Ohhhh SNAP - Tabby's star (Dyson sphere candidate) dimming again!

[Saltynuts]

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/alien-megastructure-star-acting-again-180963411/

I love it how if you ask scientists if they think there is life out there, they are almost all like "yep, definitely, to think we are alone in the cosmos is nuts.". But then you ask them if they think this might be life creating these dimming effects, they are almost all like "very unlikely, almost certainly a natural phenomenon". LOLOL, c'mon dudes, what do you TRULY believe?

 

[John Wang]

Smithsonian crew checking in
Space crew checking in

Love me some Dyson vacuums as well crew checking in

 

[milliniar]

The reason why, most scientists don't think this is caused by other life is not enough data. And to build a Dyson sphere they would have to be considerably advanced and aside from the dimming no other sign of life in that system, iirc.

 

[Saltynuts]

"The reason why, most scientists don't think this is caused by other life is not enough data."


Huh? Not enough data doesn't point against signs of intelligent life, it simply does not point one way or the other.

"And to build a Dyson sphere they would have to be considerably advanced "

Yea, so? Maybe they are considerably advanced lol.

"and aside from the dimming no other sign of life in that system, iirc."

Not sure what other signs of life we could reasonably be expected to find from the system at that distance, I just don't know.

Thanks!

 

[GhostZ06]

i wonder what kind it is...

 

[Saltynuts]

What kind of what?

 

[Amerikuracana]

There are no Dyson spheres. They would not make sense. Would require too much matter and 100 other things. Interstellar travel would be a much better option.

 

[Saltynuts]

There are no Dyson spheres. They would not make sense. Would require too much matter and 100 other things. Interstellar travel would be a much better option.

Well, even if I give you that there are not any full Dyson spheres, what is at issue here is indeed not a full Dyson sphere, hence we see the dimming (a full Dyson sphere would surround the entire planet, hence no dimming). A partial Dyson sphere makes complete sense. Think if we start putting solar panels in space to collect extra sunlight. Lots and lots of them. Connected. Wa-la, a partial Dyson sphere.

However, do you realize there is enough matter on silly little small Earth to form a sphere around the sun, correct? I don't know how thick, but there is.

 

[ralphc1]

Occam's razor suggests the simple answer is the best. Something orbiting the star is the simplest explanation.

 

[rj144]

Not sure what other signs of life we could reasonably be expected to find from the system at that distance, I just don't know.

Thanks!

Some form of artificial radiation would be one thing.

 

[Saltynuts]

"Occam's razor suggests the simple answer is the best. Something orbiting the star is the simplest explanation."

LOL! Yes, *something* orbiting the star is correct, kind of like, maybe a partial Dyson sphere?

 

[HunterAcosta]

It's The Borg!

 

[Saltynuts]

Some form of artificial radiation would be one thing.

But could we realistically be expected to see artificial radiation at its distance from us? It is over 1,200 light years away. We can see the star light very faintly because its being powered by, oh, you know, an entire star. But I would guess we couldn't detect mundane artificial radiation at that distance (and of course there is no reason to think they would beam something at us at super high power, given that they can't plausably know humans are here).

 

[CargoKing]

Maybe it's getting ready to enter a solar event previously undocumented in the history of the cosmos.

Wouldn't it be fun if it froze, and became a giant egg that a celestial space monster burst out of? One that liked trip-hop and reruns of All in the Family and Gunsmoke?! And he came to earth just for his fixes. He could live on the moon and protect us from invaders. We can name him Forgletits and teach him origami.

Fuck I'm high...

 

[rj144]

Well, even if I give you that there are not any full Dyson spheres, what is at issue here is indeed not a full Dyson sphere, hence we see the dimming (a full Dyson sphere would surround the entire planet, hence no dimming). A partial Dyson sphere makes complete sense. Think if we start putting solar panels in space to collect extra sunlight. Lots and lots of them. Connected. Wa-la, a partial Dyson sphere.

However, do you realize there is enough matter on silly little small Earth to form a sphere around the sun, correct? I don't know how thick, but there is.

I just did the calculation. To build a Dyson Sphere at around the mean orbital radius of the Earth, 1 cm thick, would require more than 2.5 x's the volume of the Earth itself. So, know we can't use the Earth to build a Dyson Sphere.

 

[liljoe]

There are no Dyson spheres. They would not make sense. Would require too much matter and 100 other things. Interstellar travel would be a much better option.

I agree. A Dyson Sphere is an entirely imaginary human creation. We have ZERO understanding of how an alien intellect will go about harnessing energy. It is possible that they would not even need to create anything of that size.

 

[Saltynuts]

I just did the calculation. To build a Dyson Sphere at around the mean radius of the Earth, 1 cm thick, would require more than 2.5 x's the volume of the Earth itself. So, know we can't use the Earth to build a Dyson Sphere.

I never said we could use the Earth to build a Dyson sphere. I said there was enough matter in the Earth to surround the Sun. So take your 1cm and make it .33 cm and it would surround the sun. Enough to build a practical Dyson sphere? Of course not. But there is way, way more mass in the solar system than is needed to do so.

 

[Saltynuts]

I agree. A Dyson Sphere is an entirely imaginary human creation. We have ZERO understanding of how an alien intellect will go about harnessing energy. It is possible that they would not even need to create anything of that size.

Why you guys keep going on and on about why you think there are no Dyson spheres is beyond me. This is not what is even the "it is advanced life" proposal is saying - they are saying it might be a partial Dyson sphere, much, much MUCH less than a full Dyson sphere. Like I said, start putting tons and tons of solar panels in space and you could get something that explains the dimming.

 

[Saltynuts]

" It is possible that they would not even need to create anything of that size."

Sure. But if it is *possible* they would not even need to create anything of that size, then it must follow that it is *possible* that they would! And even *more possible* that they would build something similar, but on a much smaller scale (a partial Dyson sphere)!

 

[marioh]

it's just the remnants of alderaan passing in front of it's star.