miles in diameter. Single objects on this scale would appear to be stars, but no other conspicuously shining stars have been found very near KIC 8462852. |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 8th June 2024 - 05:41 PM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |