环绕塔比之星

This Oct. 4, 2017, illustration shows a hypothetical uneven ring of dust orbiting KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian’s Star or Tabby’s Star. The star has experienced unusual dips in brightness over a matter of days, as well as much subtler but longer-term dimming trends. Scientists proposed several explanations for this unexpected behavior, ranging from Tabby’s Star swallowing a planet to alien “megastructures” harvesting the star’s energy. However, a study using NASA’s Spitzer and Swift missions as well as the Belgian AstroLAB IRIS observatory suggests that the cause of the dimming over long periods is likely an uneven dust cloud moving around the star.

Learn more about this enigmatic star, named after Tabetha Boyajian, the Yale University postdoc who discovered it with the help of citizen scientists.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

这幅插图绘制于2017年10月4日，展示了一圈假设的、不均匀的尘埃环绕着KIC 8462852恒星（也被称为博亚吉安星或塔比星）运行。该恒星曾在数天内出现异常的亮度下降，同时还存在更加微弱但持续时间更长的变暗趋势。科学家提出了几种解释这种异常现象的假说，从塔比星吞噬了一颗行星到外星“巨型结构”收集恒星能量的可能性。然而，利用NASA斯皮策和斯威夫特任务以及比利时天体实验室IRIS天文台的数据进行的一项研究表明，长期变暗的原因很可能是围绕该恒星运动的不均匀尘埃云所致。

了解关于这颗神秘恒星的更多信息。它以耶鲁大学博士后塔贝萨·博亚吉安的名字命名，她在公众科学家的帮助下发现了该恒星。

图片来源: NASA/JPL-Caltech