On a more serious note; a few days ago this lecture was posted

A new theory (I am guessing it's a theory ...)

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/kic-8462852-tabbys-star-may-be-a-star-suffering-indigestion-from-swallowing-a-planet/news-story/c2f4f935e9e711d96485dac53d76b9aa?from=htc_rss

gzt:

Killer picture!!!  Where did this come from?  Are there more like it?

joker97:

 

A new theory (I am guessing it's a theory ...)

 

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/kic-8462852-tabbys-star-may-be-a-star-suffering-indigestion-from-swallowing-a-planet/news-story/c2f4f935e9e711d96485dac53d76b9aa?from=htc_rss

 

Until we get more data, they are all theories.

The main thing is this:

All we have so far is crude light level dimming data. We need to wait for the next radical dimming episode and observe the spectrum of the star's emissions during that dimming episode. Then we will be able to judge those observations against the theories.

JimsonWeed:

 

gzt:

 

 

 

Killer picture!!!  Where did this come from?  Are there more like it?

 

It's just a somebody's drawing.

You can do your own if it helps.

jpoc: There is another development here. A study of photographs of the star going back to the late nineteenth century indicates that, as seen from Earth, the star is steadily dimming at around 20% per hundred years. Stars like that do not do that by themselves. There are no current hypotheses for natural events that can be responsible. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28786-comets-cant-explain-weird-alien-megastructure-star-after-all/  

jpoc:

joker97:

A new theory (I am guessing it's a theory ...)

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/kic-8462852-tabbys-star-may-be-a-star-suffering-indigestion-from-swallowing-a-planet/news-story/c2f4f935e9e711d96485dac53d76b9aa?from=htc_rss

Until we get more data, they are all theories.

The main thing is this:

All we have so far is crude light level dimming data. We need to wait for the next radical dimming episode and observe the spectrum of the star's emissions during that dimming episode. Then we will be able to judge those observations against the theories.

Whatever is doing it, it is at it again:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=11861251

The star entered a new dimming phase at the end of last week and the race is on to point some serious telescopes at it.

This is important because all we know up to now is that the star's luminosity dips but we have no measurements of how the light spectrum changes during those dips.

If we can get that information, we will be a lot closer to working out what is actually going on.