Dust cloud, or alien construction?

[smartcooky]

That particular explanation has been on the Internet for last several days. However, Tabby Boyajian's team had already considered it before publishing their findings, and rejected it as implausible. At least, less plausible than "comet swarm" explanation -- and that one is a stretch.

Sorry, which one, the Dyson Sphere or the oblate star with light/dark patches

 

[Mark6]

Sorry, which one, the Dyson Sphere or the oblate star with light/dark patches

oblate star with light/dark patches

 

[alfaniner]

Surely we'll have to build a VBE^* to listen in?

^* Very Big Ear obviously.

I think Mexico's already done that...

 

[MaartenVergu]

What you see through your telescope is one big Rorschach test. You see your own projections, but you can't really check your theory outthere.

 

[Daylightstar]

What you see through your telescope is one big Rorschach test. You see your own projections, but you can't really check your theory outthere.

^{Hilite by Daylightstar}
What do you mean by "big"?

 

[Dinwar]

What you see through your telescope is one big Rorschach test. You see your own projections, but you can't really check your theory outthere.

Why not?

 

[Craig B]

Why not?

Coz there's no "out there". It's all in the mind.

 

[Davidm]

Maybe It’s Time To Stop Snickering About Aliens.

True. It shouldn't be the first conclusion but it's not like we're talking about ghosts or werewolves or something like that. We're also not talking about UFOs or alien visitations of Earth.

It stands to reason that life has likely formed elsewhere and, depending on how common it is, that there are other intelligent beings in the universe.

As I said, it shouldn't be the first conclusion, but if we do discover unequivocal evidence I wouldn't be all that surprised. Well, I might be surprised that we managed to stumble on it, but I wouldn't be very surprised at it's existence. Excited? Fascinated? Yes, of course. But not surprised.

 

[Dinwar]

SETI's website states that initial results are not promising. None of the expected radio signals have been found. While this is the first of a number of tests, it does cast additional doubt on the Dyson sphere hypothesis.

 

[BenBurch]

SETI's website states that initial results are not promising. None of the expected radio signals have been found. While this is the first of a number of tests, it does cast additional doubt on the Dyson sphere hypothesis.

If, however, we are looking at the ruins of an ancient civilization, no RF would be expected.

 

[Dinwar]

If, however, we are looking at the ruins of an ancient civilization, no RF would be expected.

Depends on the type of civilization, but yes. Infrared seems to be the best option at this point, as I understand it (with the caveat that my understanding is slightly above layman's understanding).

 

[Davidm]

SETI's website states that initial results are not promising. None of the expected radio signals have been found. While this is the first of a number of tests, it does cast additional doubt on the Dyson sphere hypothesis.

Do you have a link to that article?

 

[Dinwar]

http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/ata-checks-out-star-kic8462852

It's just a summary, but it outlines the data.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

True. It shouldn't be the first conclusion but it's not like we're talking about ghosts or werewolves or something like that. We're also not talking about UFOs or alien visitations of Earth.

I don't snicker at aliens, I snicker at rubes who see aliens every week, and think I'm interested in their latest "encounter".

 

[Craig B]

SETI's website states that initial results are not promising. None of the expected radio signals have been found. While this is the first of a number of tests, it does cast additional doubt on the Dyson sphere hypothesis.

How do we know that such a civilisation would use signals detectable by our big radio receivers?

 

[portlandatheist]

from the article:

Analysis of the Array data show no clear evidence for either type of signal between the frequencies of 1 and 10 GHz. This rules out omnidirectional transmitters of more than approximately 100 times today’s total terrestrial energy usage in the case of the narrow-band signals, and ten million times that usage for broad band emissions.

While these limits are relatively high, a fact due primarily to the large distance of KIC 8462852 (about 1500 light-years), there’s this to consider: If aliens are deliberately targeting our part of the galaxy, the necessary transmitter power for detection becomes very much less. In addition, any beings able to build such large structures will have access to far more energy than a fossil-fueled society like our own.

The only thing this means is that their radio signals are not aimed directly at us and that if they are using tons and tons of omnidirectional signals as we do, they are not transmitting anything 100 times more powerful than we have ever transmitted. They are simply too far away to hear even if they do have radio transmissions.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

How do we know that such a civilisation would use signals detectable by our big radio receivers?

We don't currently use smoke signals or signal flags. I doubt an advanced civilization would use radio.

 

[Craig B]

We don't currently use smoke signals or signal flags. I doubt an advanced civilization would use radio.

That's one of my implied arguments, but it's not conclusive. "Radio" is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and unlike smoke signals or people waving semaphore flags, it is part of the basic structure of the universe. It is a type of light.

But there may be forces more profound than radio, which our instruments are not designed to detect, because we haven't discovered these forces yet.

Also local communication by aimed laser beams might not leak out of a distant network to be received by us, even though we have the technology to detect that kind of emission, assuming it is strong enough to register on our instruments at the great distances involved.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

That's one of my implied arguments, but it's not conclusive. "Radio" is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and unlike smoke signals or people waving semaphore flags, it is part of the basic structure of the universe. It is a type of light.

It's also an antique system if you're an "advanced" civilization.

But there may be forces more profound than radio, which our instruments are not designed to detect, because we haven't discovered these forces yet.

Also local communication by aimed laser beams might not leak out of a distant network to be received by us, even though we have the technology to detect that kind of emission, assuming it is strong enough to register on our instruments at the great distances involved.

I'd go with lasers, but I doubt they'd "leak", decolamination isn't something an "advanced" civilization would tolerate.

 

[Clive]

That's one of my implied arguments, but it's not conclusive. "Radio" is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and unlike smoke signals or people waving semaphore flags, it is part of the basic structure of the universe. It is a type of light.

Last time I looked, detecting "smoke signals" or "people waving semaphore flags", also required light which as you note is also part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The universe has certain properties that might be used for communication, light is one, but the precise way in which any particular "intelligence" uses the same basic property could obviously differ in very significant ways. Smoke signals are one way to use light, not very high band width and generally not very long range. "Radio" is a more recent and advanced way of (basically) still using "light".

Who knows what other ways of using light might be possible (and not yet discovered by humans), or what other potential "non light" properties might be able to be used by sufficiently knowledgeable "aliens"?