History Main / DysonSphere

* AT-43 the Therians freaking ''love'' dyson sphere, so much in fact they plan on making the whole universe into them.

* The [[{{AT- 43}} Therians]] freaking ''love'' dyson sphere, so much in fact they plan on making the whole universe into them.

* The [[AT-43 Therians]] freaking ''love'' dyson sphere, so much in fact they plan on making the whole universe into them.

* The [[AT-43 therians]] freaking ''love'' dyson sphere, so much in fact they plan on making the whole universe into them.

* The [[AT43 therians]] freaking ''love'' dyson sphere, so much in fact they plan on making the whole universe into them.

While Dyson himself originally saw his concept as a ''cloud'' of many separate [[SpaceStation orbiting habitats and power-stations]], most media depictions show a single continuous ''solid'' shell completely enclosing its star. This is an acute case of DidNotDoTheResearch, YouFailPhysicsForever, and ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale. Constructing such an artefact would probably put a civilization at least 2.0 on the [[AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit Kardashev scale]]. The technologies and resources needed to do it raise the [[AwesomeButImpractical question of whether a race that ''could'' build one would still ''need'' it]]. It has been estimated that constructing the sphere, would require the energy equivalent of the lifetimes of ''several'' stars, AND the raw materials of more than the entire solar system, which rather defeats the purpose of the initial construction.

* A point which is often ignored that a solid shell will not only have eternal day, but also, instead of reflecting sunlight into space, will reflect it upon the sphere itself. This means that a shell around a Sun sized star will have to be not 300 million km across, but, more likely, about twice as much i order to maintain reasonable temperatures.

** In a ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, the Enterprise encounters such a sphere that was left abandoned for some reason.

* In ''MassEffect 2'', [[MechanicalLifeforms Legion]] states that the end desire of the true geth is to build a Dyson sphere and upload each one of their individual programs into it. The geth gain proportionally in intelligence as they mass together, with more bodies or "mobile platforms" available meaning faster processing and higher thought processes. If every geth were able to simultaneously occupy one such super-structure, [[MechanicalEvolution they would become nigh-omniscient]]. Certainly a noble cause, for a race that had up until this point been portrayed as nothing more than MechaMooks.

* Averted in X3: Terran Conflict, where eventually [[spoiler:a plot leads you to The Hub, an ancient space station inside a Dyson sphere. However, the latter ''orbits'' a star, and looking outside, you can see more of them, like in Dyson's concept.]]

* LarryNiven's ''{{Ringworld}}'': the Puppeteers' Fleet of Worlds is a Kemplerer Rosette.

* ''{{Traveller}}''. A Kemplerer Rosette created by the [[{{Precursors}} Ancients]] exists in the Tireen system in the Vargr Extents.

* A [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemplerer_rosette Kemplerer Rosette]] is a group of objects set to orbit together in a rotating pattern. Technically this may count if it's big enough to be considered a small solar system, and the objects were placed there artificially.

While Dyson himself originally saw his concept as a ''cloud'' of many separate [[SpaceStation orbiting habitats and power-stations]], most media depictions show a single continuous ''solid'' shell completely enclosing its star. This is an acute case of DidNotDoTheResearch, YouFailPhysicsForever, and ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale. Constructing such an artefact would probably put a civilization at least 2.0 on the [[AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit Kardashev scale]]. The technologies and resources needed to do it raise the [[AwesomeButImpractical question of whether a race that ''could'' build one would still ''need'' it]]. It has also been estimated that constructing the sphere, would require the energy equivalent of the lifetimes of ''several'' stars, AND the raw materials of more than the entire solar system, which rather defeats the purpose of the initial construction.

* A point which is often ignored that a solid shell will not only have eternal day, but also, instead of reflecting sunlight into space, will reflect it upon the sphere itself. This means that a shell around a Sun sized star will have to be not 300 million km across, but, more likely, about twice as much.

* A solid Dyson sphere would not be stable around its star without some form of correctional thruster system or AppliedPhlebotinum to keep everything bolted in place. [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness Harder]] settings may couple the star to the mass streams of active supports holding up the sphere.

** In the non - canon novel series ''StarTrekTitan'', the crew of the U.S.S. Titan uncover evidence of the existance of what may be the largest lifeform in the galaxy, a living DysonSphere distantly related to an alien lifeform the Enterprise encountered in ''TheNextGeneration'' pilot, ''Encounter at Farpoint''.

While Dyson himself originally saw his concept as a ''cloud'' of many separate [[SpaceStation orbiting habitats and power-stations]], most media depictions show a single continuous ''solid'' shell completely enclosing its star. This is an acute case of DidNotDoTheResearch, YouFailPhysicsForever, and ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale. Constructing such an artefact would probably put a civilization at least 2.0 on the [[AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit Kardashev scale]]. The technologies and resources needed to do it raise the question of whether a race that ''could'' build one would still ''need'' it. It has also been estimated that constructing the sphere, would require the energy equivalent of the lifetimes of ''several'' stars, AND the raw materials of more than the entire solar system, which rather defeats the purpose of the initial construction.

* The ''DoctorWho'' spin-off novel ''The Also People'' is set in a Dyson sphere inhabited by a society which seems suspiciously similar to Iain M. Banks's Culture.

Subtrope of HollowWorld, or sometimes RingWorldPlanet. Compare BigDumbObject and ThatsNoMoon. Not to be confused with the Dyson Ball, which is a vacuum cleaner.

Subtrope of HollowWorld, or sometimes RingWorldPlanet. Compare BigDumbObject [=~That's No Moon~=]. Not to be confused with the Dyson Ball, which is a vacuum cleaner.

* A solid Dyson sphere would not be stable around its star without some form of correctional thruster system or AppliedPhlebotinum to keep everything bolted in place.