VVV - WIT-08 is a gargantuan hotshot located more than 25,000 swooning - year away , and is about 100 metre larger than the Sun . This would be enough to make it pretty interesting but what make it unique is that it disappears for a while behind something " dismal , large and elongated " , and uranologist are still not sure what that is .
As reported inMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , this " blinking " befall every few decades . This unremarkably bespeak some variety of theodolite . When we look at an object like a star or satellite from Earth and its clear dip , it intend something has passed in front of it . If this happen on a regular basis , it ’s potential something is orbiting it . This star is a rummy type of eclipse binary and something is making its brightness drop by a factor of 30 . This unobserved associate could be a planet or another star surrounded by a huge disk causing the occult event .
" It ’s amazing that we just watch over a dark-skinned , large and elongated object pass between us and the remote star and we can only job what its origin is , " atomic number 27 - author Dr Sergey Koposov from the University of Edinburgh said in astatement .
The squad conceive that this wizard is not alone but part of a novel grade of retentive - period eclipsing binary systems . Several other stars also appear to be occulted by something like a heavy record of material . In the font of VVV - WIT-08 , the saucer obscure both seeable Inner Light and infrared .
" There are certainly more to be ground , but the challenge now is in project out what the obscure companions are , and how they came to be surrounded by phonograph recording , despite orbiting so far from the giant virtuoso , " explained wind writer Dr Leigh Smith from Cambridge ’s Institute of Astronomy . " In doing so , we might learn something new about how these variety of systems evolve . "
Two other stars similar to VVV - WIT-08 are well known . Epsilon Aurigae is partially eclipsed by a huge disk of dust every 27 age , dimming by about one-half . TYC 2505 - 672 - 1 is the eclipsing binary with the long orbital period of 69 years , although VVV - WIT-8 might turn out to be longer than that .
If you are curious about the name , the discovery comes from theVISTA Variables in the Via Lactea surveythat give the VVV to the name . The WIT part of its name has a fun story , too .
" Occasionally we find varying sensation that do n’t correspond into any established family , which we call ' what - is - this ? ' , or ' WIT ' objects . We really do n’t know how these blinking monster came to be , " excuse project co - leader Professor Philip Lucas from the University of Hertfordshire , UK . " It ’s exciting to see such find from VVV after so many years contrive and collect the data . "
