This list of stars that have unusual dimming periods is a table of stars that have been observed to darken and brighten and do not appear to be eclipsing binaries or intrinsic variables. It is based on studies searching for analogs of Tabby's Star. [1] [2]
The listing here is ordered alphabetically.
Star designation | Stellar class | Magnitude | Right ascension (J2000) | Declination (J2000) | Distance (light-years) | Reason for dimming | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apparent | Absolute | ||||||
ASASSN-V J193622.23+115244.1 | — | 14.0–15.5 [3] | — | 19h 36m 22.23s [3] | +11° 52′ 44.1″ [3] | 6592 [3] | Unknown |
ASASSN-V J213939.3-702817.4 | F0V [4] | 12.95–14.22 [5] | 2.5 [5] | 21h 39m 39.3s [5] | −70° 28′ 17.4″ [5] | 3630 [4] | Unknown |
Betelgeuse | M1-2 [6] | +0.50 [7] | — | 05h 55m 10.30536s [8] | +07° 24′ 25.4304″ [8] | — | "large-grain circumstellar dust" [9] [10] |
EPIC 204278916 | M1 [11] | 13.7 [12] | — | 16h 02m 07.576s [13] | −22° 57′ 46.89″ [13] | — | Dust disk |
EPIC 204376071 | M [14] | — | — | 16h 04m 10.1267s [15] | −22° 34′ 45.5503″ [15] | 440 [14] | Possibly giant planet or brown dwarf with rings |
HD 139139 (EPIC 249706694) | G3/5V | 9.84; [16] 9.677 [17] | — | 15h 37m 06.215s [17] | −19° 08′ 32.96″ [17] | 350 [18] 572 [17] | Unknown |
KH 15D | K7 [19] | 15.5–21.5 [20] | 6.226 [21] | 06h 41m 10.31s [22] | +09° 28′ 33.2″ [22] | 773 [23] | Possibly circumbinary disk |
KIC 4150611 (HD 181469) | Pulsator/K/M/G | — | — | 19h 18m 58.21759s [24] | +39° 16′ 01.7913″ [24] | — | Five-star system |
PDS 110 | keF6 IVeb [25] | 10.422 [25] | 2.54 [25] | 05h 23m 31.008s [25] | –01° 04′ 23.68″ [25] | 1090 [25] | Possibly eclipses by circumstellar dust [26] |
RW Cephei | K2 0-Ia [27] | 6.0–7.6 [28] | — | 22h 23m 07.01521s [29] | +55° 57′ 47.6244″ [29] | 11,000 [30] [lower-alpha 1] | Great dimming event similar to Betelgeuse |
RZ Piscium | K0 IV [31] | 11.29–13.82 [31] | — | 01h 09m 42.056s [32] | +27° 57′ 1.95″ [32] | 550 [33] | Substantial mass of gas and dust, possibly from disrupted planet |
Tabby's Star (KIC 8462852) | F3V [34] [35] | 11.705 [35] | 3.08 [34] | 20h 06m 15.4527s [34] | +44° 27′ 24.791″ [34] | 1470 [34] | Unknown |
TIC 400799224 | — | — | — | — | — | — | "probably from an orbiting body that periodically emits clouds of dust that occult the star" [36] [37] |
V1400 Centauri | K5 IV(e) Li [38] | 12.31 [38] | — | 14h 07m 47.93s [38] | −39° 45′ 42.7″ [38] | 434 [39] | Eclipse by a free-floating brown dwarf or rogue planet with a circumstellar disk or ring system [40] |
VVV-WIT-07 | — | 14.35–16.164 [41] | — | 17h 26m 29.387s [41] | −35° 40′ 6.20″ [41] | 23000/? [41] | Unknown |
VVV-WIT-08 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Probably a black hole companion or a free-floating brown dwarf with a circumstellar disk |
WD 1145+017 (EPIC 201563164) | DB [42] | 17.0 [43] | — | 11h 48m 33.63s [42] | +01° 28′ 59.4″ [42] | 570 [44] | Dust disk |
ZTF J0139+5245 (ZTF J013906.17+524536.89) | DA [45] | 18.4 [45] | — | 01h 39m 06.17s | +52° 45′ 36.89″ | 564 [45] | Dust disk |
Gaia17bpp | M0-III | 16.13–20.48 [46] | — | 19h 37m 23.16s | +17° 59′ 02.90″ | 27,600 [47] | Dust disk |
Gaia21bcv | K4.5V | 17.70–20.12 | 3.2 | 07h 14m 33.276s | −12° 13′ 27.34″ | 4,508 | Eclipse by a substellar companion with a 0.5 AU-radius debris disk [48] |
ASASSN-21js | B [lower-alpha 2] | 12.8 | 1.38 | 11h 47m 11.754s | −62° 10′ 36.80″ | 9,149 | Eclipse by a distant substellar companion with a 1.05 AU-radius debris disk [49] |
21 Aquilae is a solitary variable star in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. It has the variable star designation V1288 Aql; 21 Aquilae is its Flamsteed designation. This object is visible to the naked eye as a dim, blue-white hued star with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of about 5.1. The star is located at a distance of around 680 light-years from Earth, give or take a 20 light-year margin of error. It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of –5 km/s.
HD 142 is a wide binary star system in the southern constellation of Phoenix. The main component has a yellow-white hue and is dimly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.7. The system is located at a distance of 85.5 light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +6 km/s.
HD 102195 is an orange-hued star in the zodiac constellation of Virgo with a confirmed exoplanet companion. With an apparent visual magnitude of 8.07, the star is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. The distance to HD 102195 can be estimated from its annual parallax shift of 34.06 mas, yielding 95.8 light years. It is moving further away from the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of 1.85 km/s. This is a high proper motion star and a possible member of the η Cha stellar kinematic group.
