#太平洋电脑网#什么鬼:我们已知的最怪异恒星的故事( 八 )


在5月14日 , 西班牙的梅尔卡特望远镜观测到了一次类似事件 。 西班牙科学家马上联系了Boyajian , 但是她收到的数据跟另一次统计变更相同 。 “到最后 , 这件事可能是人造的——比如 , 假的 , ”她在接受《线路》采访时说 。
But only four days later, FairbornObservatory and the LCOGT observed another dip, a prospective dimming event. Analx went out the next day. “Fairborn and LCO saw the same borderlinedecline,” Boyajian said. “We monitored the star closely that night and soundedoff the alx when it was confirmed by two different observatories.”
但仅仅在四天之后 , 费尔伯恩天文台和LCOGT发现了另一次干扰 , 一次预料之中的变暗事件 。 在随后的一天警报发出 。 “费尔伯恩和LCO观测到了相同的边线减退 , ”Boyajian说 。 “我们在那一晚严密监视这颗恒星 , 并且在两个不同天文台都确认了变暗事件之后取消了警报 。 ”
She was excited and called Wright at 4 amon May 19. Fairborn’s message said the star had dimmed by 2%. Just in case,Wright also tweeted, “alx: [Tabby’s star] is dipping.This is not a drill. Astro tweeps on telescopes in the next 48 hours: spectraplease!” In a few hours, a small army of astronomers around the world werelooking intently at the distant orb – whose brightness, by the way, went on todip by another 1%.
她如此兴奋 , 以至于在5月19日凌晨4点给Wright打电话告知这一事件 。 费尔伯恩的消息说恒星亮度减弱了2% 。 为以防万一 , Wright也发了推特:“警报:【塔比星】发生干扰 。 这不是演习 。 天文学粉丝在未来48小时坚守望远镜:请进行光谱分析!”在几小时内 , 一小队来自世界各地的天文学家都在专心注视着这个遥远的星体——它的亮度又减少了1% 。
Dozens of telescopes, like the Great Canary Telescope,booked weeks – some, months – in advance came together to observe the star. Theheavyweights joined in too, including the twin telescopes at the KeckObservatory (Hawaii), the LCOGT and the Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory(Arizona). The Green Bank telescope continued to observe it. Even the Swifttelescope, which studies ultraviolet radiation in the universe from its perchin space, was going “WTF”.
众多望远镜——例如大加纳利望远镜——在几周甚至几个月之前就已经提前预定好观测塔比星 。 重量级选手也加入进来 , 包括凯克天文台(夏威夷)的两座望远镜 , LCOGT和多镜望远镜天文台(亚利桑那) 。 绿坝望远镜持续观测塔比星 。 即使主要研究宇宙中紫外线辐射的斯威夫特望远镜也开始追踪“什么鬼星” 。
This graph shows the brightness relative tothe star’s normal brightness. The lowest point is a 2% drop. The star has sincerecovered from this dimming event. Source: LCOGT and Tennessee StateUniversity/Centre of Excellence for Information Systems Engineering andManagement/Fairborn Observatory
图表显示这颗恒星的正常亮度 。 最低点是亮度减少2% 。 自此点之后该星开始恢复亮度 。 图片版权:LCOGT and Tennessee State University/Centre of Excellence forInformation Systems Engineering and Management/Fairborn Observatory
This wasn’t an unexpected event at all.Tabby’s 2015 paper had said it would happen: “A more robust prediction is thatfuture dimming events should occur roughly every 750 days, with one in 2015April” – missed because of a glitch on Kepler – “and another in 2017 May.”


推荐阅读