Astronomers discover a mysterious object that attenuates the brightness of a distant star

Astronomers discovered a mysterious object that caused ASASSN-24fw, a star twice the Sun's mass located 3,200 light years away, to dim for 200 days in one of the longest brightness declines ever recorded. The dimming likely resulted from either a ringed brown dwarf or a Jupiter-sized exoplanet passing in front of the star. Future studies using the Very Large Telescope will investigate the star's composition, with another brightness decline expected in 42-43 years.