Niven ring

E94837

A Niven ring is a hypothetical megastructure consisting of a gigantic, rotating ring encircling a star to provide an immense habitable surface on its inner rim.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Dyson ring 1

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf hypothetical megastructure
ringworld
science fiction concept
appearsIn hard science fiction
category fictional technology
hypothetical space habitat
considered physically implausible with known materials
contrastedWith Dyson shell NERFINISHED
O'Neill cylinder
encircles star
hasComponent inner rim
outer rim
hasConstraint orbital dynamics constraints
thermal management requirements
tidal forces from central star
hasDesignFeature continuous day side unless shaded
rotation to simulate gravity
star-facing inner surface
hasDimension circumference on order of planetary orbit
hasEnvironment artificially maintained biosphere
hasFunction provide habitable surface
hasLocation circumstellar space
hasProperty artificial gravity by rotation
gigantic size
hasShape ring
hasStabilityIssue off-center drift toward star
radial instability
inspired Ringworld
surface form: Ringworld (structure)
mayInclude attitude control thrusters
shadow squares
namedAfter Larry Niven NERFINISHED
provides immense habitable area
relatedTo Alderson disk
Dyson sphere NERFINISHED
Dyson swarm NERFINISHED
Ringworld (novel) NERFINISHED
megastructure
orbital ring
requires active station-keeping
advanced engineering
extreme material strength
large energy resources
rotatesAround star
scaleComparedTo larger than planetary orbit radius
usedIn discussions of astroengineering
discussions of space habitats

Referenced by (2)

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

Dyson sphere concept variant Niven ring
this entity surface form: Dyson ring