The most mysterious star in the universe | Tabetha Boyajian

Something massive, with roughly 1,000 times the area of Earth, is blocking the light coming from a distant star known as KIC 8462852, and nobody is quite sure what it is. As astronomer Tabetha Boyajian investigated this perplexing celestial object, a colleague suggested something unusual: Could it be an alien-built megastructure? Such an extraordinary idea would require extraordinary evidence. In this talk, Boyajian gives us a look at how scientists search for and test hypotheses when faced with the unknown.
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[@glashoppah]

Actual scientist, speaking with precision: "one of the most mysterious stars in our galaxy." Marketing person working for TED: "The most mysterious star in the universe".

[@yotube1ful]

Madeleine Dacey I think glashoppah was addressing the difference between “one of” and “the most” nothing beyond that.

[@richardmalone3172]

@@yotube1ful Yes, but also the incomprehensibly huge difference between our galaxy and the universe.

[@hansgulldhe8519]

Have you not thought about ignoring that what obscures the planet lies at a greater distance to the planet or closer to us watching the event

[@cade8986]

glashoppah I thought the same thing

[@bronnblackwater7950]

indeed. sound like they know all the stars in the universe...theyre not even seen each and every in our galaxy

[@Hamza-tj5xq]

alien chef commander : " Bring me this Tabetha snitch "

[@orlandogalan]

Maze nice

[@anthonybroussard1102]

😂😂😂

[@maddee6619]

😆

[@robf1801]

alien chef? what, are they gonna eat her?

[@ivanzzz7610]

explain this boyyyyy : "alien chef" hahahahahhahahahahaha

[@Arsenic71]

And she is too humble to mention that this star is named after her: Tabby's star. There are not many stars named after people, maybe a hundred in total (and I'm not one of them 😁)

[@akibmahmud19]

Dude, You are on the bloody periodic table !!!!

[@Seekthetruth3000]

@@akibmahmud19 And a carcinogen!

[@ArghyadeepPal]

@@akibmahmud19 Lmao

[@allstarwatt7246]

@@ArghyadeepPal 😂

[@Tenchi707]

That's friggin cute

[@shvmsaini]

Between October 2019 and December 2019, at least seven separate dips were observed, the deepest of which had a depth of 2%. By the end of the observing season in early January 2020, the star had once again recovered in brightness. The total combined depth of the dips in 2019 was 11%, comparable to that seen in 2011 and 2013, but spread over a long time interval.

[@AzazeIlI]

What does that mean ? Lol

[@francineg2758]

@@AzazeIlI consistency, a pattern.

[@AzazeIlI]

@@francineg2758 Exciting, isnt it!? 😳🫢

[@francineg2758]

@@AzazeIlI absolutely!😊

[@lycheelynn4841]

@@francineg2758 how do you find info about this? I wanna keep up with this star and what ever comes out about the planets relatively close to it, but always have a hard time actually finding recent info

[@nikolateslaize]

I am one of those volunteers and I am really proud. Seeing eclipsing binaries and possible exo planets is beyond fascinating.

[@stevegrimes21]

And so u should be

[@nikolateslaize]

@@stevegrimes21 :) it is very kind of you. Thanks.

[@FireofGod7]

You know your looking at wormwood forming right?

[@nikolateslaize]

@@FireofGod7 wormwood or wormhole? :)

[@spacecadet35]

Keep up the good work. The results of the volunteers have been impressive.

[@Beanie-Sandals]

I really love what she ended on. "What will it mean if we find another star like this? And what will it mean if we don't?" If we don't find anything like this again it could possibly rule out natural phenomena, and lean towards a more alien hypothesis.

[@Ericsaidful]

The idea of dysonspheres actually existing is...its beyond fiction. Using it as an explanation for this phenomenon is absurd. Most likely it's a body, or bodies, that are oddly shaped with an odd orbit due to a collision. The sphere would be a myth using our own perception of energy use. Considering we are 100 years removed from the use of fire as our primary source of energy, we are so far from reaching the ultimate sustainable source of energy that we have no idea what will and what will not be useful even on our planet in the next 100 years.

[@kolian8765]

The problem with that is it is quite literally physically impossible to observe every possible star/star system that might imitate conditions similar to those displayed in the video. There are quadrillions of planets in our universe. So sadly, unless the cosmos throws a stroke of pure, absolute luck at us, ruling in extraterrestrial possibilities is and will remain something to strive for I get where your coming from though, it's always exciting when things like these pop up.

[@kolian8765]

@@johnfillmore why would it not be a sad or unfortunate thing? discovering something trivial (comparatively speaking) like an exoplanet is exciting in the astronomical world. If intelligent life is found elsewhere it would break the internet 💀.

[@danielabilez3619]

She is very good in her presenation. She is believably direct without being arrogant. Her voice moves and pulls you along. Good job. For her, the audience, the viewers: Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year

[@glenbrisebois8239]

Merry Christmas Daniel!

[@CaesarCassius]

That was a total letdown, she should have called this video the Most Clickbaitiest Title in the Universe

[@ossiedunstan4419]

Watching this tin foil collaboration , it was a preposterous Christmas.

[@lqr824]

This is the worst presentation I've ever seen in TED, and frankly, I think, even on KZbin in general. Her frame thesis is that "computers can't find this," but that's simply a lie. Computers can easily find things like this, if programmed to look. The REAL question isn't about the star, it's about what in the heck the NASA programmers were doing that their software didn't note these huge anomalies? Instead she peppers the talk with Star Wars-based theories that could have been shot down the second they were raised.

[@vijaz5559]

​@@CaesarCassiusshe's not in charge of giving titles on this video. Are u dumb?