N Centauri is a binary star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. The brighter star is dimly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.26, and it is approximately 304 light years away based on parallax. It has an absolute magnitude of +0.76 and is drifting further away from the Sun with a radial velocity of +27 km/s. It is a candidate member of the Sco OB2 moving group.
HD 70573 is a variable star in the equatorial constellation of Hydra. At a mean apparent visual magnitude of +8.7, this yellow-hued star is too dim to be visible to the naked eye. Based upon parallax measurements, it is located at a distance of 193 light years from the Sun, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of 20.5 km/s. It is a candidate member of the proposed Hercules-Lyra Association of co-moving stars, although this membership is disputed.
HD 37017 is a binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Orion. It has the variable star designation V1046 Orionis; HD 37017 is the identifier from the Henry Draper Catalogue. The system is a challenge to view with the naked eye, being close to the lower limit of visibility with a combined apparent visual magnitude of 6.55. It is located at a distance of approximately 1,230 light years based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +32 km/s. The system is part of star cluster NGC 1981.
LN Andromedae, also known as HD 217811, HR 8768, is a formerly suspected variable star in the constellation Andromeda. Located approximately 458 parsecs (1,490 ly) away from Earth, it shines with an apparent visual magnitude 6.41, thus it can be seen by the naked eye under very favourable conditions. Its spectral classification is B2V, meaning that it's a hot main sequence star, emitting light approximately with a blackbody spectrum at an effective temperature of 18,090 K.
LP Aquarii is a pulsating variable star in the constellation of Aquarius that varies between magnitudes 6.30 and 6.64. The position of the star near the ecliptic means it is subject to lunar occultations.
HAT-P-4 is a wide binary star consisting of a pair of G-type main-sequence stars in the constellation of Boötes. It is also designated BD+36°2593.
GJ 3379 is the nearest star in the Orion constellation, located at a distance of 17 light years from the Sun based on parallax. It is a single star with an apparent visual magnitude of +11.31 and an absolute magnitude of +12.71, therefore, the star is not visible with the naked eye. It is positioned in the upper left part of the Orion constellation, to the SSE of Betelgeuse. This star is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +30.0 kilometers per second. In the past, this star had a relatively close encounter with the Solar System. Some 161,000±6,000 years ago, it achieved a minimum distance of 4.08 ± 0.20 ly (1.25 ± 0.06 pc).
AA Tauri is a young variable star in the equatorial constellation of Taurus, located in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. It is too faint to view with the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude that varies from 12.2 down to 16.1. The star is located approximately 439 light-years away from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +17 km/s.
f Eridani is a binary, or possibly a triple, star system in the equatorial constellation of Eridanus, consisting of stars HD 24071 and HD 24072. They share a single Hipparcos catalogue entry, HIP 17797, but have separate Bright Star Catalogue listings, HR 1189 and 1190. f Eridani is the Bayer designation of the pair.
RS Telescopii, abbreviated RS Tel, is a variable star in the southern constellation of Telescopium. It is a dim star with an apparent visual magnitude of 10.67, which is much too faint to be visible without a telescope. The variability of this star was discovered by Evelyn F. Leland and announced by Edward C. Pickering in 1910. It was first studied by Cecilia H. Payne in 1928 at the Harvard College Observatory.
Gliese 754 is a dim star in the southern constellation of Telescopium. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 12.25, which requires a telescope to view. The star is located at a distance of 19.3 light-years from the Sun based on parallax, and it is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +7 km/s. It is one of the hundred closest stars to the Solar System. Calculations of its orbit around the Milky Way showed that it is eccentric, and indicate that it might be a thick disk object.
HR 7484 is a binary star system in the northern constellation of Cygnus. It is dimly visible to the naked eye under good viewing conditions, having an apparent visual magnitude of 5.89. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 24.71, it is located 132 light years away. The system is moving closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −14 km/s.
GW Orionis is a T Tauri type pre-main sequence hierarchical triple star system. It is associated with the Lambda Orionis star-forming region and has an extended circumtrinary protoplanetary disk.
HD 99706 is an orange-hued star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Major. With an apparent visual magnitude of 7.65, it is too dim to be visible to the naked eye but can be viewed with a pair of binoculars. Parallax measurements provide a distance estimate of approximately 480 light years from the Sun, and the Doppler shift shows it is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −30 km/s. It has an absolute magnitude of 2.12, indicating it would be visible to the naked eye as a 2nd magnitude star if it were located 10 parsecs away.
RW Aurigae is a young binary system in the constellation of Auriga about 530 light years away, belonging to the Taurus-Auriga association of the Taurus Molecular Cloud. RW Aurigae B was discovered in 1944.
HD 72945 and HD 72946 form a co-moving star system in the northern constellation of Cancer. HD 72945 is a binary star that is dimly visible to the naked eye as a point of light with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.91. At an angular separation of 10.10″ is the fainter companion star HD 72946 at magnitude 7.25. It is being orbited by a brown dwarf. The system as a whole is located at a distance of approximately 84 light years from the Sun based on parallax measurements.
RS Sagittarii is an eclipsing binary star system in the southern constellation of Sagittarius, abbreviated RS Sgr. It is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 2.416 days, indicating that the components are too close to each other to be individually resolved. The system has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 6.01, which is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye. During the primary eclipse the brightness drops to magnitude 6.97, while the secondary eclipse is of magnitude 6.28. The distance to this system is approximately 1,420 light years based on parallax measurements.