[5] She studied the sizes of nearby stars similar to the Sun, using GSU's CHARA array, a long-baseline optical and infrared interferometer located at Mount Wilson Observatory.

[6][7] Astronomer Sarah Ballard described this as "truly remarkable"[8] work and has used what she calls this "precious sample"[8] of data on nearby small stars for the "characterization by proxy" method to help investigate the far more distant exoplanet Kepler-61b.

Everyone's[weasel words] first thought was an exoplanet detected around this massive star, but the dips in light lasted anywhere from 5 to 80 days and were erratically spaced apart thus ruling out any kind of an orbit for one celestial object.

[15]So after all the natural explanations turned up weak, her team decided to send off their research to SETI (Search for extraterrestrial intelligence) to rule out aliens.

"[16] The SETI Institute mentioned what caught their eye and made them take on the research themselves: "Even more interesting, the timing of the present dip (in light) suggests that whatever this material is, it is situated at just the right distance from the star to be in the 'habitable zone,' where we believe life like ours could develop as it has on Earth.

[15]The search for answers to KIC 8462852 is still ongoing, with two papers published in the summer of 2019 offering plausible scientific scenarios, involving larger moons being stripped from their planets.