On Friday night astronomer Jason Wright from Penn State University — the same academic who recently wrote a paper about the hypothetical existence of an indigenous alien species in our solar system before humans — noted that the brightness of Tabby's Star was dipping again.
The star is named after astronomer Tabetha Boyajian who first reported on the star's seemingly strange behaviour after analysing data from the Hubble Telescope.
She has been posting recording of the star's dimming over the past few days with great excitement.
But we still have no idea why the star appears to be flickering.
One of the most favoured explanations for seemingly random light fluctuation is that a swarm of comet fragments is periodically blocking light from the star. Another very similar theory contends it could be the debris of a destroyed planet that is blocking the star's rays, however such a theory struggles to explain the irregularity of the dimming.
Another technically possible explanation that has been banded about — and gained much attention in the media — is the idea that an alien megastructure has been responsible for blocking the star's light.
It's a notion that has its origins in an idea put forth by physicist Freeman Dyson who proposed that a massive orbiting array of solar collectors (which has become known as a Dyson structure) would be a perfectly rational thing for an alien society to build to meet its energy needs.
Of course, scientists think that's hugely improbable.
Last year SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial life Institute) announced it was going to focus on the star in a bid to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Dan Werthimer, a chief scientist at Berkeley SETI, was quick to dismiss the wild theories of an alien megastructure.
"I don't think it's very likely — a one in a billion chance or something like that — but nevertheless, we're going to check it out," he said.
