Dyson Spheres

A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its solar power output. The concept is a thought experiment that attempts to explain how a spacefaring civilization would meet its energy requirements once those requirements exceed what can be generated from the home planet's resources alone. Because only a tiny fraction of a star's energy emissions reaches the surface of any orbiting planet, building structures encircling a star would enable a civilization to harvest far more energy. The first contemporary description of the structure was by Olaf Stapledon in his science fiction novel Star Maker, in which he described "every solar system... surrounded by a gauze of light-traps, which focused the escaping solar energy for intelligent use". The concept was later popularized by Freeman Dyson in his 1960 paper "Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation".

Read more in the app

Will Advanced Civilizations Build Habitable Planets or Dyson Spheres

Did a NASA telescope detect cosmic 'hot dogs' or Dyson spheres?

Those Aren't Dyson Spheres, They're HotDOGs

‘Dyson spheres’ were theorized as a way to detect alien life. Scientists say they’ve found potential evidence

Astronomers are on the Hunt for Dyson Spheres

The aliens are all hanging out on Dyson spheres circling white dwarfs, physicist argues

If There are Dyson Spheres Around White Dwarfs, We Should be Able to Detect Them

Paper presented at the European Astronomical Society meeting explores the potential for Dyson spheres across the Milky Way, finding at least five stars could possibly house a Dyson sphere (a theoretical megastructure built around a star to harness its energy output).

Alien 'Dyson spheres' could be harvesting the power of black holes

Advanced Civilizations Could be Using Dyson Spheres to Collect Unimaginable Energy From Black Holes

Alien 'Dyson spheres' could be harvesting the power of black holes

Advanced Civilizations Could be Using Dyson Spheres to Collect Energy From Black Holes. Here’s how we Could Detect Them

Dyson Spheres Around Black Holes Could Reveal Alien Civilizations, Scientists Say

Earlier this year, A scientist studying Boyajian’s star and SETI astronomers teamed up to pitch NASA on using TESS data to look for megastructures like Dyson Spheres. NASA granted the proposal. For the first time in history, NASA is officially sponsoring a search for alien megastructures.