Stellar brightness fluctuations encode a diverse range of phenomena from exoplanetary transits. If there are advanced civilizations in the galaxy, we may also be able to detect certain technosignatures in these fluctuations. In particular, artificial structures around a host star may produce pronounced and characteristic fading events in light curves. This possibility was recently brought to the forefront with the analysis of Boyajian’s Star (KIC 8462852), which displayed erratic brightness dips. While no theory provides a perfect explanation for the fading events seen in Boyajian's star, the large volume of imaging data emerging from the TESS mission is now enabling a new search for similar behavior in additional objects. Our team has created light curves for a set of 50 million relatively bright stars across the sky from the TESS Full Frame Images. We are using a combination of supervised and unsupervised machine learning to discover and classify rare fading events. We will follow up on the most unusual objects with ground-based optical and radio observatories to determine the origin of such variability.

The 2021 Assembly of the Order of the Octopus - Participant Talks - Session IV: Stars & Megastructures