There is a well-accepted set of theories which adequately describe the lifecycles of the various types of stars. From dwarfs to hypergiants, the general run of things is largely understood according to the physical theories which go into stellar astrophysics. From quantum chromodynamics, needed to properly describe the thermonuclear heart of a star and the complex network of nucleosyntheses it generates; to general relativity, which is required to model the large-scale gravitational behavior of the star; the whole gamut of modern physics comes together to give a more or less complete picture of the lives (and deaths) of stars. 

There are, of course, many unsolved problems. The most prominent of which is the true nature of the singularity at the center of a black hole, but apart from this, most holes, as it were, in stellar astrophysics dwell in the realm of the extreme, such as the reason magnetars exist, or whether there is exotic matter within certain neutron stars. There is a type of anomaly, however, which does not relate to, nor is it found in, the extremity of stellar structures.

Our sun is classified as a “main sequence” star. The precise details of this are of little consequence, but suffice it to say that these are “typical” stars, in that the majority of stars in the visible universe are main sequence stars. Some are much more massive than the sun while others are dwarf stars. What they have in common, however, is that it is around these stars that almost all planets with the capacity to support complex life exist. And it is these stars—and, to date, only these stars—which undergo the so-called “Stellar Exsanguination” anomaly.

The name, “Stellar Exsanguination,” is the technical term, largely unknown, for that to which most refer today as “weird dimming,” or simply, “dimming.” Put rather simply, Stellar Exsanguination is the inexplicable and rapid loss of stellar mass. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were obviously the first proposal, but these occur in sudden bursts, whereas Exsanguination is a gradual, though accelerating, phenomenon. Moreover, CMEs, being highly energetic events, are easily detected in stars many thousands of lightyears away. Exsanguination, on the other hand, is measured slowly, over years of accumulated data. It is for precisely this reason that it went unnoticed for the first century of orbital telescopy. 

I shall spare the reader an exhaustive list of theories proposed and disproved regarding the origin and nature of Stellar Exsanguination. All we have is the following observational evidence.

I. Loss of mass: This is slow at first but, after approximately 1000 years, accelerates rapidly.

II. No abnormal spectral data: The star undergoing Exsanguination does not appear to “burn” any differently, apart from what is predicted due to its loss of mass.

III. No foreign bodies: There have to date been no bodies observed near extrasolar stars undergoing Exsanguination which could have any effect on them, gravitationally or otherwise.

IV. The process ends with the “death” of the star: The Exsanguination ends when the star has lost so much of its mass that it can no longer sustain nuclear fusion in its core.

V. The sun has been found to be undergoing the early stages of Exsanguination: This has only quite recently been discovered and is, despite its reality being denied by many astrophysicists, clearly a serious danger. 

That Stellar Exsanguination is befalling our very own star is both terrifying and exhilarating. There is preliminary data showing that there is, indeed, a foreign body orbiting the sun, though it is very small—approximately as massive as Ceres—and has an inexplicably high orbital velocity. Additionally, it is visible—and only barely—in the X-ray band. 

The deeper reason for (or behind) Stellar Exsanguination is yet unknown, as is the identity of the strange body—popularly deemed “the Exsanguinator”—apparently hurling itself around the sun at an impossible speed. There are estimates for the premature death of the sun which vary from 500 to 900 years from the date of this writing.