Trying to solve the mystery of the star called KIC 8462852 that's been unnaturally dimming  -- probably because its enclosed by an alien-built megastructure -- continues to baffle even more as new observations come in.

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In 2015, the unnatural and unreal behavior of the light being emitted by KIC 8462852, also known as Tabby's Star, in our Milky Way stoked enough interest to trigger a surge in observations of this strange star.

The star's dimming is so baffling some scientists have surmised it could only be the result of some incredible alien technology harvesting the nuclear energy from Tabby's Star.

New observations recently made public seem to confirm the strange dimming of Tabby's Star suggests a large mass of matter is indeed orbit around it. That object might be the dust left over from the disintegration of a family of comets. But what that mass might be is anyone's guess.

Over the past year, scientists have sought to logically explain this mystery. Nothing has been conclusive so far and attempts to identify radio signals from the star have been unfruitful.

Now, newly analyzed observations by NASA's Kepler space telescope show Tabby's Star also dimmed overall during the last few years.

"The steady brightness change in KIC 8462852 is pretty astounding," said study lead author Ben Montet, of the California Institute of Technology.

"Our highly accurate measurements over four years demonstrate that the star really is getting fainter with time. It is unprecedented for this type of star to slowly fade for years, and we don't see anything else like it in the Kepler data."

Last September, a team of astronomers said the star had dimmed dramatically several times over the past few years, and in one case by an astounding 22 percent.

These brightness dips are too significant to be caused by an orbiting planet, so scientists began looking for alternative explanations.

Some continue to suggest the dips in brightness are consistent with a gigantic energy-collecting structure built by an intelligent civilization. The more scientists learn about "Tabby's Star," the more mysterious this weird object gets.

One of the more fantastic explanations for the dimming phenomenon is it might be caused by a "Dyson Sphere," a popular and hypothetical sci-fi device that completely encloses a star to capture most or all of its energy.

This sphere consists of a system of orbiting solar power satellites that completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output.

Another theory believes the star is blocked by the debris of a smashed planet while still another says the dimming is caused by what's known as "gravity darkening."

TagsTabby's Star, KIC 8462852, dimming, NASA, alien megastructure