History Main / DysonSphere

* In [[{{Literature/Voidskipper}} Voidskipper]] these are a common construction project for inhabited star systems, albeit in the originally intended "huge cloud of space habitats and power satellites" sense. When fully completed they can easily accommodate a population in the quintillions.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP44EPBMb8A Discussed]] in ''WebAnimation/{{Kurzgesagt}}''.

* ''VideoGame/DysonSphereProgram'' is, as the name suggests, all about constructing a Dyson Sphere. Not only is the structure itself suitably epic in scale, building it also requires strip-mining the resources of an entire cluster of up to 64 star systems including all their planets. And you have to accomplish this all on your lonesome[[note]]at least unless/until multiplayer is implemented one day[[/note]].

** Originally, it was designed by the Sartan to be essentially an enormous power plant for the same reasons that it's theorized high-tech civilizations would be driven to build such spheres -- its shape means that all the suns' energy is captured and channelled into its rocky crust, from where it is then directed into a number of citadels. From there, it's channeled into complex machinery that sends it off to the other worlds..

* An untitled short story by Creator/AAPessimal speculates that supernovas are caused by an interplanetary Creator/FredDibnah taking on demolition jobs around the galaxy, touring in a clapped-out elderly spacecraft and using low-tech strategies [[note]]Exploding a supermnova in exactly the right way and direction to vaporise the Dyson Sphere[[/note]] to bring down redundant and outdated Dyson Spheres which are surplus to requirements. Fered Dhibnha hopes that at least ''one'' Dyson Sphere is preserve as an industrial heritage monument.

* In the ''[[Literature/AncillaryJustice Imperial Radch]]'' series, it's mentioned that the true Radch is an ancient Dyson sphere and the galactic empire that shares its name exists primarily to protect it.

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.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' allows you to build your own Dyson Spheres as of the ''Utopia'' expansion, though doing so is a ''massive'' undertaking. They can only be built in uninhabitable systems (because blocking the sun like that freezes every world around it), and are constructed in six stages that take a total of 55 years and hundreds of thousands of minerals to finish - but once you ''are'' finished, you can basically forget about building power plants for your EnergyEconomy ever again. You may also find ruined Dyson Spheres left behind by some {{Precursor|s}} civilization, which can be repaired for faster and cheaper than building your own from scratch.

* In the 2013 ''Anime/ValvraveTheLiberator'', the series descriptions say that 70% of humanity is now living in space "thanks to the development of the Dyson Sphere". Though the story never delves into the nature of the sphere, it has the characters living on one of many modules that are territories of Earth nations (they are from JIOR, which is essentially future Japan). Theirs is Module 77, and it appears to be big enough for just their school and a small town. They end up disconnecting their module from the sphere, and moving it to the Moon, which is a neutral space.

-->'''Serina:''' So... am I the only one freaked out by the fact we're ''inside'' the planet?

* In Creator/AlastairReynolds's ''Literature/HouseOfSuns'', Dyson Spheres made out of perfectly reflective {{Ring World Planet}}s are used to encapsulate stars that are about to go supernova.
* ''Orbitsville'' and ''Orbitsville Departure'' by Bob Shaw featured a solid Dyson Sphere.
* Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/{{Ringworld}}'': the Puppeteers' Fleet of Worlds is a Kemplerer [sic] Rosette. The Ringworld itself is a "flattened" Dyson Sphere -- it is described as being like a ribbon encircling its sun, nearly a million miles wide and 300 million miles in diameter.
* A Dyson Sphere made of a forcefield holds the SealedEvilInACan in Peter F. Hamilton's ''Literature/CommonwealthSaga''.
* The humorously tiled ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Universe_Foundation The Millennial Project: Colonizing the Galaxy in Eight Easy Steps]]'' features a more realistic version of a Dyson Sphere called a [[http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/docs/millennial_project.html Dyson cloud]]. [[http://tmp2.wikia.com/wiki/Solaria See here for more details.]]

* Neal Asher's novel ''[[Literature/ThePolity Polity Agent]]'' features the Cassius Project, humanity's first attempt to construct a Dyson Sphere. One of the subplots kicks off when an antagonist tries to sabotage its construction.

* ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresTheAlsoPeople The Also People]]'' has two.

* Part of ''Literature/TheTimeShips'' by Creator/StephenBaxter is set in a Dyson Sphere.
* In the final book of the ''Literature/HyperionCantos'', ''The Rise of Endymion'', the Ousters are growing an organic Dyson Sphere around a star. It does not have gravity. While [[spoiler: this particular one is heavily damaged by the Pax war fleet (at least, the narrator assumes the damage was heavy -- he is not a very smart guy and only saw the start of the battle) it is revealed that there are more in existence.]]
* The title object in ''Wall Around a Star'' by Creator/FrederikPohl and Creator/JackWilliamson. In that case, the inhabitants live on the low-gee outside of the sphere.

