Dyson spheres are hypothetical megastructures that advanced civilizations can build around their stars. Their simpler and easier version is called Dyson rings. Recently, scientists have proposed a new way to find them.
Dyson rings and their features
Dyson spheres and rings have always been a particular fascination for scientists. The concept is simple: build a large structure in the form of a sphere or ring to use the energy of a star. Dyson rings are much simpler and more realistic to make, and in a recent paper, a group of scientists explore how we can detect them by analyzing light from distant stars. The team hypothesizes that they will be able to detect Dyson rings around pulsars with their new technique.
Like their spherical relatives, Dyson rings remain a popular idea in science fiction for now, but they are beginning to appear more frequently in scientific discussions. The concept of a ring is similar to a sphere, a megastructure designed to surround a star, using its energy on a gigantic scale.
It can consist of a series of satellites or even habitats in a circular orbit with solar collectors and, unlike spheres, requires much fewer resources to build. The concept of a sphere was first proposed by physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson in 1960. Such structures can be detected and indicate the existence of intelligent civilizations.
Energy consumption and types of civilizations according to Kardashev
It’s fascinating to think about the civilizations that build such structures. Our own civilization now consumes about 15,000 terawatts per hour, and that number will only increase as our population grows, and we become even more dependent on technology. The Kardashev scale was developed to try to quantify energy use according to the level of technological capability.
On this scale, we are now at level I, which means our energy consumption is 4 × 1019 erg/s (4 terawatts). If a civilization requires 4 × 1033 erg/s (400 trillion terawatts), this is considered Type II, and these civilizations may be capable and may need to build Dyson structures.
Search for Dyson rings in pulsars
Since creating Dyson spheres requires a phenomenal amount of material, it is much more likely that civilizations would have created ring structures. Rings of this nature around a star could use significant amounts of energy, but a ring around a pulsar, if the star’s pulsar beam could be tracked, could capture even more energy, on the order of 10,000 trillion terawatts.
In a paper written by Ogetay Kayali of Michigan Technological University and his team, they suggest further investigation of pulsar light curves to see if features that could indicate the presence of Dyson structures have been missed. The features pointed out by the team arise from the effect of the pulsar’s beam on the ring structure.
The beams are moving at superluminal speeds, which could lead to several simultaneous images of the pulsar’s spot on the Dyson ring. This can be seen by analyzing the light curve. A similar effect is observed when dust rings are illuminated by pulsar radiation.
Provided by phys.org
