Have we spotted the Birhat system?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 93886.html

Aye, it's probably a swarm of megacomets. But wouldn't the Imperial Guard produce the same effect?

At least 2 of the papers alluded to have been placed on arxiv.org:

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1509.03622v1.pdf

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1510.04606.pdf

The authors of the second paper are serious - it's noted as submitted to the Astrophysics Journal, which is a major publication in the field.

More when I've actually had time to read them.

munroburton wrote:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/forget-water-on-mars-astronomers-may-have-just-found-giant-alien-megastructures-orbiting-a-star-near-a6693886.html

Aye, it's probably a swarm of megacomets. But wouldn't the Imperial Guard produce the same effect?

Louis R wrote:At least 2 of the papers alluded to have been placed on arxiv.org:

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1509.03622v1.pdf

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1510.04606.pdf

The authors of the second paper are serious - it's noted as submitted to the Astrophysics Journal, which is a major publication in the field.

More when I've actually had time to read them.

munroburton wrote:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/forget-water-on-mars-astronomers-may-have-just-found-giant-alien-megastructures-orbiting-a-star-near-a6693886.html

Aye, it's probably a swarm of megacomets. But wouldn't the Imperial Guard produce the same effect?

Quite heavy reading for a friday evening. It's a valid theory, although with absolutely no evidence backing it up. No evidence disproving it, however.

Personally, I think it's debris from a planetary collision caused by migrating gas giants. I mean, Kepler's up to abouta thousand systems now with millions to go, it's not really against the odds to spot something like this. The surprise is really how soon it got spotted.

It would be fascinating if, over the next century or two, the occlusion of KIC 8462852 gradually increased until it disappeared. That would be strong evidence of a dyson sphere being built.