It's a long article to quote here, but basically the Kepler Space telescope detected a star that is invisible to the naked eye with what appears to be a considerable number of large objects orbiting it, too many to be just planets. The star is a mature star not a young one so it is very unusual for it to have debris or dust clouds around it. Could be the result of another star passing too close and messing things up but the odds for something like that happening in the time frame necessary for us to detect it are pretty astronomical.
The other explanation is, they are massive artificial structures built by an advanced civilization to gather solar energy. Something similar to a Dyson Sphere under construction, therefore it does not yet fully enclose the star and so there are gaps that allow the light to go through. As incredible as it may seem it is not only a valid explanation but one of the best explanations so far.
The next steps are to point radio telescopes to the star to try and detect any kind of radio activity that would be expected from an advanced civilisation. If all goes well the first try will happen in January 2016 with the follow up a year from now.
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#4181289 - 10/13/1511:22 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 19,581Raw Kryptonite
Beat the Kobayashi Maru
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...and in the course of one day, the star mysteriously disappears...
The Vatican has been watching the stars for a long time. There's some pretty interesting and bizarre things taking place at their observatory on Mt. Graham.
I personally believe when it comes to "alien" phenomenon that we are dealing with interdimensional entities. The third of the fallen angelic host.
John 10:1-30 Romans 10:1-13
#4181295 - 10/13/1511:54 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
"the Kepler Space telescope detected a star that is invisible to the naked eye with what appears to be a considerable number of large objects orbiting it, too many to be just planets. The star is a mature star not a young one so it is very unusual for it to have debris or dust clouds around it."
it still amazes me when I see stuff like this . . .
"The smallest possible thing Hubble can see on the moon is about 328 feet across or the length of a football field. While impressive feat of resolution, no Apollo spacecraft comes anywhere near that size. Every piece of man-made hardware is below the space telescopes resolution limit."
From what I understand the Mt. Graham observatory has some of the most powerful equipment in the world and can see, even been land-based and looking through the atmosphere, much better than the Hubble telescope in space!
John 10:1-30 Romans 10:1-13
#4181310 - 10/14/1512:58 AMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,575Desert Eagle
Master of the Weird
The Kepler space telescope's job is to find faraway planets that could potentially support life. But as The Atlantic reports, scientists are exploring the possibility that the telescope may have detected something even more exciting.
For four years, the telescope stared at a patch of sky, waiting for each star to darken, which would indicate an exoplanet passing in front of it. The telescope monitored more than 150,000 stars, but one star in particular stood out to citizen scientists who were helping to analyze the Kepler data: KIC 8462852, located 1480 light-years away.
When a planet passes in front of a star, the star dims only for a few hours or days, and on a regular basis-- every 365 days, for example. But, at irregular intervals, the star KIC 8462852 darkens by as much as 80 percent, and it stays dark for anywhere between 5 and 80 days.
2010-oo All Your rights belong to Me
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#4181315 - 10/14/1501:19 AMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Coot]
There's no taking it back, no matter what. If they are there, and so advanced, they can see us, too. Hopefully, they ain't hungry.
If our own experience with sentient beings- humans- is any indicator, then aliens will be interested in themselves and what they want. Human beings...so what. Our planet? So what. Like saying that North America belongs to deer and muskrats and wolves. So what. Your dog, car, house, job, kids, vacation, legacy...no bigger a deal than how I regard a fly in my kitchen. I want it gone. And I can do it. Nobody's gonna stop me or say I was wrong to do it. So I do it.
And if they are not greedy and self-absorbed like humans, won't they be filled with disgust? Reviled by us? We are not a kind and friendly species.
Truly a case of a "this is reality" potential. No amount of congressional hearings or laws or meetings with my boss or US constitutional amendments or UN fact-finding missions will change things if we go down the path. If we make contact, we'll get what we get, for all time, no takesies-back. Apprehension mixed with wonder.
What kind of car is that? What does it matter? When I drive it, I'm Steve McQueen
#4181336 - 10/14/1502:25 AMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Smokin_Hole]
KIC 8462852 is 1400 light years away, if it is aliens building something they're probably finished by now.
