Brace yourselves! Apparently, there is a giant alien structure orbiting a star in a distant galaxy – over 1,500 light years away.

Okay, you got excited at first, and then you noticed how far away this thing is. Regardless, you want to know what it is, don’t you? Well, let’s look at the speculations we have thus far.

The news may not be new by now, but it’s still causing a noise. A mysterious unidentified object has been found, which mutes light randomly from the view of a distant star. It may come as a shock (not!), that scientists suggest the object could be artificial in nature. You guessed it! It has its possibilities of being an alien spacecraft – maybe a superstructure even. I suddenly had a death star vision, didn’t you?

Jason Wright, astrophysicist from Pennsylvania State University, said:

Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilization to build.”

Yes, Wright made these statements. In fact, he discussed his beliefs with Tabetha Boyajian, lead author of a study, published in Arxiv. After some consideration, Wright clarified his ideas. He now claims the theory of the alien structure is a highly unlikely idea.

Where is it?

The object of our desires and curiosities is located, as I’ve said before, around 1,500 light years away. It orbits around KC 8462852, an old star that is one and half times larger than our sun. An examination, using the Kepler Space Telescope, shows a 20% dip in light, projected at random moments during the 1,600 days of observation. A vast object, about half the size of the star, is the cause of the muted light.

The object, or objects, has to be new, considering the fact that it would have been consumed by the gravity of the old star over time. It also cannot be a star itself because it emits no light of its own. The orbit is irregular, hence it cannot be a planet either. So, what’s the deal?

Some suggestions

It was suggested that the object could be debris from a comet, but with no radiation present, that idea was thrust down. This lead to a more intriguing idea – the suggestion of a Dyson sphere.

What is a Dyson sphere?

A Dyson sphere is a structure or swarm of structures which harnesses solar energy, but energy on a massive scale. If it’s a swarm, it could be composed of thousands of spacecraft. This could block a great deal of light from KC 8462852!

There are opposing beliefs about the energy usage of a large civilization like this. Some believe that more energy would be needed while others think otherwise. If such a civilization, that needed a steady increase of energy, existed, it’s energy level would be labeled at a 2 on the Kardashev scale (Earth is only 0.73 if that sheds light on the size of the thing).

There is even the idea that such a civilization abandoned the structure long ago. This would explain the lack of radiation coming from the object.

It’s also possible the object in question could be some other alien structure, according to SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute of California, which has been taking a closer look through the Allen Telescope Array. There are so many possibilities.

With that being said, the idea is unlikely (frowny face). It could simply be a similar case to what we have seen before in our observations. At first, we think we have alien life, alien structures or something of the like, only to discover it was simply a natural phenomenon. This could be the case once again. It leads back to the fermi paradox which states, “If it exists, where is it?”

But I want to end on a positive note. The thing is, there are hundreds of billions of planets in the universe, this possibly be what we’ve always dreamed of. It’s doubtful that we are the only ones out here!

One day, they may find us first. As you know, that has its pros and its cons. For now, well, just enjoy a much anticipated upcoming sci/fi film (winks), and dream of possibilities.


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