[@mcs6330]

After watching this, I feel like earth might be the group project of alien students somewhere up there

[@axlnightmare]

And...those students failed.

[@HansLasser]

​@@axlnightmareYep, they will come back next year because of their crappy project!

[@tristanrylan]

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Take notes, flat earthers.

[@knix7329]

•Tristanrylan• Lol rrrrriiiiiiigggghhhhttt

[@majinregime1537]

Ummm...round earthers might wanna take notes

[@viktorvasilik5477]

what exactly was the "extraordinary evidence" for a spinning waterball when it was first *made up* (or as you call it "discovered")?? Start with just 1.

[@tristanrylan]

@@viktorvasilik5477 We don't need extraordinary evidence if it's been proven for thousands of years...

[@viktorvasilik5477]

@@tristanrylan that's what I thought your answer was going to be...sad because you don't have one...

[@BalefulHead]

I'm thrilled you gave this Ted talk. I've participated in various Zooniverse research efforts since my time in college Astronomy class. I hadn't heard any follow ups until this. Awesome. Thanks.

[@phil4893]

Mars is currently very visible at night from the UK, and on late night walks with my dog, I often find myself just staring up at it and the stars surrounding it. The word awesome is used far too easily these days, but the sky at night is, truly awesome.

[@Dra741]

I never thought the photometer would be able to detect this so accurately, I thought that it would be interfered with with all types of stray space signals and everything but it works perfectly

[@rodionromanovich449]

Thought Christopher Walken was the most mysterious star in the universe

[@BrookeSingleton]

Christopher Walken is TERRIFYING.

[@Albertojedi]

@@BrookeSingleton He's a psycho lookalike 🤣🤣

[@brittoncarter5302]

BAHAHAHA made my day.

[@Alexandra-xt1vf]

He is

[@whydoesitmatter6923]

Dude watch your mouth put some respect on his name seriously

[@jtoddjb]

regardless of aliens or not I think the best takeaway here is citizen science. Citizen science isn't restricted by religion, politics, or whatever. It would also be much more difficult to control or filter a thousand backyard scientists rather than just a few recognized scientific establishments. The possibilities could be endless as technology brings more ability to the citizen scientist.

[@patrickbyrne5070]

Well said dude

[@johnhough4445]

The older I get the more I realise my own ignorance. But, for me the biggest mystery is that of time and time alone must be properly understood before we can get anywhere with understanding anything else. This lady is gentle with us dummies, for which I am grateful; well done!

[@superfan7052]

“Gentle with us dummies” ugh - she’s not pandering.

[@chrisromoser4341]

thank you Tabetha, so interesting to hear of this

[@hooked4lifeca]

I think I may have an answer to this problem. Imagine a system with three or four Jupiter sized planets. During their orbits there will be times when they align and as a result, the outermost will be over time, pulled inward toward its star. The orbit of this outermost Jupiter becomes increasingly elliptical and in the process, it disturbs the orbits of the other Jupiters. Eventually the orbit of the outermost Jupiter becomes highly elliptical where it plunges towards its star, passing very close, then speeds away. If the angle of its ellipse is just right from the view point of the Earth, we see the planet plunging toward its star followed by it speeding away behind its star. This orbit would match up with the long, slow period where the light from the sun is being slowly dimmed as the Jupiter plunges toward its star. At maximum star dimness, this Jupiter may be within the equivalent orbit of Mercury, which would explain the 20% drop in light. It then speeds away from its star, passing behind it from Earth's point of view, which results in the sudden increase in luminosity. As far as the double dip in the data, followed by another dip, that can be explained by the outermost Jupiter towing the inner Jupiters into highly elliptical orbits, so that the closest passing Jupiter is rapidly preceded or followed by a second one, then more slowly followed by a third. We should be able to prove this hypothesis via super computer, or by continued observation of the star when this behaviour begins to repeat. We could also see a very pronounced wobble produced by the gravitational tug of the planets as they speed by in their elliptical orbit.

[@chrispatton4219]

In this case, you can create models to recreate the orbits that would have resulted in this phenomenon and then accurately predict the next time any number of orbit related events should occur. I think what she was trying to say was that they exhausted all of the possibilities in naturally occurring phenomenon because of the behavior of the object.

[@dorrianstone7264]

hooked4lifeca the final conclusion was it’s just a massive gas cloud.. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@nayak3105]

here is another scientist trying to figure this out. man you have to understand something that it is really important to have the right tool to solve the mystery of the universe and right now you don't have that kind of tool. it is like a doctor cannot do surgery without having a surgical tool.so instead of solving the mystery, you need to make an invention that allows you to see behind the star as the star is right in front of you. by the way amen to that.

[@nayak3105]

@Tabatha Tuszynski you are right. my comment was kind of toxic that I posted four years ago. 1st step is always very important even if it is a small step.

[@groundcontrol-888]

they will have to rename it hooked4lifeca 1 if you are correct !

[@breannathompson9094]

I got in trouble watching this in class, but then I showed my teacher and since it was science class, she let us watch it on the projector. #lucky

[@breannathompson9094]

Astrophysics is also my dream career

[@Rookie_Rockounding]

Nice! That's a rad teacher

[@jacobzu6655]

+Breanna Thompson same

[@greatsea]

+Breanna Thompson It is a win-win pursuit. If it didn't work out you could always crunch numbers for some corporation.

[@corydunn2453]

lol nice

[@PlanetXMysteries-pj9nm]

I can't express enough how grateful I am for your channel. Your videos have helped me understand complex scientific concepts in an easily digestible way

[@hafsasharmin6980]

I'm here from a book where I've read about tabetha and I thought tabetha is a male person but she is 'she' 🥰🥰🥰And of course sooo much proud of you🥰 (I'm a bagladeshi so I couldn't catch the name)

[@EQOAnostalgia]

This is absolutely fascinating! I had read a bit about it, but the way she breaks it down. As soon as i saw that 15% dip in light my jaw hit the ground!