"In the vast library of socialist books, there’s not a single volume on how to create wealth, only how to take and “redistribute” it.” - David Horowitz
#4181347 - 10/14/1503:01 AMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
Joined: Apr 2004 Posts: 4,465Bib4Tuna
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It is fascinating how we let our imaginations rush to the last possible explanation when new astrophysical discoveries are announced. It is interesting to imaging the scenario, so I understand the excitement. But really, just because it is a "first" does not mean unique or that a civilization has to be behind it (which the scientist in the article knows). They mention comparing the star's data to 150,000 other stars and not finding anything like it. Do you know how LITTLE is 150,000 stars when looking even in our neck of the galactic woods?
They have been going at it for four years and they don't know what it is. A scientist will leave it there, and keep looking (which is what the intention of the paper seems to be). But when you go... "hmmm...also, maybe little green men!?!" Then you KNOW they need funds.
Quote:
It looked like the kind of thing you might expect an alien civilization to build.
According to whom!?! Jules Verne? Isaac Asimov?
Still, it is nice things like these stimulate the imagination from time to time.
Take the example of the discovery of the first pulsar star signal in 1967.
Quote:
The first pulsar was observed on November 28, 1967, by Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.[2][3][4] They observed pulses separated by 1.33 seconds that originated from the same location on the sky, and kept to sidereal time. In looking for explanations for the pulses, the short period of the pulses eliminated most astrophysical sources of radiation, such as stars, and since the pulses followed sidereal time, it could not be man-made radio frequency interference. When observations with another telescope confirmed the emission, it eliminated any sort of instrumental effects. At this point, Burnell notes of herself and Hewish that "we did not really believe that we had picked up signals from another civilization, but obviously the idea had crossed our minds and we had no proof that it was an entirely natural radio emission. It is an interesting problemif one thinks one may have detected life elsewhere in the universe, how does one announce the results responsibly?"[5] Even so, they nicknamed the signal LGM-1, for "little green men" (a playful name for intelligent beings of extraterrestrial origin). It was not until a second pulsating source was discovered in a different part of the sky that the "LGM hypothesis" was entirely abandoned.[6]
Anyway, I understand that a Dyson Sphere is inherently unstable if a rigid structure. The star wouldn't stay in the centre of the sphere. The novel "Ringworld" addressed this problem by having attitude jets around the rim, but how can you do this with a sphere?
"You'll never take me alive" said he, And his ghost may be heard if you pass by that billabong "Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?"
#4181455 - 10/14/1512:16 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
Joined: Dec 1999 Posts: 7,747Ssnake
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#4181456 - 10/14/1512:19 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 121,345PanzerMeyer
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Yay, another "possible alien life" thread on SimHQ along with the concomitant discussions about god, religion, the Fermi Paradox, etc. Rinse, lather, repeat.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4181469 - 10/14/1512:54 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: PanzerMeyer]
Yay, another "possible alien life" thread on SimHQ along with the concomitant discussions about god, religion, the Fermi Paradox, etc. Rinse, lather, repeat.
I'm no expert but there's about a 5 billion times higher chance it's just desperate click-bait for links to a group that's craving attention and funding.
These "scientists" are becoming as credible as the "You'll never guess this ONE trick your doctor doesn't want to know!" idiots.
Scully: Victim died of multiple stab wounds. Mulder: *throws her a file* Ever heard of the knife alien?
#4181470 - 10/14/1512:56 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
Well, maybe these aliens can bring us what we humans sorely need for centuries now.
#4181472 - 10/14/1512:58 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: CG2015]
Joined: Apr 2001 Posts: 121,345PanzerMeyer
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Originally Posted By: CG2015
Well, maybe these aliens can bring us what we humans sorely need for centuries now.
And what would that be?
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4181473 - 10/14/1512:58 PMRe: Scientists Find 'Bizarre' Objects Orbiting Distant Star, Could Be Aliens. No, seriously.
[Re: Desert Eagle]
Well, maybe these aliens can bring us what we humans sorely need for centuries now.
And what would that be?
World peace. No more wars. 100% disarmament on all sides. No more poverty. Everyone's equal. End of pollution and global warming. Clean energy. No more terminal diseases like cancer and leukemia and Alzheimer, etc etc. Oh and the Holodeck to replace today's boring internet prOn.
This would be nice too but I don't want us humans to come across as greedy: