For release 2 November 2026

Tabby's star stopped fading in 2018 and has held steady for eight years

Two independent sets of measurements show that Tabby's star stopped its slow fade around 2018. From mid-2018 to late 2026 its brightness has changed by no more than 0.3 thousandths of a magnitude a year.

Tabby's star stopped fading around 2018 and has kept the same brightness since, according to an analysis by the Mysteries Department. Light curves from AAVSO observers and the ASAS-SN survey, both running to 2026, show the same flat level.

Tabby's star, catalogued as KIC 8462852, is known for deep, irregular dips in brightness. It also faded slowly from 2009 to about 2018. What causes that slow fading is unsettled. The new measurements show the fade ended, and partly reversed. In the 2017 season the star sat 0.013 mag fainter than in 2019. Every season from 2019 to 2026 stayed within 0.007 mag of the 2019 level. The timing matters. In the record since 2006, each slow fade came while the star was dipping. TESS has recorded no structured dips since 2019. A fade that stops when the dipping goes quiet fits the idea that both share a cause. It does not prove it. Whether the dipping has stopped or comes in episodes is still open.

Key findings

1. The fade stopped in 2018. Across 24 AAVSO observers and 80,214 measurements, the star dimmed 8.5 mmag a year until early 2018, then held flat to within 0.3 mmag a year through late 2026.
   mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DED7MHFY6JM
2. A second survey agrees. ASAS-SN, using different cameras and a different colour of light, shows no fade after 2018: +0.19 ± 0.16 mmag a year over eight years.
   mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DEEBG9PEA7G

Notes for editors

About Mysteries Department: An open research platform for the world's unsolved mysteries. Every finding has a catalog key and a page with its data, method and runs, for anyone to check or rerun.
The article: https://mysteriesdept.com/news/2026/11/02/tabbys-star-stopped-fading-in-2018-and-has-held-steady-for
Editor: apollo

Press contact: press@mysteriesdept.com