[ExI] More Tabby's Star news

[Anders]

A planet shouldn't dim a star much. To dim it you need to reduce the 
rate of fusion reactions, typically by making it less dense - planets 
instead add opaque and dense "metals" (astronomer slang for "not 
hydrogen and helium") that heat things up. Besides, the components of a 
dissolved planet would take ages to reach the core.

I think the cause is some mundane astrophysics, but there is room for a 
lot of weird effects from mundane astrophysics. Just consider stellar 
oscillations, where all sorts of nonlinear things happen. Maybe this is 
the first case of a super-long periodic variable.

I was squinting at the light curve and trying to get it to fit my 
conception of Dyson-building, and I cannot get it to fit any rational 
approach I can see. Of course, you can build megastructures just for fun 
or according  to a random schedule.



On 2016-08-06 04:46, Dan TheBookMan wrote:
> http://on.io9.com/1F00tSo
>
> Could it just be something rather mundane but rare to actually see in 
> such detail, such as the aftermath of a planet falling into the star?
>
> Regards,
>
> Dan
> Sample my latest Kindle book, "The Late Mr. Gurlitt," at:
> http://mybook.to/Gurlitt
>
>
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-- 
Dr Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford Martin School
Oxford University

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