I think (no astrophysicist, me) that the key here is that whatever this was took 200 days to clear the star. A smaller object closer could certainly eclipse the star, but that duration speaks to something truly enormous. And when you say that about astronomy, you are getting unthinkably huge.
1 Like
Hey Doc, I’ve put on a few pandemic pounds for sure, but that’s simply uncalled for
2 Likes
Since “unthinkably huge” is not a likely size, could not it be a reasonably small object moving in exactly the right way?
1 Like
It’s not the size of the … uh … thing that matters, but how it moves about?
1 Like
An incomplete rotating Dyson sphere?
If it’s an object rather than a dense cloud, big enough to block a red giant, then there are the problems of (a) why isn’t it burning too? (b) if it’s a “cold” burned-out clinker, it can only be so massive before it has to either blow off mass in nova/supernova explosions or continue collapsing into a black hole.
They need to have a look with an IR telescope in the dim period to get an idea of how hot the blocking material is.
eta: Or maybe it’s the OnOff Star, with Spiderhome orbiting it?
I agree, but the fact that the line was from the journalist and not a quote from a scientist made me wonder whether it was an assumption of the journo. I was worried about Igon values coming in to play.
No mention of unthinkably huge objects here, just discs, which makes much more sense.
The Turtle Moves!
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
