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Star That Disappears Every 44 Years For 8 Months Finally Explained

2025-09-01 Science & Technology
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Anton Petrov
Anton Petrov
1.6m subscribers

The Extreme Dimming of ASASSN-24W and Evidence for a Collision-Formed Disk

Discover why the star ASASSN-24W dimmed nearly 96%—an extreme event revealing new mechanisms in sun-like star systems, distinct from previous stellar mysteries involving red supergiants.

Short Summary

  • Identify ASASSN-24W as an F-type star, making its extreme dimming unprecedented for its class compared to Betelgeuse.
  • Determine that a likely cause is a massive disk of carbonaceous material or ice orbiting both star system components.
  • Establish a sharp, periodic dimming cycle of 43.8 years based on historical observations dating back to 1937.
  • Conclude that the obscuring material may have formed from a catastrophic planetary collision within the binary system a few million years ago.

This discussion reviews the extreme 96% dimming event of the star ASASSN-24W (ASASSN-24fw) observed in 2024. We contrast this F-type star event against dimmings seen in massive stars like Betelgeuse, focusing on evidence from light polarization and spectral data that points toward a unique, collision-generated circumbinary disk structure.

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Description

Support this channel on Patreon to help me make this a full time job: https://www.patreon.com/whatdamath (Unreleased videos, extra footage, DMs, no ads) Alternatively, PayPal donations can be sent here: http://paypal.me/whatdamath Get a Wonderful Person Tee: https://teespring.com/stores/whatdamath More cool designs are on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QFIrFX Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about a strange sun like star that dimmed by 96% several times Links: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.03080 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.05367 Dimming stars: https://youtu.be/f2WPVThTklo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plOd2cBedOE https://youtu.be/cKN4G4x04BM #dimming #star #astronomy 0:00 Another dimming star! ASASSN-24fw 1:10 Betelgeuse and other dimming stars 2:25 VY Canis Majoris 4:10 New discovery and why it's so different 5:21 What type of star this is 6:40 Historical observations and what this probably is not 8:10 What probably caused this dimming 9:20 What the system probably looks like 11:00 What created the disk though? 12:30 Conclusions and implications Enjoy and please subscribe Bitcoin/Ethereum to spare? Donate them here to help this channel grow! bc1qnkl3nk0zt7w0xzrgur9pnkcduj7a3xxllcn7d4 or ETH: 0x60f088B10b03115405d313f964BeA93eF0Bd3DbF Thank you to all Patreon supporters of this channel Special thanks also goes to all the wonderful supporters of the channel through YouTube Memberships Credit: Davidjessop CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization_(waves)#/media/File:Wave_Polarisation.gif https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~smaddiso/research/anims/CBdisks.html https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/news/team-astronomers-adds-very-short-list-rare-binary-star-systems Licenses used: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and relevant Creative Commons licenses

Top Comments (10)

@dj-kq4fz 2025-09-01

Forget the spheres, we need a "Dyson Vacuum" for all that dust.

202 28 replies
@Giratina143 2025-09-01

I saw the title and I asked myself, is it dust? It's always dust.

103 5 replies
@couchninja571 2025-09-01

It's always dust.

96 15 replies
@RyloKen8197 2025-09-01

"All the universe is basically smoke and mirrors." "Just variations in opacity and reflectivity."

28 2 replies
@briankleinschmidt3664 2025-09-01

When an astronomer uses the term, "metal" he's talking about all of the elements after hydrogen and helium.

22 1 replies
@starburstdragon 2025-09-01

Hello wonderful aliens...

19
@SalahEddine-189 2025-09-01

One day, it's gonna be them

13
@AlBungy 2025-09-02

The dimming is caused by a fly passing in front of the telescope and taking 44 years to circumnavigate the earth.😂😂😂

12 1 replies
@terryhemingway6983 2025-09-01

Star dust in our eyes. Or, at least, in front of our telescopes.

7
@praneetprakash 2025-09-02

The star moves into another dimension for 8 months then returns to our dimension.

3

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