The vast expanse of space holds infinite mysteries and finding life in the outer space is a fascination many are obsessed with. To find live in space, scientists adopt several measures but most of it at the moment is observation. Stories of aliens’ visit are probably the biggest modern mythologies and despite all the so-called “eyewitness” accounts, a concrete evidence of alien life is yet to be found.
Astronomers, professional or amateur observe space for signals and evidence of life and one such evidence has now said to have been found around the star KIC 8462852. KIC 8462852 is a 12-magnitude star situated at a distance of over 1,400 light years from earth. While hunting for exoplanets (planets outside our solar system and revolving around other stars), astronomers monitor the dip in the light of the stars when planets come in between the stars and the observer.
While monitoring KIC 8462852, the observed dips were erratic and irregular. Usually when exoplanets cross the stars, the dip in the light of such stars is very low – around 0.5 percent. But in the case of KIC 8462852, the reduction in the light of the star was as high as 20 percent. This is a phenomenon that has never been detected ever before and hence it led to various speculations ranging from a cluster of comets to something being wrong with the star itself.
However, none of the theories could satisfactorily explain the drastic dip in the light of the star. It resulted in another theory that there is a possibility that the star is being orbited by a mega-structure built by aliens to harness the energy of the star. Since aliens are every science fiction lover’s favourite topic, it did not take long before the news went viral over the internet and even SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) got involved in detecting any radio signals originating from the vicinity of the star.
Speculations are rife that the mega-structure, referred to as Dyson Sphere in the realm of science fiction is a probable answer to this mystery. However, the existence of an evidence does not mean that such a structure definitely exist and more research is needed to find the reasons for this unusual behaviour of the star.
And now another equally strong theory might unravel the mystery of the star. According to a new item published in the Dailymail.co.uk, the dip in the luminosity of the star could be due to an oblate or a lopsided structure of the star. Along with it, there are two planets orbiting the star and one of them revolves around it at a speed much faster than the other.
Science, works on evidence and observations and unless there is irrefutable proof that a Dyson Sphere actually orbits the star, it will be naïve to consider the possibility of the existence of an advanced alien civilisation near that region of space. While other theories are also being considered, SETI has also monitoring for the signs of any radio signals proving that they are being transmitted by aliens. Only with observation and evidence the mystery can be solved.
