Astronomers in the U.K. and France say Tabby's Star may have a planetary-mass companion, based on an analysis of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observations and new radial velocity measurements. The result adds a fresh piece of evidence to the study of one of the sky's most closely watched unusual stars.
Tabby's Star has drawn attention for years because of its puzzling behavior, making any new sign of an orbiting object especially notable. In this latest work, researchers combined space-based monitoring with follow-up measurements that track how a star moves under the gravitational pull of a companion.
The reported object is described as being in the planetary-mass range, with an estimated mass around nine times that of Jupiter. That would make it a massive companion rather than a small rocky world, if the signal is confirmed by future observations.
For now, the study points to evidence rather than a final confirmation. Even so, the findings suggest that continued TESS monitoring and additional radial velocity work could help clarify what is orbiting Tabby's Star and how it fits into the broader mystery surrounding the system.