[@Otaner142]

EQOAnostalgia she said there was a 20% drop 1 thousand times the area of the earth..... damm

[@snitox]

I don't get it, what if its an mis-shapen asteroid that is closer to us and just seems big and its blocking it. I think they are just riding the hype train.

[@10ahm01]

+KNO a planet can't be this big and you're saying asteroid??

[@brandonsarazin3257]

there is alot of things bigger than you could conceive. like suns several times and than the entire solarsystem. Millions of miles wide.

[@TheZahirNT2]

KNO because certainly none of the thousands of citizen enthusiasts or the teams of highly trained scientists who have looked at these data thought of that. You'd better write them. You may have cracked the case wide open!

[@trent8002003]

Sounds like it wasn't the star that was mysterious but the "thing" that passed in front of it!

[@chriscrews5795]

Dyson sphere lvl 3 civilation hundreds of millions or billions or years old

[@parthsachan3140]

The kind of TED Talks we need more

[@lqr824]

This is frankly the worst I've ever seen. Her main idea is that "computers can't find this," but that's not true. Computers can easily find things like this, if programmed to look. The real question isn't about the star, it's about what in the heck the NASA programmers were doing that their software didn't note these huge anomalies? So: the entire thesis of the talk is incorrect. Why the heck do you think we need more such talks?

[@Combobreaker100]

I think it’s the result of a stray solar system merging with this star’s system and causing multiple alignments from our perspective. With the second star appearing from behind KIC and the stray planets merging orbits in some binary system sort of way. Some planets collide with others, create debris, etc.

[@JMsoo]

Imagine hundreds of years from today maybe this clip will be seen as: "This was the first time we noticed them".....

[@jujuyee2534]

Jivan Moulandi scary

[@bassinblue]

Definitely watching too many movies.

[@Fortify2030]

"It was happy times, before they attacked us..."

[@MegaPieru3000]

@@bassinblue It's possible although somewhat unlikely. But still possible.

[@awoken2562]

Great, if we find aliens and they look into our history of extra terrestrial movies, they would see that 90% of the time, we kill them.

[@TheHelghast1138]

Yeah not a good welcome sign

[@psycheLiquid]

:))))))))

[@TheKajunkat]

fortunately, they won't receive the transmissions for another 1400 years or so.

[@johnmason1239]

usually only if they attack 1st,Iam all for intergalactic peace, but whilst your dashing out there-calling ETs in for lunch-a good probing via SETI,many are prepared for other potential evantualities.

[@jefffarnsworth7678]

"How to Serve Man"

[@bluesmon54321]

Would it be helpful to have the Webb telescope train its sights on the star for a while?

[@chrisjpritchard]

Observation 1 . There is an unimaginable actual tangible distance between us and this star with countless objects ,smaller than the resolution and sampling in the analogue /digital optical lens processor of Kepler. The aggregate of these objects can eventually create random clean and noisy transition signatures. Observation 2 . Remember that we are looking at a tiny, less than a fraction of space , and so this pattern will be repeated else where just by statistical calculation . Observation 3 : Large bodies orbiting other stars can create transition shadows as Kepler can not digitally distinguish the x.y,z axis profile of that space block at that distance using 'one axis 'of reference and relative observation. Even with Kepler orbit, this reference positioning for data acquisition needs to be extended by distance factor of x100 in all x,y,z planes to get more accurate data. Although its good to recognise a pattern its impossible to link any assumptions of Alien existence at this stage. We observe an anomaly to the 'typical' we can say.

[@alphalex88]

Her remarks at the end of the video about citizen astronomers put a smile on my face, as no one astronomer is less worthy than another; irregardless of credentials - because anyone can make an observation and anyone can hypothesize a theory.

[@0076nicholas]

Alex Carreon irregardless is not a word

[@t.j.sortino7844]

Yes! I believe technology, meaning... easy to use/learn, affordable, cutting-edge at home technology is the future method in which experts in various fields will be made. Already this is happening! Our society is the problem though! Experts are only recognized as true professionals if they have one, or multiple very expensive pieces of paper! I don't think technical colleges, and internships will ever go away. Airline pilots, lawyers, judges, doctors, dentists, surgeons, etc... All professions that require hands on training, and is regulated by government agencies to keep us all safe; will always fully require a certification from an accredited school/corporation.

[@jimrobin]

REGARDLESS* 🙄

[@bhall675]

The fact that the main mission had to move on and they had to rely on data from backyard astronomers is a vindication of the unsung scientists.

[@wardjohnson2812]

Regardless

[@aperson22222]

At 2:39 she says " . . . one of the most mysterious stars in our galaxy." That's a far more modest claim than the video's title promises.

[@PresidentialWinner]

+aperson22222 i noticed that too

[@paulsalterego8700]

At a little after the 6 minute mark. She says "We checked the data, but the data were good." There, I contributed.

[@themshourya]

Most mysterious would the methulesa star. It is or at least was believed to be older than the universe itself (which is absolutely retarded).

[@TobyShew]

+CaseOfSpaides data is a plural word - she is correct as she is referring to countable data

[@alexandrugheorghe5610]

+Shourya Mehta "than the universe itself" is that the observable? ;-)

[@charleslanot7080]

Thanks Summer, Rick is proud

[@Roybwatchin]

What if it's just one or more blackholes that are floating around in the "vicinity" and they are redirecting the light at a different angle for random periods of time?

[@Threedog1963]

Wouldn't you see a gravitational lense effect rather than just a dip in the light from the star?

[@lqr824]

I think you're half-right. It's probably just dust clouds floating between us and that star. Black holes absorb all energy equally, but this one is affecting different parts of the spectrum in exactly the way dust would. So, it's dust. We KNOW it's dust.

[@MrSean03839]

Obviously a new death star weapon being developed by the empire.

[@thecutestcuck7978]

Yeah, and we want to make contact. Is it just me or does that sound like a really bad idea?

[@Snoogen11]

Maybe this time they'll cover the exhaust ports. I'm not holding out much hope though...

[@MrSean03839]

@@Snoogen11 Nah. When you develop the most powerful weapon in the galaxy you always would want to also build in an easy way to destroy it. LoL!

[@ohonesixone]

Maybe Disney can kill it just like the franchise?

[@Achonas]

FINALLY. Something actually rooted in science

[@derekwiffen1115]

I would really love to see an update on where thinking about this star is today. What new evidence is there and what is the current thinking?

[@thepirateshoots]

maybe a double star, or even triple star. of course the radiation from one star is blocked totally if it's behind the other; or it blocks the first star's light if it is in front of the other.

[@jenmack8944]

I really really enjoyed spending time in my evenings as a planet hunter. Thank you for putting it out there! ❤️

[@andy4an]

I really appreciate that this star was found by amateurs. This is the sort of thing that I'd kinda like to hear a follow up on, but never expect to.

[@superfan7052]

What is an “amateur”?

[@andy4an]

@Super Fan generally, those that do things for fun rather than add a profession. I watched this video 6 years ago and don't remember it.

[@refnref954]

Her mind is as clear as crystal. She knew each and every thing she was saying, even though i am a not a native english speaker, i understood her words very easily and clearly. I envy her🥺

[@johnnyfacchin6469]

When is part 2 coming to us.

[@aeolisticwill]

She's not saying Aliens but... Aliens.

[@unvergebeneid]

It's never aliens. It just might be aliens though.

[@rodluvan1976]

+Mark William eh, she did say Alien Megastructures and Aliens

[@Tbonyandsteak]

+Mark William The A word

[@lessthanlucas]

+Grizz Frank Dude. Pour yourself a glass of water. Is the surface (away from the edges of the glass) perfectly flat? I think you would find that it is. Blow on the water. It ripples, but does the average height of the water remain the same? It does. Try these things with a pail of water, then a tub. Do the properties remain the same? Look at a lake. Again, the surface, on average, is completely level. So why do ships on the ocean vanish over the horizon? They are still perfectly visible, yet they appear to be sinking down into the water. (All ships do this and this is easily verifiable if you are willing to spend a clear day at a port.) A flat earth would have flat water and you'd be able to see the ships until they were out of sight.

[@lessthanlucas]

+Grizz Frank Um, no you can't do that. The ship actually appears to be sinking. As in, from the your position, the deck appears to lower into the water at a steady progression. Vanishing perspective is a linear phenomenon, mapped with straight lines. A straight line could not cause an object's position to move out of plane. Plus, on a clear day, you can totally see things up to 10 miles away.

[@EdTube444]

If I lived in a sufficiently advanced society wishing to send a message across the galaxy I would use my local star to send a message. We can see the light from stars thousands of light years away. I would use a flotilla of satellites stretching Mylar like sheets broad enough to block star light alternately.

[@HungLionSmokes]

+Edward Owens still bounded by the speed of light and the delays therof

[@EdTube444]

Deviantfulness Of course. To communicate faster than the speed of light you might use quantum entanglement which is seemingly instantaneous. Problem with that is finding the right quanta being manipulated, figuring out how it is being manipulated, and then decoding it. Kind of like a quadrillion strings stretched for great distances and short distances and in no particular direction and plucking one or two and then finding the end of those particular strings. Unless an advanced society has figured out how to find quanta in the vicinity of another civilization or to listen in or eavesdrop on quanta from all over the universe. We will probably be extinct before we get that smart.

[@MrTreebeard420]

So you are telling me we were getting a message in some type of giant star light Morse code, and right when communication was getting chatty Kepler stop and we will never get the message?

[@EdTube444]

MrTreebeard420 I'm saying that would be one of the best ways to send a message a good distance across a galaxy. Star light travels thousands of light years. It wouldn't have to even be a coherent message no more than waving your arms and jumping up and down is anything more than calling attention to yourself when stranded on a desert island and you spot a ship. When you think about it planets are islands in the cosmos.

[@EdTube444]

Also if you subscribe to the Rampaging Nano Bot Swarm Theory then then even if you had the technology to build a Dyson Sphere or more likely a ring, given the amount of material involved, is to invite attack. So even if you had the technology would you not use it for fear of drawing unwanted attention. Another possibility is shepherding masses of large asteroids and dwarf planets into close proximity to each other to produce the effect of alternately dimming star light and draw attention that way. Maybe it's a last ditch effort to draw attention to a dying world.

[@cynthiaalways5663]

Any updates on this?

[@sethbearry440]

I had her for a class. Great professor. Learned a lot in her class.

[@robby12320]

I find it funny that this video is very simple and easy to understand yet many people in the comment section seem to disagree.

[@JonatasAdoM]

I loved how she seemed to be defending the alien theory and leaning towards the end when bang she took the opposite route

[@rogerstorrs8679]

@@JonatasAdoM Well it's kinda fun.... (And it gets her clicks ;) )

[@odinsmeadhorn196]

"Dyson: we don't just do vacuum cleaners"

[@kgtc]

we do spheres

[@autohmae]

KGT UserCast actually, they are working on batteries and cars now too I believe. Who knows if they'll do spheres in the future too.

[@damianwattimena4128]

Crack up

[@purpletac.9423]

this is good

[@alexoelkers2292]

It really is a advanced vacuum cleaner...

[@davidwilde4151]

It does seem very simple to explain and it certainly does not involve 1. Aliens 2. Star Wars - Death Stars etc 3. Asteroid belts or 4. Black holes The strange pattern shown in the video of the Kepler effect is because we on earth are observing the planetary object passing the star in an elliptical orbit north to south travelling towards us. The other Kepler observations will be objects passing the same star at different elliptical orbits therefore creating smaller dips as they appear to pass more quickly to us as observers. I am certain that the results would be entirely different if observed from anywhere else except earth.

[@MONSTERDR451]

or maybe it's that Alien Threat POTUS Reagan was warning of at the UN...

[@alexislambert8039]

8:52 that was awkward 😅

[@hoola_amigos]

Lol yeaa

[@ismailadyaman5168]

I laughed, then realised nobody else did. It was awkward for me too

[@harshmathur4266]

I felt sad for her

[@DaveWard-xc7vd]

Whatever this is........it happened a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

[@miasma529]

the "galaxy far far away" is the Milky Way, KIC 8462852 is located in the Milky Way

[@DaveWard-xc7vd]

@@miasma529 I wasnt trying to be scientifically correct. But you are correct.

[@Insane3OB]

@Furrowed Brow That was just a movie.

[@DaveWard-xc7vd]

@@Insane3OB Thats what they want you to think. It was actually a documentary.

[@Insane3OB]

@Furrowed Brow I never made a Documentary it was Art.

[@sglonebird]

Ever notice how all the instruments looking for intelligent life are pointed AWAY from Earth.

[@xanderb6946]

"Ever notice how all the instruments looking for planets are pointed AWAY from Earth."

[@JaydenAndJacob69]

Wow, you are really witty!

[@jerryslater3447]

on earth we can talk and listen, you may need a hearing aid...

[@Joshua-notjosh-]

@@jerryslater3447 do they also make "Thinking Aides"? Because I'm pretty sure you missed the joke.

[@TheAlanX2]

That's so cool. And I would point out that we also point our microscopes inward looking for intelligent life too.

[@AnubisEvalyna]

Always stick with the most rational explanation. It's another star nearby messing with the light using it's gravitational field. And sometimes their astroids collide making dust clouds. They are now called KIC8462852A and KIC8462852B.

[@rayagoldendropofsun397]

There's no such thing as Gravitational Field, even better Gravity is a myth

[@DexterHaven]

@@rayagoldendropofsun397 You can't even write 'gravity' correctly. 'Gravity' is a proper name, so who cares.

[@rayagoldendropofsun397]

@@DexterHaven Proper grammar is important, keep it up ! Is that all U got in defense of your beloved Gravity ?

[@DexterHaven]

@@rayagoldendropofsun397 You sound like an idiot and are stuck on stupid. You still can't spell it in lower case. And you are the one dodging your burden of proof, since you asserted that Gravity is a myth at the outset. On what grounds do you base that thesis, dummy?

[@warcriminalforhire1828]

@@rayagoldendropofsun397 look how disgustingly ad hominem and aggressive you are, typical for conspiracy theorists who have nothing to back up their feverdreams

[@cris33311]

when you look at something far away with a binocular and a closer object is trespassing your sight very close to your binocular , you will see that the object or person is blocking a lot from your view sight making it to look huge and endless. What if these blocking sunlight cuts off are caused by some random (closer to us) huge asteroids tresspassing the sight of the telescope sensor ? Is it possible ?

[@manasyadav1993]

Yeah but what would it be orbiting around? It can’t be our sun otherwise you would see similar fluctuations around other stars as well in that deep field. The trouble with that explanation is how periodic that dimming signal is. I also thought the same btw.

[@David-Field.Stuff01]

Exactly.

[@ashokkemp1793]

I would say it could be the planets that are orbiting that star might have a similar orbiting time cycle and align every few years thus making it appear like the graph the scientist are presenting. Maybe, it requires extended period of observation to prove this.. But, just imagine even planets in our Solar system align every 1000 years in the same plane. If the star is young and the planetary system has just formed they may be circling the star faster and hence align more frequently.. Just a theory..

[@affugter]

@@ashokkemp1793 hypothesis

[@bonafide183]

P0o.

[@JAMAICADOCK]

makes sense of why Stephen Hawking recently said 'don't make contact'.

[@user-eg5jr7qm4p]

A debris field of two collided celestial bodies (two large solid planets now shattered into pieces) in an elliptical shape trapped orbiting the star would create such a light diminishing pattern. As far as the time period. The closer the object is to the sun, the longer it blocks light. The further the object, the shorter the duration. I don't feel like doing the math to give exact times and sizes, but you get the idea, and using some calculations you could recreate the hypothetical cloud of debris. So, two planets collided and created a large debris field around what remains of their cores so that gravity keeps them and their debris dancing around each other in a tight elliptical orbit (think rings of Saturn on a massive debris scale and angled in such a way as to create this light pattern to observers here). Highly plausible considering there's a high probability of many rogue planets drifting between solar systems, ejected by larger bodies in their host systems to drift alone through space until a sun draws them in (an event that may have very well occurred in our own solar system to give our current planetary alignments to the sun). If aliens were sufficiently advanced to build a structure so large, they'd be more likely to build a Dyson sphere and you wouldn't see the star at all because they'd be absorbing most of it's energy.

[@sliceofchee]

Or its a GIANT planet being formed from an asteroid belt which would eliminate the dust issue. These scientists are rather dim today.