* ''Second Genesis'' by Donald Moffitt is mostly set on a Dyson Sphere composed of planet-orbit sized disks, used to power a massive interstellar transmitter (The rest of the story is set on another of Dyson's conceptual objects, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_tree Dyson Tree]] that has been converted into a LivingShip).

* ''Videogame/AIWarFleetCommand:'' [[LivingShip Zenith]] Dyson Spheres can be found around the galaxy as a minor faction, who usually just want to be left alone. They will attack anyone that bothers them by sending endless Zenith vessels, and may actually make a brief alliance with anyone that helps keep their surroundings free of pesky owners (thus, liberating without capturing is usually a good option). You ''can'' mess with them through hacking, but anything you try will get them pissy.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has a plane called [[http://wiki.mtgsalvation.com/article/Pyrulea Pyrulea]], which is a Dyson ''Forest''. It's a hollow sphere around a star, with its entire inner surface covered by towering rainforests of massive, massive trees -- "massive" here meaning that their individual leaves are large enough to build a small house on.

** Originally, it was designed by the Sartan to be essentially an enormous power plant for the same reasons that it's theorized high-tech civilizations would be driven to build such spheres -- its shape meant that all the suns' energy is captured and channelled into its rocky crust, from where it is then directed into a number of citadels where it's directed into complex machinery that sends it off to the other worlds..

** Originally, it was designed by the Sartan to be essentially an enormous power plant for the same reasons that it’s theorized high-tech civilizations would be driven to build such spheres -- its shape meant that all the suns’ energy would be captured without any being lost, which the Sartan could then transmit to the other worlds.

* An unfinished Dyson Sphere is found in Creator/AndreyLivadny's ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series. It was built 3 million years ago by the [[BeePeople Insects]] as a way to escape the oncoming swarm of Forerunners (mindless {{Planet Eater}}s). The idea was to hide the star from the outside, as the swarm is attracted to starlight. They manage to build most of it, but the swarm still reaches them. Strangely, the Forerunners don't consume it but merely damage it. The sphere is part of the ancient PortalNetwork. Interestingly, one novel reveals that the "sphere" is a misnomer, as the structure is, in fact, an ellipsoid and looks like an American football from the side. The wider sides are the habitable ones. Naturally, the Insects' modern-day descendants have forgotten all about their glorious past.

[[caption-width-right:350:Image not to scale. [[note]]i.e. It's huge.[[http://adamburn.deviantart.com/art/SHield-World-Construction-118068881 Image]] by [[http://adamburn.deviantart.com/ AdamBurn]][[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:It's huge.[[note]][[http://adamburn.deviantart.com/art/SHield-World-Construction-118068881 Image]] by [[http://adamburn.deviantart.com/ AdamBurn]][[/note]]]]

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIC_8462852 KIC 8462852]] is a star larger and brighter than our Sun located in Cygnus, that according to data from the ''Kepler'' telescope suffers irregular changes in brightness consistent with many small masses in close formation orbiting together the star. Among the hypotheses that can explain those variations is that the star is surrounded by a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_swarm Dyson swarm]][[note]]It's far more likely they've a natural cause, such as asteroids and/or comets passing in front of the star, variations of the star's luminosity, or even unrelated dust clouds passing in front of it.[[/note]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''{{ComicBook/Transmetropolitan}}'' has an inversion: instead of building the sphere around the Sun, the planet Mercury was covered in solar panels in order to supply the gargantuan energy needs of Earth.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* ''FanFic/TranscendentHumanity'' has one for the Sol System in order to make the best use of the sun's energy and raw materials. It's made abundantly clear that materials required for it made it necessary for humanity to take material from the sun itself, turning a G Class yellow dwarf sun into at the very least a ''K Class'' yellow (or orange) dwarf in ''building it''.
* ''FanFic/GloriousShotgunPrincess'': This is what [[spoiler:Autochthon's [[GeniusLoci worldform jouten]]]] looks like from the outside.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP44EPBMb8A Discussed]] in WebVideo/{{Kurzgesagt}}.

** ''VideoGame/HaloWars''[='s=] final arc takes place in a micro Shield World, complete with a miniature artificial sun.

* The planet Nidavellir from ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar is a Dyson sphere surrounding a neuron star whose energy is harnessed by dwarves to make magical weapons.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode, "Decision 3012", Richard Nixon wants to build a ''Dyson fence''. It's intended to keep immigrants out of the solar system.