thewriter: Alien Solar Energy: The Dyson Sphere.

An Artist's conceptualization of a Dyson Sphere

Just imagine if humankind could get the full solar power of our sun and transfer it to the Earth in an incalculable quantity beyond that that cannot be envisaged at humankind's technological level, it would be truly remarkable. Visualize a gigantic solar panel array enveloping our sun constantly capturing pure solar energy and transferring it back to the Earth. If this were possible, it would go a long way in energy provision. However, a technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization may have developed and deployed it. An American scientist envisaged such a titanic structure. It is named after him- The Dyson Sphere.

This is at this time is impossible to engineer such a colossal array that could envelop the sun. The engineering challenges, the logistical hurdles, and the cost impediments will be beyond the capacities that we have today. The materials needed to construct such an array might not be met with what we have in our reach. The solar array will need fleets of spacecraft whose capabilities to carry huge loads of materials, construction crews be they human, android, robot or cyborg, and which can travel near our star's intense heat, are unimaginably beyond visualization or conceptualization.

However, this could be within the scope of human ability in many years to come. But in 1960 an American scientist proposed that a technologically advanced alien civilization could develop such an engineering feat. If such an extraterrestrial civilization exists or a group of them exist, then perhaps this may be possible, if they have so desired to engineer such a machine.

In 1960, the American scientist, Freeman Dyson , proposed the idea in a scientific paper titled; "Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation" that in order to detect a technologically and perhaps space-faring species, that detecting this civilization should be augmented with devices that can capture infra-red radiation from the solar array sphere to the home planet of that civilization. This is because Freeman Dyson must have visualized that the only way to transfer the solar energy captured by that sphere will by transferring it in infra-red form. Dyson is quoted in the paper as saying:

"If extraterrestrial intelligent beings exist and have reached a high level of technical development, one-by-product of their energy metabolism is likely to be the large-scale conversion of starlight into far-infrared radiation. It is proposed that a search for sources of infrared radiation should accompany the recently initiated search for interstellar radio communications.

Freeman Dyson.

We can understand this by paraphrase. What Dyson said was if an advanced technologically capable extraterrestrial species could meet their energy needs by tapping into the solar energy released by their star. This is sphere would consist of a gargantuan swarm of interlocked solar panels forming a colossal array, all arranged spherically. The solar energy would then be relayed back to their homeworld via infra-red energy. This is because at that time it was proposed that radio telescopes were to be used to search for intelligent advanced extraterrestrial life, the technology should be accompanied by devices that can detect the infra-red energy from such a sphere.

Dyson summed up lucidly the civilization that can construct such a gigantic engineering masterpiece and the technical specifications for its energy output in the following:

1) If a civilization grows at 1% per year, it only takes about 3,000 years to grow by a factor of 10¹²

2) The material resources presently available for us to do stuff with the amount to about 10²⁰ grams and Earth receives about 10²⁰ ergs per second of energy - so a 3000 year growing civilization will run out of energy or the matter to construct better means of acquiring (stellar) energy

3) Using our solar system as a template: Jupiter contains about 2x10³⁰ grams of ‘available’ mass, and the TOTAL rate of energy output of the Sun is 4x10³³ ergs per second

4) It ‘only’ takes about 10⁴⁴ ergs to disassemble and re-arrange the matter in Jupiter - or about 800 years worth of total stellar output

5) Therefore, there would be strong motivation to re-purpose Jupiter’s mass into a 2-3 metre thick spherical shell at Earth’s present (habitable zone) orbit, surrounding the Sun, capturing all energy and habitable on the interior surface…

Dyson pointed out that this sphere must maintain thermodynamic equilibrium with the enclosed star and the rest of the cosmos, so from the outside it must glow with the luminosity of the star, but with a spectrum shifted to the infrared - consistent with the high temperatures of its surface. And he suggests that one avenue to pursue in the hunt for such structures might be to study binary star systems where one star is easily visible, but the other is an intense infrared source.

Currently, the search for extraterrestrial life uses radio telescopes, radio transmissions, and laser beams, but that is for other kinds of responses or messages from extraterrestrials. Astronomers have used space-borne telescopes such as the Hubble and Keppler space telescopes to search for any evidence for Dyson Spheres in outer space. So far there has been no indication of the existence of such a hemispheroidal construction. It could be that they do exist but maybe too far to detect, or never constructed for the reasons of unavailability of technology, exorbitantly high costs, alternative sources of energy are being used or seen as technologically impractical. According to astronomer Seth Shostak, the lack of evidence of Dyson Spheres does not translate to their non-existence, but that we have not found them yet. It would be presumptuous to preclude the existence of such a structure as a Dyson Sphere. It could be thought of by an intelligent species. If you could get energy in such abundance, but of course after heavy financial outlay and engineering and scientific output, who would not want to create such a colossal and complex but a technologically marvelous machine.

Seth Shostak.

Seth Shostak, who is a senior astronomer at SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), an institute that searches for intelligent life on other worlds, calls the search for structures such as the Dyson Sphere as artifact hunting. He believes that while radio transmissions to other planets, which is what SETI does, is useful, but radio emissions will take a considerably long time to be received by an intelligent alien, even if that or those aliens live on planets in nearby solar systems. This is due to what he terms synchronicity. Synchronicity means that when a radio transmission is sent from Earth it must be detected by extraterrestrial life. This can take a long time even if at light speed it will take many light years for radio transmission to reach another planet. A transmission could possibly reach a planet without advanced life to capture and interpret the signal. It is possible that it might reach an uninhabitable planet. It must also be considered that technologically advanced intelligence may exist but did not construct a Dyson Sphere. This could be because they may not have envisaged it, or the technological hurdles were too great, highly exorbitant financial costs, they may have other renewable energy sources, or they may use another star nearby and are transmitting the energy back to them. Seth Shostak said that while we have not found a Dyson Sphere, its existence cannot be ruled out. He says that the search for them is worthwhile because an alien civilization could have thought of the technology and had the necessary expertise and resources to construct one. He called searching for them 'artifact hunting' (https://www.seti.org/why-alien-megastructures-may-hold-key-making-contact-extraterrestrials). Spheroids are permanent structures that can be detected from the heat on the back of their solar panels. The star they envelop will not be radiating light without encumbrance as it will be blocked at spaces where solar panels are installed. This is not normal for a stellar object like a sun. It will be like light from a lit candle being blocked by hands cupping the flame. Some light still passes through the fingers of a cupped hand.

We can ask if any alien megastructures have been detected. Indeed, in 2015, astronomer Tabetha Boyajuan and her colleagues (https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/tabby-s-star-mystery-still-hasn-t-been-solved-ncna797741) reported locating a nearby star some 1400 light-years away. The star manifested odd behavior that is not consistent with stellar behavior. It dimmed constantly.

In conclusion, if a Dyson Sphere is detected, then it is confirmation of the existence of advanced extraterrestrial life. But we cannot discount the existence of technologically advanced alien life on the premise of not finding a Dyson Spheroid. It might be a matter that our telescopes or other detection and search technologies have not been able to locate them. it could be that an advanced society did not want to construct them for the reasons mentioned. Therefore, we must be patient but critical and sober. We cannot rule out things but must think critically, have perseverance, think creatively, and be optimistic.