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[–] NotWearingPants 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton?

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[–] tame 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

I was thinking the OnOff Star from 'A Deepness in the Sky' by Vernor Vinge.

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[–] CarthOSassy 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

It's probably dust. I hope it's aliens, though.

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[–] voat-ist 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Dyson sphere? Isn't a cloud of dust more likely?

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[–] rwbj [S] 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

That was one of the bigger discoveries here leading to bullet point number 1. He gets into this around 4 minutes. There were extended simultaneous measurements taken with a V / visual light filter and a B / blue (shorter wavelength) filter. Dust and gas reflects/blocks visible light more than higher frequency light. If the buildup of whatever is causing the dimming around the star was an accumulation of dust or gas you'd expect less and less V band filter light to get to us relative to the B band filter levels. Instead the delta between these is staying consistent.

The accelerating dimming and consistency are also particularly tough on dust explanations, but I think the above near kills it off altogether.

@CarthOSassy

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[–] voat-ist ago 

An intervening asteroid field could explain it. Also more likely than a Dyson sphere.

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[–] CarthOSassy ago 

That's fascinating. What are the best inert hypotheses, then? A intervening planet? Blackhole? Could the star itself be... lumpy?