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The mysterious stellar object, called KIC 8462852 or Tabby's Star has done unusual dips in brightness. None of this behavior is expected for normal stars slightly more massive than the Sun, but speculations have included the idea that the star swallowed a planet. Researcher, however, 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. The new study suggests the objects causing the long-period dimming of Tabby's Star can be no more than a few micrometers in diameter (about one ten-thousandth of an inch).
From January to December 2016, the researchers observed Tabby's Star in ultraviolet using Swift, and in infrared using Spitzer. Based on the strong ultraviolet dip, the researchers determined the blocking particles must be bigger than interstellar dust, so dust that orbits a star, called circumstellar dust, is not so small it would fly away, but also not big enough to uniformly block light in all wavelengths. This is currently considered the best explanation, although others are possible.
To future exploration study authors have a good idea why Tabby's Star dims on a long-term basis, they did not address the shorter-term dimming events that happened in three-day spurts in 2017. Previous research suggested a swarm of comets may be to blame for the short-period dimming.
by Dini Dwintika Karuniati
16611042
Article Science
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