EPIC 204278916 is a

pre-main-sequence star, about five million years old with a spectral type of

M1, implying a red dwarf. It is part of the Upper Scorpius sub-group of the

Scorpius–Centaurus Association, and is in the constellation Scorpius. When you

observe a distant star, you expect its brightness to be something that’s fairly

uniform.





Sure, some stars vary in

brightness periodically — even our Sun does — but those intrinsic variations

occur with predictable regularity and at well-understood magnitudes. Some stars

vary because of extrinsic factors, such as being eclipsed by another star or

being transited by an extra-solar planet. But every once in a while, we run

across a strange star: one that has its brightness change in a way that isn’t

periodic or explicable by current models.





The strangest star in the

universe is not alone. In 2015, astronomers reported unusual behavior in the

star “KIC 8462852” that they could not explain. Now, another team has

discovered a second star that behaves similarly to KIC 8462852. It’s called

“EPIC 204278916” and it’s even stranger than the first one. Learn

more about this mysterious star in the video below: