Dyson shell

E94834

A Dyson shell is a hypothetical megastructure consisting of a vast swarm or continuous layer of objects surrounding a star to capture a significant portion of its energy output.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Dyson bubble 2

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf hypothetical megastructure
stellar megastructure concept
appearsIn science fiction literature
speculative science discussions
associatedWith Kardashev scale
surface form: Kardashev Type II civilization
assumes near-complete enclosure of star
basedOn idea of enclosing a star
captures stellar energy
stellar radiation
category astroengineering project
megastructure
contrastedWith Dyson swarm as more feasible variant
designedTo maximize energy collection from a star
discussedIn SETI research
philosophy of advanced civilizations
energySource central star
energyUtilization near-total harnessing of stellar luminosity
engineeringChallenge heat management
material strength limits
structural integrity over stellar scales
field SETI NERFINISHED
astronomical engineering
futurism
implies extremely advanced technology
large-scale material resources
influencedBy Olaf Stapledon’s fictional ideas
inspired searches for extraterrestrial megastructures
observationalSignature reprocessed starlight at longer wavelengths
strong infrared excess
proposalYear 1960
proposedBy Freeman Dyson NERFINISHED
publishedIn Science (journal)
surface form: Science journal
purpose capture a significant portion of a star's energy output
relatedTo Dyson shell self-linksurface differs
surface form: Dyson bubble

Dyson sphere NERFINISHED
Dyson swarm NERFINISHED
requires advanced space industry
mass comparable to planetary bodies
scale astronomical
scaleComparedTo planetary orbits
searchMethod anomalous stellar spectra analysis
infrared sky surveys
stabilityIssues gravitational instability
orbital dynamics challenges
surrounds star
theoreticalStatus hypothetical
typicalRadius on the order of 1 astronomical unit for a Sun-like star

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

subject surface form: Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation
Dyson shell relatedTo Dyson shell self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Dyson bubble
Dyson sphere concept variant Dyson shell
Dyson sphere concept variant Dyson shell
this entity surface form: Dyson bubble