The Mysterious 'Alien Megastructure' Star Is Not Alone, Astronomers Discover 20 JANUARY 2021 A new clue has just been found that could help solve the mystery of a weirdly dimming star. KIC 8462852, also known as Boyajian's Star, seems to have a binary companion that could be contributing to its irregular dips in brightness.
If confirmed with more detailed observations, the newly discovered companion star could help astronomers finally solve KIC 8462852's ongoing mystery. The star was discovered in 2015 by astronomer Tabetha Boyajian (hence it was previously Tabby's Star), and since then it has proven to be a real puzzle. It's a yellow-white dwarf star around 1,470 light-years away, and it keeps dimming erratically. There is no regularity either to the timing of the star's dimming, or the depth - some of the dips in starlight have been as deep as 22 percent.