A team of astronomers may have found an explanation for the supposed "alien megastructure," a group of comets flying around a distant star.
According to The Independent, previous observations pointed out strange light patterns associated with a star known as KIC 8462852. Published in The Astrophysical Journal, the new study debunked the theory that the star was surrounded by a cloud of debris from asteroids, making it difficult to observe.
"The scenario in which the dimming in the KIC 8462852 light curve were caused by the destruction of a family of comets remains the preferred explanation," the study authors wrote in their paper, according to press release.
The researchers indicated their results do not disprove the "alien megastructure" theory, though it did not factor into the paper.
"We didn't look for that," study lead author Massimo Marengo, an Iowa State University associate professor of physics and astronomy, said in the release. "We can't really say it is, or is not. But what the star is doing is very strange. It's interesting when you have phenomena like that - typically it means there's some new physical explanation or a new concept to be discovered."
Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the researchers theorized the star's strange light patterns are being caused by strange orbits of comets. Regardless, they will continue their observations.
"This is a very strange star," Marengo said in another release. "It reminds me of when we first discovered pulsars. They were emitting odd signals nobody had ever seen before, and the first one discovered was named LGM-1 after 'Little Green Men.'"
