What news?
Something very mysterious has been spotted floating around a star known as KIC 8462852, and scientists are now wondering whether it’s evidence of a massive alien civilisation in the Milky Way.
Details, details
KIC 8462852 sits between the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra. It has been observed since 2009 by the Kepler space observatory, which scours the universe for planets that may support life. Astronomers have noticed “bizarre” light patterns that could be caused only by a large amount of space clutter orbiting the star. Scientists have dismissed most natural explanations and have come to an astonishing conclusion.
The astonishing conclusion
Jason Wright, of Penn State University, suggests that the clutter could be “a swarm of megastructures” designed to capture energy from the star and known as a Dyson sphere. “Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider,” he says, “but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilisation to build.”
The Dyson sphere
This hypothetical structure is a huge sphere that could be built around a star to absorb its energy and allow life to exist inside the sphere. The idea was formalised in 1960 by the American physicist Freeman Dyson.
The search
Mankind has always been fascinated by the thought that we are not alone in the universe, and some suggest aliens have already dropped in to give us the once over. In the Bible, the prophet Ezekiel reports “a large cloud with flashing fire, a bright glow all around it, and something like polished metal gleamed at the centre of the fire”. Four creatures emerged from the metal structure: “They were in human form, but each had four faces and four wings.”
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Was this a narrow escape?
The theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that contact with aliens might not work to our advantage: “We don’t know much about aliens, but we know about humans. If you look at history, contacts between humans and less intelligent organisms have often been disastrous from their point of view.” Perhaps it’s just as well KIC 8462852 is 1,480 light years away.
So is this really evidence of alien life?
Don’t get too excited. Tabetha Boyajian, the Yale scientist leading the research, says the clutter might just be a very large cloud of comet debris. Mind you, what better for getting rid of space dust than a giant Dyson?