Mysterious 'elongated object' that made giant star disappear puzzles scientists

A star in the centre of our galaxy keeps blinking in and out of existence, and scientists have not been able to work out why. In the middle of the Milky Way galaxy, 25,000 light years away, is the mysterious star VVV-WIT-08. Many stars change in brightness because they pulsate, or are eclipsed by another star, but this one is exceptionally rare because it becomes fainter over a several months – then suddenly brighter again. Astronomers believe that VVV-WIT-08 is a new class of'blinking giant' binary star system, where the giant mass of gas is blocked every few decades. Scientists still don't know what could be hiding the planet, though; the companion object, which could be another star or planet, is surrounded by an opaque disc, covering the star.