Tabby’s star could be evidence of an alien civilization, but that isn’t the only possible explanation.
A Repeating Mystery
Just when you think you’ve got a mystery solved, new data revives the mystery again.
Flyby Night
The most likely explanation for the flyby anomaly is some subtle but mundane effect we just haven’t pinned down. But there is always a chance that it is due to something more exotic. The effect is definitely there, so it is worth exploring each time there is a close flyby.
Ten Billionths of a Gee
Pioneer 10 was launched in 1972. The next year Pioneer 11 was launched. Their mission was to fly past Jupiter and then Saturn, making the first detailed studies of the planets. Afterwards, they continued their journey to the outer reaches of the solar system. At this point they entered a second phase of their mission, to study the diffuse gases in the solar system on their way to interstellar space. Their observations indicated that something rather strange was going on.
Peryton Place
A few days ago I wrote about an interesting type radio signal known as a fast radio burst. These are short, intense pulses of radio energy that have all the hallmarks of being astronomical in origin. One possible source of FRBs could be a neutron star collapsing to a black hole. But there is still some discussion that such bursts could be terrestrial in origin because of another type of radio burst known as a peryton.