By analyzing data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and conducting new radial velocity measurements, U.K. and French astronomers have found evidence that the mysterious Tabby’s star may be orbited by an object about nine times more massive than Jupiter. The new findings are published on the preprint server arXiv.

KIC 8,462,852, also known as Tabby’s star (after the discoverer Tabetha S. Boyajian), is a peculiar F3V main-sequence star showcasing deep, irregular flux variations of up to 20% in its light curve. The star is about 50% larger and more massive than the sun, with an effective temperature of 6,750 K. In 2021, it was found that Tabby’s star is part of a binary system with a red dwarf companion, which is about half the size and mass of our sun.

Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the irregular dips in the light curve of Tabby’s star, including a family of exocomets or planetesimal fragments. It was even proposed that the flux variations could be caused by extraterrestrial megastructures, which was later debunked. However, the origin of these dips remains uncertain.