Dyson sphere can help capture all available energy

As we humans grow in numbers and technological sophistication, we will need to generate more and more energy for our use. This will likely mean increasing reliance on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. However, there will come a time when we have used all the available energy sources on the planet.

However, we live quite close to an almost inexhaustible source of energy: our sun.

In 1960, physicist Freeman Dyson proposed that an advanced civilization could dismantle all the other planets, asteroids, and everything else in its solar system to create a sphere surrounding the star that would collect all the solar energy it emits in order to run the civilization. By the second law of thermodynamics, such a Dyson sphere would have to emit the excess heat in the form of a strong infrared glow. Dyson suggested that we could detect excess IR radiation from such civilizations in our own galaxy.

If a civilization is in the process of building a Dyson sphere around its star, we should detect periodic dimming of the star as the completed parts orbit it. These dips in brightness would look different than a planet orbiting a star, of which we have discovered thousands. A Jupiter-like planet would block less than one percent of the star’s light.

In 2015, astronomer Tabetha “Tabby” Boyajian discovered a star that was showing dips in brightness of up to 22 percent. Astronomers named it Tabby’s Star. Initially, they thought the star had hundreds of comets in a cluster that crossed in front of the star. However, observations ruled out that possibility. Many amateur scientists and even a few astronomers suggested that it might be an incomplete Dyson sphere. After more observations, most astronomers accepted that the cause was most likely a large cloud of dust, probably from a moon that had broken up, and parts of the dust cloud periodically blocked some of the star’s light.

The characteristics of a Dyson sphere can be easily summarized: a variation in the star’s brightness and an excess of IR radiation in a specific pattern due to waste heat. In the case of Tabby’s star, the excess IR radiation does not fit neatly into the Dyson sphere. The dust cloud fits it better.

Recently, two separate studies analyzed data from three satellite missions that had scanned millions of stars in the Milky Way for Dyson sphere candidates. One group, led by graduate student Matías Suazo of Uppsala University in Sweden, describes their research as “a search for extraterrestrial intelligence using indirect signatures of astroengineering,” or Dyson spheres. They came up with more than a few plausible candidates. Fifty-three stars, to be exact, that had both of the accepted Dyson sphere signatures.

No group has yet been able to convince the general astronomical community that they have actually discovered Dyson spheres, but most agree that the findings are intriguing and deserve further investigation.

In 1964, Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev proposed a method for measuring the technological advancement of a civilization. He determined the level of a civilization based on the energy sources it could use. On the Kardashev scale, a Type I civilization could harness and control all of the energy sources on its home planet. This would include taming and harnessing the energy of natural phenomena such as volcanoes, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.

A Type II civilization captures and uses all the available energy of its parent star, creating a Dyson sphere. A Type III civilization captures all the energy emitted by its galaxy, every star, black hole, etc. Earth is currently considered a Type 0.7 civilization.

Have we finally found a Type II civilization? Only further research can answer that question.

Where will the full moon be?

On August 20, the full moon and the planet Saturn appear to be so close to each other that they are almost touching. Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., the two planets are about three moon diameters apart. This should make for a fantastic view in a low-power telescope, which can see the entire moon and Saturn with its rings in the same field of view. Even a pair of binoculars offers a stunning view.

At about 1 a.m. on August 26, the half-moon is about a fist-width, held at arm’s length below and to the left of the Pleiades star cluster, the brightest we can see from Oklahoma. Again, binoculars will provide a dazzling view.

Planet Visibility Report

In early August, Mars and Jupiter rise well before the sun and remain in the dark sky before dawn throughout the month. Saturn rises after midnight and moves higher in the evening sky throughout August. Venus shines brightly in the west after sunset and moves away from the sun throughout the month. Mercury is close to Venus in early August but is much fainter. It quickly dives toward the sun, reappearing in the morning sky later in the month. The full moon will occur on August 19.

This article originally appeared in The Oklahoman: Astronomers Still Searching for Confirmed Dyson Sphere