[@user-eg5jr7qm4p]

@@sliceofchee Also highly plausible. Not all scientists jump immediately to fantastic conclusions. However, far too often 'experts' allow imaginations to override logical deduction. Eventually however they backtrack (once someone states the obvious) and begin thinking like scientists again. So there's always hope lol

[@ernerwerkhardt9789]

its

[@2011Azure]

@@ernerwerkhardt9789 No, ... " it's ". i.e. a contraction of " it is ".

[@ernerwerkhardt9789]

@@2011Azure not that one, this one: "they'd be more likely to build a Dyson sphere and you wouldn't see the star at all because they'd be absorbing most of it's energy" Not "it's" but "its", the possessive form of it. The most common grammatical error in the English language. Made worse by autocorrect in all of today's smart phones, who will always autocorrect "its" with "it's".

[@utkarshpitre1118]

Could the variation in light be caused by internal causes like fusion reactions which absorb energy instead of emitting ? I don't know if synthesis of elements past Iron in the periodic table by fusion is endothermic ie energy absorbing instead of energy releasing

[@bofpwet9500]

10:11 How and where would they find all the materials and energies needed to construct such a thing when they just happen to have no ressource and energy left for themself?

[@ismailadyaman5168]

just as we are able to build nuclear power plants which give us more energy before using the last bit of our current energy reserves, they could easily have applied the same principal to get energy from their sun. Nobody is that stupid as to deplete all resources without ensuring more will come.

[@rrni2343]

We probably live in an alternate universe where those poor sods got selected to be terminated to make room for a new hyperspace express route.

[@bistro4]

And they probably didn't even bother reading the plans that had been on display for 50 years. Apathetic bloody planet. I have no sympathy at all.

[@MrDasmaster]

+Cate Vogons! P.S Thanks for the poetry.

[@iamtenzin4409]

+shayne g And all the fish!

[@bistro4]

Now that's poetry. I can just hear the readers dropping like flies from the internal hemorrhaging you caused them. Just marvelous.

[@rrni2343]

My left side suddenly went numb after reading the first line.. and I seem to be missing my spleen. Oh?! I din't know I had this much blood...

[@scene100]

What if they are sending us a message using the light fluctuations...... 🤔

[@davidtyson6869]

Good evening show I would like to see you are connected 2 more than you know and they will never understand the disagreeable they understand the 666 year it's up the whole solar system it's rotating and changing have you not notice how the Earth within 20 years have changed and the flickering of light that they see it is not something getting in the way it is your ancestors am I nice who are on their way here thank you

[@michaelkochalka3251]

​@@davidtyson6869 Proper use of punctuation in a sentence or paragraph is the key to convey a meaningful message.

[@heretikal]

Big brain time =-O

[@scene100]

@@michaelkochalka3251 man, I thought I was just trippin fam. Lmfao

[@enroute6955]

Morse code

[@dbarra-]

Thanks TED

[@eiadhlal5145]

I have a suggestion . What if the strange mater resulting from the collision of two neutron starts collided with a large amount in this star? Is it possible that it will negatively affect the light from it?

[@robertklotz9319]

Like the periodic spots in our sun!?

[@eiadhlal5145]

@@robertklotz9319 no. I mean, is it possible that the reason for this difference in the brightness of the star is strange matter?

[@DustinRodriguez1_0]

Is there a particular reason why they don't seem to be suspecting the star itself? They did consider whether it was young and surrounded by a cloud left over from formation, but aren't there a lot of possibilities like the star having recently ingested something large (planet scale or larger), and still roiling and irregular due to that? I'm no astrophysicist, and don't know if perhaps something like what I suggested might have a characteristic signature that is missing, but given the almost total lack of consideration of irregularities in the stars output itself (rather than output being blocked) makes me think that maybe there is some evidence that establishes fairly clearly that the star is regular enough that it couldn't be any oddity with the star, but must be something between it and our detector.

[@adamnelson5938]

+Dustin Rodriguez this was my thought as well. I guarantee there is a "natural" reason for this data.

[@f4k4]

watch 6:30

[@kingkobra1978]

They said they took all that into consideration

[@DustinRodriguez1_0]

Bearded Bard Taking into account what we already know about stars is not sufficient to rule out things we don't know about stars. Before scientists start looking to more outlandish possibilities, they always consider what sort of thing COULD cause what they see. If they discovered an explanation of why it is definitely NOT something unknown about star behavior, they did not mention it.

[@Slingblade420]

"Outlandish possibilities" being the possibility of there being other intelligent life in the universe?

[@shirleypena4133]

This is one of the best TED talks I've heard in some time. :)

[@lqr824]

literally the worst I've ever heard. The entire talk is framed with the thesis that "computers can't find this signal" which is an absolute lie. The real question is why the software wasn't programmed to look for such a strong signal.

[@petes5863]

Is it possible that multiple planets crossed the field of vision at that particular time?

[@cccmmm1234]

Multiple planets could cause the asymmetric dip. That's more likely than aliens.

[@revan3841]

Way too big and way too irregular.

[@DexterHaven]

@Umanfly Yeah, or space dust, an asteroid field, a part of a comet, Joy Behar, anything could obstruct the view.

[@daymongray3516]

If multiple planets were involved to don’t think it would be repeatable.

[@davidpapitto6446]

@@revan3841 Like brown dwarfs in a highly elliptical orbit? Like the one that has been hypothesized to orbit outside of our heliosphere?

[@andyharpist2938]

It's a spanner that fell off the Hubble telescope slowly spinning infront of the position in space when it looks at that star.

[@lqr824]

You're probably close. I think the best fit is an opaque interstellar dust cloud slowly drifting between us and that star.

