The High Rate of the Boyajian's Star Anomaly as a Phenomenon

2016/10/11 by Brian C. Lacki, Lacki, Brian C. · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1610.03219

openalex publication_date 2016/10/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Boyajian's Star (KIC 8462852) undergoes mysterious, irregular eclipses that aren't yet explained. It also appears to have dimmed over a time of several years, possibly decades. I show that Kepler's detection of a phenomenon with a duration of t_anom is only expected if it occurs at a mean rate of >~ 30 Gyr^(-1) (t_anom / 100 yr)^(-1) for each Kepler target and K2 star. If true, the phenomenon occurs hundreds of times during the lifespan of its host stars. Obscuration by the interstellar medium remains a plausible explanation, since it doesn't actually affect the host star. An intervening cloud is consistent with the lack of an observed submillimeter excess but would be abnormally dilute.

Citations

• Dynamical Instabilities in Extrasolar Planetary Systems Containing Two Giant Planets
• Type III Societies (Apparently) Do Not Exist
• The Stability of F-star Brightness on Century Timescales
• KIC 8462852 FADED THROUGHOUT THE KEPLER MISSION

Cited by

• Orphaned exomoons: Tidal detachment and evaporation following an exoplanet–star collision

Related

• KIC 8462852 FADED THROUGHOUT THE KEPLER MISSION
• KIC 8462852 Brightness Pattern Repeating Every 1600 Days
• A 1574-day periodicity of transits orbiting KIC 8462852
• KIC 8462852 FADED AT AN AVERAGE RATE OF 0.164 ± 0.013 MAGNITUDES PER CENTURY FROM 1890 TO 1989
• The Eccentric Kozai-Lidov Mechanism as the Cause of Exocomet Transits of KIC 8462852