The mystery deepened when astronomer Bradley Schaefer found evidence suggesting the star had also been dimming by about 16 percent each century. Such a huge drop in light over time made the comet hypothesis seem less likely. Compared to the 36 giant comets you’d need to create the star’s 20 percent dimming, you’d need 648,000 giant comets to explain the century-long dimming.

“I do not see how it is possible for something like 648,000 giant-comets to exist around one star,” he wrote, “nor to have their orbits orchestrated so as to all pass in front of the star within the last century.”

Now a new paper calls Schaefer’s results into question. While there’s still no doubt that KIC 8462852 is a bizarre star, it’s going to take more research before we’ll know for sure whether the star is dimming over the long-term. Scientists are hinting at another paper that may soon come out and add to the debate.

It’s going to take more research before we’ll know for sure whether the star is dimming over the long-term.

The current study, spearheaded by researchers at Vanderbilt University, suggests the centuries-long dimming may be the result of using different telescopes to collect the data.