Corcaigh Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 A common method to search for planets orbiting stars is by the drop in light output as the planet orbits the star into our line of sight. This cyclical drop in output is typically as small as 1% as the planet is far smaller than the star. Freeman Dyson postulated many years ago that we might be able to detect advanced alien civilizations by extremely large structures they create around stars to capture their energy output. A structure that completely enclosed a star to capture all its output is known as a Dyson Sphere. Astronomers have announced a star whose output drops by 20%. It could be a bunch of crap in one position, but you would not expect that to be stable in a mature star. Or it could be a partially constructed Dyson sphere. http://arxiv.org/pdf/1509.03622v1.pdf http://science.slashdot.org/story/15/10/14/1415235/mysteriously-variable-star-causes-speculation-about-dyson-sphere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d0ublestr0ker0ll Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Read today that it's 1,421 lightyears away. So if it does happen to be an alien structure, it's what they had in 594 A.D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grhqofb5 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Read today that it's 1,421 lightyears away. So if it does happen to be an alien structure, it's what they had in 594 A.D. Maybe its the same guys who were taking apart the Roman Coliseum at the time. You'll notice that a good 1/3 of it was carried off somewhere, but no one knows for certain so it's only logical to conclude that this is a possibility. On a more serious note, its rather ironic that, in order to construct a Dyson Sphere, it would likely take an amount of energy that only a Dyson Sphere could provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Read today that it's 1,421 lightyears away. So if it does happen to be an alien structure, it's what they had in 594 A.D. A mere blink in time for a civilization that could be many millions of years older than us. What would a human from 600 AD make of our modern technology? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I listened to a podcast from radiolabs recently about space and it was pretty good. One of the things that stuck with me was a guy making the point that in addition to the distances involved that lower the odds of us noticing another civilization is the fact that the tremendous time frame involved makes the odds of a civilization existing concurrently with ours pretty small. Most earth civilizations rise and fall within a relatively short time frame so he's kind of extrapolating from that. I choose to think in terms of the infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters sort of thing. But it was fascinating to hear the different arguments. (OT- they have one on the Carlisle Indian School football team and Pop Warner inventing forward pass too - that was excellent) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 It is an interesting topic for sure In my uneducated opinion, it seems like a pretty significant deductive leap though. There are literally millions of possibilities here Besides, " Dysons Sphere " feels a lot like canals on Mars. Why wouldn't a civilization like that harness fusion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sinister Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Could be their ruins too. Could be that they had their Freeman Dyson equivalent who postulated that alien civs would look for others by these orbiting structures so they built one in a far off star/planet to fool us and they're actually at our galactic doorstep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOF44 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 It is an interesting topic for sure In my uneducated opinion, it seems like a pretty significant deductive leap though. There are literally millions of possibilities here Besides, " Dysons Sphere " feels a lot like canals on Mars. Why wouldn't a civilization like that harness fusion? They essentially are harnessing fusion. Just a much bigger fusion reactor than you could ever construct. A star. But I'm with you on the probable million other things it probably is than a Dyson Sphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Could be their ruins too. Could be that they had their Freeman Dyson equivalent who postulated that alien civs would look for others by these orbiting structures so they built one in a far off star/planet to fool us and they're actually at our galactic doorstep. Or, this could all be a ruse for that English asshole to sell more of his $700 vacuum cleaners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grhqofb5 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Maybe the star is rotating and its shaped like an apple with a big 20% bite out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I thought the Dyson Sphere was something made up by Star Trek: The Next Generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Or, this could all be a ruse for that English asshole to sell more of his $700 vacuum cleaners I thought this was about the vacuum and those vacuums rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Maybe the star is rotating and its shaped like an apple with a big 20% bite out of it. Or maybe its a binary and the sphere is enclosing a dwarf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacase Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 They are saying that it may be a group of comets or even a broken up planet. However, they have also not ruled out a Dyson Sphere. The scientists who found it, said that aliens should always be the last possibility you consider. They are requesting additional telescope time to do some other observations. I have to admit, it would be pretty dang cool if it was. Discovering an alien race might actually bring humanity together. I freely admit, I think there are other species out there. I think that we discover that evidence sooner rather than later. Not saying we have had visitors here, just that there is other intelligent life out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xameil Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I thought the Dyson Sphere was something made up by Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek doesn't just make stuff up...the think up the future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I hope so. I lost mine last month and haven't been able to find it. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 space aliens won't be real until a politician threatens to build a space wall to keep them out. Earth first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corcaigh Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 I hope so. I lost mine last month and haven't been able to find it. ~Bang I have two so you can borrow one of mine. I thought the Dyson Sphere was something made up by Star Trek: The Next Generation. The writers aren't that creative. Or, this could all be a ruse for that English asshole to sell more of his $700 vacuum cleaners Well no-one was buying his device to enclose a star, so he had to diversify his product line. I don't think I've seen what a Dyson sphere lists for but I'm guessing more than $700. Why wouldn't a civilization like that harness fusion? That's exactly what they are doing. And maybe controlled thermonuclear fusion can't work or is so complex to contain that it isn't cost effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 i'll take: anything other than sophisticated alien civilization enclosing a star for fusion purposes my only questions at this point are what is the prize and how long will it take to be declared correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d0ublestr0ker0ll Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I hope so. I lost mine last month and haven't been able to find it. ~Bang Did you check between the couch cushions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinFanInMinn Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Gotta wonder how much mass would be needed to create a structure to encircle a star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsluggo Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 that is just what i was thinking... the energy you could get from the portions you have already constructed... but the materials/mass??? if you entirely broke up jupiter.. what small fraction of the total materials would you get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zguy28 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 that is just what i was thinking... the energy you could get from the portions you have already constructed... but the materials/mass??? if you entirely broke up jupiter.. what small fraction of the total materials would you get? Exactly. On a star like our Sun, it would have to basically be the size of Earth's orbit. Wishful thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Gotta wonder how much mass would be needed to create a structure to encircle a star. Not only that, but the logistics of trying to build it without it falling into the star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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