Nine Objects, One Plate, Zero Explanation — Until Now | Beatriz Villarroel

Could entire stars simply vanish?! One of the strangest mysteries in astronomy isn't about black holes or aliens. It's about stars that seem to disappear without a trace. In this conversation, astronomer Beatriz Villarroel explains the VASCO (Vanishing & Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations) project and one of its most astonishing discoveries: **nine star-like objects that appeared and disappeared simultaneously on a single photographic plate**, long before the satellite era. We cover: • Why hundreds of "missing stars" had to be investigated one by one. • The automated search pipeline developed by Enrique Solano to analyze decades of astronomical data. • Why about 600 disappearing objects demanded closer inspection. • The famous image containing nine transient objects that still challenges conventional explanations. • What these discoveries could mean for astrophysics, observational astronomy, and the search for rare cosmic phenomena. Watch the full conversation: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4jvdrN-FQw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4jvdrN-FQw) --- 📬 Subscribe to my Monday **M.A.G.I.C. Message** for science insights, meteorites, giveaways, and impossible conversations: (https://briankeating.com/bvyt) 🪨 Win a **4.5-billion-year-old meteorite** 📖 Get your **FREE copy of Flatland** 📚 My books *Into the Impossible: Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner* [https://a.co/d/0aFjx6Y](https://a.co/d/0aFjx6Y) *Into the Impossible Two: Unlocking the Universe with Mathematics* [https://a.co/d/3mS4jLk](https://a.co/d/3mS4jLk) 🚀 Grow your YouTube channel with vidIQ [https://vidiq.com/DrBrianKeating](https://vidiq.com/DrBrianKeating) --- **ABOUT BRIAN KEATING** Brian Keating is Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego, a leading observational cosmologist, and Principal Investigator on the Simons Observatory. His research focuses on the Cosmic Microwave Background, inflation, and the origin of the Universe. On *Into the Impossible*, he interviews Nobel laureates, pioneering scientists, entrepreneurs, and thinkers exploring the biggest questions in science. --- Follow Brian: X [https://x.com/briankeating](https://x.com/briankeating) Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drbriankeating](https://www.instagram.com/drbriankeating) Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/briankeating](https://www.facebook.com/briankeating) LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankeating](https://www.linkedin.com/in/briankeating) #Astronomy #Astrophysics #BeatrizVillarroel #VASCO #MissingStars #Technosignatures #BrianKeating