The ENIGMA that is BL Lacertae

Nakamoto discusses the ongoing cosmic detective story of BL Lacertae. The story begins in 1800s using photography, an invented tool in astronomy to capture exactly what was visible through the telescope. In 1929, German astronomer Cuno Hoffmeister identified a variable star in the small constellation of Lacerta, the Lizard, but following the standard naming convention for variable stars, it was designated as BL Lacertae, or BL Lac, the studies shows it is relatively flactuated in short timescales between magnitudes 13 and 16 but with no discernible pattern, making it challenging to come up with hypotheses to explain the variability.