[@osiris5315]

I thought Tabetha Boyajian was the name of the star

[@craigcase5766]

Osiris I did too until I read your comment.

[@hrishikeshrajwade8208]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@captaincringe2595]

Well, in a way you are correct. It is colloquially known as Tabby's Star.

[@ShabazDraee]

hahahahha bruh i died

[@romeo34889]

Osiris...dittos and kudos...

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Really? Isn't it obvious? First dip is a Jupiter class planet with a Super-Earth sized moon. Second dip is the same, but the moon is in a different part of it's orbit. Third dip, multiple planets, in close alignment. Heck, the whole thing can be a series of alignment events, especially if there's any resonance to the orbits.

[@robertcase4995]

Blows my mind!

[@lqr824]

It blows my mind that she made such a bad talk. Her thesis is incorrect. Her point is "computers can't find this" but of COURSE they can. The talk should have been about: who at NASA managed to write software that didn't find this signal.

[@icosthop9998]

6yrs ago 😳 Here I was thinking this happened no more than a few months ago. 😒 Yes we need an update ❗️

[@megachax3452]

The astronomer in me is so happy i clicked on this video

[@nukeynuke1497]

On god

[@Xanderfied]

Again, turns out it was another moth. Just a moth.

[@kellybottoms57]

Hahaha

[@mqwerty9564]

The Bell Curve by Charles Murray.... read it.

[@alanpdrv]

We found the bug

[@Xanderfied]

Would you like to know more?

[@osamaghaedy1869]

I hope with jwst we get new update on this star

[@jamesdrynan]

Nascent.That is where we are in the speculative knowledge department.Although the minds of humans have led to discoveries and inventions,( The automobile, planes, rockets, satellites,) and an expanded understanding of technology,( computers, digital realm, etc., ) our intelligence is embryonic in the grand scheme of things. But curiosity and passion drives us forward...

[@firenationfiles2063]

KIC 8462852 is 1,480 light years away. *We are seeing what it looked like 1,480 years ago.*

[@firenationfiles2063]

I copied someone from 1,480 years ago?

[@thomaskuiper3355]

No bro

[@thomaskuiper3355]

Didnt they teach you science on school?

[@HenryPerez_royal_hp]

Fire Nation Files what? No bro 🤦‍♂️

[@thomaskuiper3355]

No the expanse of space in the universe what means is that it is 3 times more distance

[@timhallas4275]

Maybe what we are witnessing is not something orbiting that star, but something orbiting us. Now who's to say it is not.

[@zulkifliali8832]

great new idea!

[@shivPrakashPal108]

Last line given me goosebumps

[@camerongarrett6439]

Now we know that this wasn't a Dyson sphere but it's still so freaking cool!

[@glutinousmaximus]

... Carl Sagan was paraphrasing Steven Weinberg - the originator of the quote: "Extraordinary claims require Extraordinary evidence".

[@7788Sambaboy]

Or was it David Hume, or Pierre-Simon de Laplace, or Marcello Truzzi...or does it matter? One has to be quite famous and well know and published to have famous quotes

[@CaimbuelHarleaquinn]

Thanks for the video! It's very interesting. So, patterns... My purely uneducated guess: May 2009, maybe large planet (or binary). with a slow orbiting moon about 1/3 it's size (or most likely multiple moons) passing by extending the duration. Mar 2011, likely same planet (this planet takes 22 earth months to orbit around the its star. position of the moons this time round is in front maybe, causing a larger dip, but aligning with the planet to explain the shorter duration. Feb 2013, first dip is likely same planet (well, it's 22 earth months later, so patterns). 2nd and 3rd dips 20 + 50 days later could be 2 other planets in the solar system. Smaller planets, with slower orbits. Might be the moons as well. Hard to tell as there are no patterns observed yet.

[@clvsidy]

So nice !

[@ernsailor9041]

It's amazing how with all the stuff out there that nobody knows anything about but we have found the most mysterious star.

[@Animeeater25]

What if it was multiple planets with very close orbits, so that sometimes two (or more) planets are superimposed unpon eachother. This could explain why the light gradually dims more and more, a planet in a closer orbit is moving faster than one in a farther away orbit. As the closer planet is moving out from behind the farther away planet, the shadow cast would slowly become larger until the two planets are completely separated, which would also explain the quick jump back up to expected levels.

[@lqr824]

Good, yes, but even 100s of Jupiters' worth of planets wouldn't block that much light. And, there'd be more periodicity. And, we'd see similar curves as they entered the space between us and the star then moved back out.

[@ANIME2020X]

Morty is messing around that star.

[@DaLoopDiggerz]

+moniker127 Nobody exist on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody's gonna die.

[@CM-qd6px]

There were multiple structures passing in front of the star that moved from sync to un-sync to sync

[@joelong925]

It was not mentioned if the shading pattern repeats, or was a one time observation. If one time observation, would a shower of space debris passing between the star at a closer distance to earth provide the pattern you are seeing?

[@IamsTokiWartooth]

an opaque object, like a planet or alien megastructure was passing in front of the star, it would block both red and blue light the same amount, says Wright. However, the astronomers found that blue light was blocked much more than red light during the star’s dimming. Since blue light has much shorter wavelengths than red light, it’s much more easily blocked by smaller materials, such as fine grains like dust. “This is characteristic of something that’s filtering the light,” says Wright. “That’s what you get when you have dust.”

[@rogerstorrs8679]

Hey it was still a fun ride - maybe the resulting dust-structure might be a bit 'exotic' too ?

[@harpodjangorose9696]

I felt a great disturbance in the Forrce. As if millions of flat-earthers cried out in horror and we're suddenly silenced.

