You probably know the “Dyson sphere” from many appearances in science fiction over the years.
One depiction is in the ST:TNG episode “Relics” – as a MacGuffin most notable for being completely abandoned save for TOS-era engineer Scotty, stuck there in a tranporter buffer on a crashed ship for 75 years.
In 1960, scientist Freeman Dyson was inspired to investigate an idea introduced in “Star Maker” (1937) by Olaf Stapledon (see talin’s review.) Stapledon actually envisioned not the improbably solid structure seen in TNG, but a swarm of separate orbiting energy-collecting structures.
The concept has been used many times as a plot device, as well as a target in the search for advanced extraterrestrial intelligence.
A new study concludes that even the “swarm” concept is unworkable, because containing that much of a star’s energy would be… fatal:
Not to mention the sheer amount of matter to produce it. Way more than most solar systems would have.
The Ringworld, to me, would be an excellent working variation. He even has shadow shields to simulate day and night and help with the heat. If memory serves there are heat exchangers but space is kinda shit for heat disapation.
I think those megastructures serve different purposes, though. Niven’s Ringworld was a very dense construction meant to provide habitable surface area. It had apparently taken every scrap of matter in its solar system to construct. I don’t know if anyone has done a feasibility study on that, but I recall that Niven was prompted to write a sequel by fans who pointed out some of the engineering issues with Ringworld.
If memory serves, Niven actually had a group of fans, mostly engineers, who swarmed him at a con after the book’s release. When he agreed to write the second he consulted with them to make sure they got it correct.
I Always thought a dyson sphere was to inhabit on the interior. Less solar mass with nearly zero loss of its energy. Sphere could be out past the sweet spot because of the capture ability. The civilisations would have protection from meteors, etc. The mass and energy to crete is ridiculous.
Side note: Do you recall the star hubble found a few years ago that sort of ‘blinked’. Many people posited that it may be a dyson sphere being constructed. We’ll never know, but it’s fun to think of.
I’d kind of assumed that too. Not sure where I first picked it up, but that was supported by the depiction in TNG. I don’t know exactly what Stapledon portrayed in Star Maker, but the idea Dyson explored was the swarm of energy-collecting structures. I guess science-fiction imagination has run wild with it since then…
Yeah! In 2011 astronomers started to notice Tabby’s Star dimming and brightening with no obvious pattern. It’s still being studied. There are a bunch of interesting hypotheses for natural explanations that might be more likely (if less thrilling) than an alien megastructure.
A bit more on Star Maker. Google says that the oldest SF book that refers to any type of Dyson sphere is Star Maker (1937). It described a star with a surrounding light gathering ‘gauze’. Clarke and Aldiss heaped praise on the book and its author’s awesome imagination. Of course, the book predates a lot of more modern works that Clarke and maybe even Aldiss never read.
I never read it either. I’m more into hard SF than mind benders.
