The mystery of Tabby's Star may have a massive new answer
In short: For years, the erratic flickering of Tabby's Star fueled wild theories about alien megastructures. Now, new data suggests a more grounded—but still massive—celestial neighbor might be responsible for the strange behavior of this peculiar F3V main-sequence star.
Tabby's Star, also known as KIC 8462852, has long captivated astronomers due to its irregular flux variations, which can dip by as much as 20% in its light curve. While these deep dimming events led some to propose the existence of extraterrestrial megastructures like Dyson spheres, such theories have since been debunked. The star itself is a peculiar object, approximately 50% larger and more massive than our sun, with an effective temperature of 6,750 K.
A recent study led by Cristina Madurga-Favieres, utilizing data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) alongside new radial velocity measurements, identifies a potential companion. This object sits on the boundary between a giant planet and a brown dwarf. The researchers identified a symmetric, round-shaped transit in the TESS data, suggesting a companion with a radius of about 1.7 Jupiter radii and a mass of around 9.4 Jupiter masses. It would have a density of 2.2 g/cm3 and an equilibrium temperature of 268 K.
The significance of this finding lies in how it explains the star's erratic behavior. The companion is estimated to orbit the host star at a distance of some 2.35 AU on a slightly eccentric orbit. If the prevailing hypothesis of a family of exocomets or planetesimal fragments is correct, this massive companion would provide the orbital perturbations necessary to drive those bodies into the star's vicinity, where they would break up and cause the observed light fluctuations. However, astronomers emphasize that more observations are still required to confirm the final orbital period and the companion's existence.
The system is also complex, as it was discovered in 2021 to be part of a binary system featuring a red dwarf companion. This red dwarf is roughly half the size and mass of our sun. By disentangling these various components, scientists are moving closer to understanding whether the 'brain rot' of sci-fi megastructures can be replaced by the 'brain food' of orbital mechanics.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Did we just find a planet around Tabby's Star?
- Also: Tabby's star may be orbited by a planetary-mass companion
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