[@johnstitt2615]

Harpo Django Rose good one...🤣🌎

[@tenchu65]

Yes you were

[@ronblouch178]

Grammar and spelling. If you are going to go after flat earthers I recommend spelling skills.

[@sausagehappymealx9931]

Is earth flat?

[@PFWYG]

Harpo,... You believe a human being can see something that is said to be 1,480 light years away? lmfao - that is absolutely ridiculous.

[@microaggressions]

I spent over a thousand hours on this project and was happy to be able to contribute data

[@DramOfScience]

Imagine a civilization so much more advanced than ours that they just might be able to solve their energy needs by a means a little more practical than a colossal super megastructure Dyson Sphere.

[@bhw6231]

Those mf's look at us like we're a bunch of ants

[@steveg6978]

Remember they exhausted their resources.

[@burtknighten4438]

Zero point energy would make all of this obsolete

[@lqr824]

Yeah Ben, easy to imagine. Dyson was the first to imagine it. But she's really misinforming the audience to bring up the subject. The change in the spectrum shows it's dust. It's not a Dyson Sphere. Just a red herring.

[@IAmPobble]

Olaf stapledon invented the Dyson sphere. Even Dyson credited him.

[@CyberMew]

It’s hard to say. It could be multiple planets of elliptical orbits. And just nice the dip is caused by these planets that happens to line up in front of their sun once every 1000 years. If we keep observing it for the next million years and it doesn’t happen again then maybe it could be a rouge planet passing by. Or who knows it could be multiple things passing by between the sun and us. And it doesn’t have to be close to the sun. It can even be near us. No one knows. Unless the signal is repeatable.

[@luminositymusic3810]

CyberMew that’s my thought.

[@livelyarts49]

good points...

[@csgstormer]

I like the "planets lining up" theory. That would actually be useful for us to know more about how large the system is too. We just need more data point to really make any hard claims either way. It's fun to speculate and that's about it.

[@autohmae]

+CyberMew 'Luckily' our most advanced system for detecting this is looking the other way, so we probably have no idea and there is a big chance we'll never know.

[@jerkchickenblog]

this is what i was going to post. the further the star is the more likely other bodies as a problem are... the syncing might imply a very large system around a very large star, with multiple small bodies on similar orbits

[@Jere616]

Don't remember where I heard this, but what if there is a civilization out there more advanced than us, by 20 minutes? -g-

[@jotoenatehaaen]

+Jere616 whatever we think of, they would have thought of it 20 minutes earlier? that's scary...

[@nicegoing1535]

Then they probably have the next iPhone

[@theholyherb420]

+jotoenatehaaen it sure is scary they even know what I did last summer

[@Jere616]

+kicsimoe Yes, but it was just a joke.

[@johnathanlivingstonseagull5524]

I love this field of study and I want to have a job in this field. Filament winding, magnetism, butterfly migratory phenomenons. I want in beyond being an enthusiast.

[@nageshthakare462]

what i suspect is that, there could be multiple planets are getting along in the field of view of Kepler in jumbled order just bcz they are in different orbits and might be forming some sort of weird mega structure which we think that is does not feel like that planet is spherical... i think THIS natural explanation would fit into the picture... hope so

[@momsspaghetti9970]

We should atart outsourcing scientific endeavours

[@juliaeve]

This is so cool

[@face2faceband283]

Also important to note is if a stars Dilithium crystal activators were in remission it would only cause a 1/2 % dip in the earth's computer detection unit. Such as had happened at Romulus 5 in the Borg quadrant.. just saying....

[@jrsixowfour8674]

Whitehorse yukon about 1 hour out of town and about -30 to -50 celcius are you treated to an imagine exactly like this 0:45 It has to be a clear night tho and no moon. You can see the dark parts of the universe like dark clouds surrounding the stars and clusters... it's actually better than this, there isn't any empty dark spots(except for the dark gas clouds surrounding some stars) It's like a giant screen above your head with every pixel lit up. Beautiful and I'll never forget it..strange too that phone cameras don't pick up the dim stars

[@Guido_XL]

What you are describing is not the Universe, but the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Yes, it takes a clear atmosphere without any interfering lights to display it properly. Phone cameras are not designed to pick it all up. Although, it depends on the exposure time. As a hobby-astronomer, I use telescopes with specific cameras that are designed for the purpose. A normal DSLR camera is also quite good in capturing anything from the skies, if you manage to attach it to a telescope, or, simply use the camera's lens. Decisive is the mount at which you can place the camera/telescope. We use mounts that correct for the Earth's rotation, so that exposures will be from a seemingly stand-still position to the skies. We can take exposures that last hours, if an object is really faint, requiring this. For instance, the Horsehead nebula in Orion is not visible to our naked eye, but once photographed with long exposures, it emerges and displays its wonders in front of you.

[@et7992]

Great presentation! We need more scientists like this!!! Thank you!

[@lqr824]

The presentation was basically a lie though. Why do we need more? The entire talk is based on the idea that "computers can't find this stuff" but of course they can. Her talk should have been about how NASA screwed up and didn't spot such a huge signal. THAT would have been a great presentation. If she left out the lame jokes.

[@keithjohnson839]

I love videos like this..more entertaining than cable

[@hinteregions]

Jeez one would hope so :D

[@54diggerdown]

Love the shirt.

[@daviddelaney363]

A great mystery!

[@timeline6250]

Giant Hail Planets, planets entirely constructed of ice at a temperature similar or slightly colder than the South Pole Two ice planets stuck together, when they hit together the cold merged them perfectly to become huge double or triple ice cream plops in a cone ! This system is peppered with Jupiter sized ice planets, they're inner cores may be of very light materials.