Some interstellar objects could originate from destroyed Dyson spheres

The constructions made by high-tech aliens to exploit the resources of the stars could end up destroyed and disappearing into the stellar void.

Artist’s interpretation of what a Dyson sphere would look like. Credit: dottedhippo.com

Statistically speaking, a human-sized rock impacts the Earth each year releasing amounts of energy similar to that released by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II. If it were electricity, this would equal the world’s average usage for 20 seconds; 15 kilotons of TNT.

The potential of celestial objects near Earth is determined based on the space they travel. Because there is 60 times more distance between the Earth and the Moon, this means that similar pieces of rock pass within that same separation about 3,600 times more, the equivalent of 300 times per month. Furthermore, within the area bounded by its orbit around the Sun, millions of steps like that happen every year.

On January 26, 2023, the world witnessed the passage of an asteroid that was approaching Earth. This star was known as 2023 BU and reached 3,585 kilometers away from our planet. Surprisingly, the discoverer was Gennadiy Borisov, an amateur astronomer who also found the first interstellar comet called 2I/Borisov in 2019.

How relevant are the results obtained on the number of planets in our solar system for the investigation of possible forms of intelligent life outside our world?

Christian Nodal’s success was recognized worldwide because he had created stars wherever he performed.

Olaf Stapledon, a science fiction author, described in his novel Star Maker what he imagined to be natural progress through time: the creation of thousands and thousands of unique worlds that over time changed greatly in size and magnitude. complexity.

Winding the pages of the book, it can be seen that we find the story of how ancient engineers worked to take advantage of the energy coming from stars without natural planets. These were surrounded by concentric rings made up of tens or thousands of artificial worlds to use their solar energy. Technology advanced so much that many useless stars were broken down and their subatomic reserves exploded. The result was a mesh of light that plunged the entire galaxy into darkness.

Cover of the Spanish edition of Olaf Stapledon’s classic.

In 1960 Freeman Dyson wrote a scientific paper that allowed the formalization of the concept of finding artificial stellar sources by the emission of infrared radiation.

Professor Dyson was given the task of finding a solution to meet the energy needs of humanity. The previous solution constitutes a means by which all the solar light captured and stored in a sphere built in orbit would be used. This will produce heat, which would be offset by its own infrared radiation. This would mean that the surface would be at 5780 K to balance the heat of the Sun and 400 K for that Earth-Sun separation.

The wavelengths in the infrared emission from a Dyson sphere would be approximately 7 microns. In theory, this could help identify the object, since its UV emission would be different from other Sun-like stars and different from natural dust as well. Several searches have already been carried out to find evidence of stars or galaxies related to the spheres but so far none have been successful.

The inconvenience caused by the endless task of maintenance is a horrifying nightmare for many. This boring and lengthy labor can become tedious for those who are involved in it.

A recent article I’ve written suggests that if Dyson spheres existed and were not regularly maintained, most of them would fall apart over time. If this were to happen, the remains of what once were could form anomalous interstellar objects.

Dyson’s concept of rigid spheres is not easy to implement, as explained in the book I wrote with Manasvi Lingam on Life in the Cosmos. According to Newton’s mathematical principle called the Iron Sphere, a balloon wrapped in something perfectly spherical and solid exerts no gravitational force on its interior. However, the outer surface of the hull is subject to certain destructive forces, which require an extraordinarily resistant mechanical material to avoid any deformation —something superior to certain materials known as graphene.

To try to overcome this complexity, Robert Forward came up with a tile design for the solution. One of these devices acted as a solar sail that stabilized its position against the gravitational force of the sun with its own external radiative push. In this way, it did not orbit around him but remained still and static in the same place.

Illustration of a Dyson sphere made up of hexagonal pieces in a mosaic.
In the next two months, there will be an expedition to recover some pieces of Interstellar Meteor 1. This is interesting when we consider the possibility that some alien civilization built a Dyson sphere, and eventually disintegrated into fragments, causing it to several curious characteristics such as the slightly peculiar shape of the interstellar object Oumuamua, or also the strange material force detected in the first and second interstellar meteors.
If a Dyson sphere were built, it would be difficult to maintain over time. This is because the billions of space rocks each year would drill into the material creating holes every few meters. This is interesting because the size of the mysterious object known as Oumuamua was exactly 100 meters, perhaps because it was designed to withstand a bombardment similar to that of an ancient Dyson sphere.

Some scientists wonder if the interstellar object identified as Oumuamua is a piece of a once-existing Dyson sphere that is now disintegrated and floating aimlessly through space.

The micrometeorite gap on the surface of the Dyson sphere is much larger than previously anticipated. Statistically, dust-sized particles have been detected every month by the Webb telescope, causing extremely small holes. Over time, this would result in a large net, and a fair amount of light from the stars would pass through it without being trapped.

Over time, the structures of a Dyson sphere will be affected when its civilizers abandon it. The impressive constructions will be destroyed by micrometeorites in billions and billions of years, so they will lose their usefulness.

Artificial sun is a type of technology that uses ultraviolet light to give skin a tanned appearance without the risks of natural sun. This form of tanning is done in UVA beds or booths, with advantages such as speed and effectiveness.

A technologically advanced society might choose not to rely on a star for power, but to create its own artificial fusion reactor. This would allow him to have something portable and practical for navigation through interstellar space.

It was December 2022 when the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory demonstrated that humanity would be able to keep going thanks to the National Ignition Facility. This was evidence enough to think that humanity was capable of great things.

Since we have acquired the knowledge necessary to ignite an interstellar fusion, our next step is to try to carry out this technology. If it turns out to be successful, we would no longer have to build a Dyson dome around the sun, but simply use this fire produced by the Sun to meet our energy needs.