Analyzing the data of the automatic ASAS-SN sky survey in search of analogues of the mysterious Tabby Star, the American astronomer identified 21 candidates who are characterized by the same strange behavior – irregular luminosity dips that have no usual explanations. A list of stars and their characteristics are published in the study.
The most “famous” star in our Galaxy KIC 8462852, also known as the “Tabby Star”, became famous in 2015 due to sporadic dips in brightness, which ranged from 0.5 to 22 percent. At the moment, scientists have put forward a huge variety of potential explanations for her strange behavior. Some say that this is due to the internal dynamics of the luminary, others point to a swarm of comets, asteroids and the analogue of Saturn with a huge ring system rotating in its orbit. Still others claim the absorption of the planet or the gradual destruction of the exoluna.
There are also those who are trying to find a connection between the flicker and the orbital megastructure, the so-called Dyson sphere created by an overdeveloped alien civilization, although recent research has minimized this possibility. Hunting for analogues
Until now, an obstacle to unraveling the mystery of the Tabby Star was the lack of a wide range of data. And despite the fact that observations of her and one of her “competitors” continue, there are still few examples of such strange behavior, so any conclusion about the nature of mysterious “blinks” cannot be unambiguous.
In order to expand the selection of mysterious stars of the Milky Way, Edward Schmidt from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln hunted for analogues of the “Tabby Star”, having achieved significant success.
At the first stage, the astronomer automatically analyzed the light curves of more than 14 million stars observed as part of the ASAS-SN project. As a result, the algorithm identified several objects showing dips similar to those observed in the Tabby Star.
Then Edward Schmidt manually checked the most promising candidates, excluding those whose tarnishes can easily be explained by companions or the internal dynamics. As a result, 21 stars remained, demonstrating an unusual, inexplicable blinking.
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The main achievement of the study was the conclusion that these sources, as a rule, are either main sequence stars or red giants. In this case, the mass of the former is comparable to the sun, and of the latter, it is approximately twice as great.
In addition, the astronomer notes that 6 sources show more frequent variability compared to the “Tabby Star”, that is, are its extreme versions.
What’s next? Edward Schmidt calls for close monitoring of these candidates to track their behavior over a longer time frame. Perhaps one of these identified “flickering” luminaries will be able to tell what is happening with the Tabby Star and its counterparts.
Two dozen strangely blinking stars discovered
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