The researchers believe that VVV-WIT-08 may belong to a new class of "blinking giant" binary star system, where a giant star 100 times larger than the Sun is eclipsed once every few decades by an as-yet unseen orbital companion.
An international team of astronomers has spotted a giant blinking star towards the centre of the Milky Way, more than 25,000 light years away. The star, VVV-WIT-08, decreased in brightness by a factor of 30, so that it nearly disappeared from the sky. VVV-WIT-08, Giant Blinking Star, Spotted by Astronomers Near Milky Way.
Stellar pulsations are caused by the repeated contraction and expansion of the outer layers of stars, a process that occurs in order for the object to maintain.