Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate • Hacker News Board

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#21

Post by sago » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:31 PM UTC

zackya89 wrote: post #16

aarmenante wrote: post #4

> In the meantime, we would remind you that it's very, very unlikely that this strange flickering star has anything to do with aliens (and is even more exciting if it doesn't - because, hello new space phenomena!). I think aliens would be a little bit more exciting... Might just be me though.

that headline though ?, online journalism at its worst, the chase for clicks, there really needs to be some solution to this problem journalism is dying and clickbait is where is at.

I think a big part of the answer is not to care. Or rather to just silently auto-discount.

Imagine the 60s-90s and advertising just overwhelm with sexualised figures. We don't notice, because we just silently pass by.

I don't see any way of turning back the tide of hyperbolic titles on articles. Better to just ignore them and move on.

Buzzfeed headlines worked on me the first few times, now I know not to go there.

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#22

Post by jerf » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:33 PM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #20

Symmetry wrote: post #8

It's not like this is right on our doorstep but I'd still be more comfortable if this was happening more than 1480 light years away.

Well whatever it is, we probably have 1000+ years to save ourselves right? If whatever caused it comes at us at 50% light speed, which sounds unlikely given how fast that already is, we'd still have 700 years. I'm pretty sure that if human's resources were suddenly all turned towards getting the hell out of here, we could certainly pull it off for a good part of the population in a few hundred years. Whether we'd eve…

"Well whatever it is, we probably have 1000+ years to save ourselves right?"

No. That time has already passed. If we see signs that the star will go nova "in one year", we have one year, not 1481.

The popular idea that we see "the past" in the sky is not really the best way to think about it. It is far more accurate to say that there is no such thing as "the" present, and what we see in the sky really is our present. The view that we're seeing "the past" is ironically perhaps less sophisticated than the more naive idea that it is simply our present we are seeing in the sky. (And at the moment, there aren't any other "presents" that we much care about.)

The thing that really saves us is that even supernovas that far away can't really hurt us because of the inverse square law. A quick Google search shows one site estimating that a supernova would have to be 50 ly or closer or so: http://www.howitworksdaily.com/could-a-supernova-destroy-ear... Something would have to be beamed specifically at us, and the only natural phenomena I know that can do that are black holes and pulsars, neither of which seem to be what is at that star, and probably still wouldn't be powerful enough to hurt us at that distance.

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#23

Post by joaorj » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:36 PM UTC

j_m_b wrote: post #5

Could an astronomer weigh in as to why the dimming effect isn't due to a 'rogue' blackhole entering orbit with the star and both blocking light and draining material from the star? I haven't seen that hypothesis dismissed yet.

It is dismissed here: https://twitter.com/Astro_Wright/status/761383565259055106

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#24

Post by mjevans » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:36 PM UTC

I don't recall the previous discussions, but without outright ruling out possibilities for things...

* If it is some structure being built at/around the star, has anyone done the math on the rate of such a structure occluding the star from us to match the observed rate of change?

* On a similar line of reasoning, what if the star were either being drained as a power source or caught in some kind of SG1 (that stargate TV series) level disaster?

To be clear, I don't think that they're likely, but I'd rather they were eliminated for an obvious actual flaw instead of simply being unlikely.

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#25

Post by ridgeguy » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:39 PM UTC

lucb1e wrote: post #20

Symmetry wrote: post #8

It's not like this is right on our doorstep but I'd still be more comfortable if this was happening more than 1480 light years away.

Well whatever it is, we probably have 1000+ years to save ourselves right? If whatever caused it comes at us at 50% light speed, which sounds unlikely given how fast that already is, we'd still have 700 years. I'm pretty sure that if human's resources were suddenly all turned towards getting the hell out of here, we could certainly pull it off for a good part of the population in a few hundred years. Whether we'd eve…

Depends on how long ago "they" developed telescopes capable of viewing Earth with good resolution. We know in principle how to build such instruments.

"They" may have watched the Romans build roads and sussed out their mining activities from atmospheric spectroscopy. Or much earlier, signs of agriculture.

In which case they could be here...right about...just a sec, somebody's at the door....

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#26

Post by gp7 » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:40 PM UTC

Pretty cool that observed phenomena in space that can't yet be explained gets so much attention in the media. When you step back a bit and stop thinking about aliens

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#27

Post by jhbadger » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:48 PM UTC

Reminds me of when quasars were first discovered and people thought they were part of some alien telegraph system.

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#28

Post by ianai » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:49 PM UTC

I find it funny that a clickbaity title like that bothers to tell people to "not get too excited" about the possibility of anything involving aliens. Further, you know what? I say this is something to be really fired up about. We've got a phenomenon here that matches nothing we can come up with theoretically. Live it up!

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#29

Post by gf263 » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:52 PM UTC

jerf wrote: post #22

lucb1e wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well whatever it is, we probably have 1000+ years to save ourselves right? If whatever caused it comes at us at 50% light speed, which sounds unlikely given how fast that already is, we'd still have 700 years. I'm pretty sure that if human's resources were suddenly all turned towards getting the hell out of here, we could certainly pull it off for a good part of the population in a few hundred years. Whether we'd eve…

"Well whatever it is, we probably have 1000+ years to save ourselves right?" No. That time has already passed. If we see signs that the star will go nova "in one year", we have one year, not 1481. The popular idea that we see "the past" in the sky is not really the best way to think about it. It is far more accurate to say that there is no such thing as "the" present, and what we see in the sky really is our present.…

I hate saying stuff like this but this blew my mind.

Re: Tabby's star is dimming at an incredible rate

#30

Post by digitalengineer » Sat, Aug 06, 2016, 6:53 PM UTC

zackya89 wrote: post #16

aarmenante wrote: post #4

> In the meantime, we would remind you that it's very, very unlikely that this strange flickering star has anything to do with aliens (and is even more exciting if it doesn't - because, hello new space phenomena!). I think aliens would be a little bit more exciting... Might just be me though.

that headline though ?, online journalism at its worst, the chase for clicks, there really needs to be some solution to this problem journalism is dying and clickbait is where is at.

FB is working on this. If misleading title > lower ranking score.