Giant artificial structures are called Dyson Fieldsoriginally described by physicist Freeman Dyson, has recently been proposed as an explanation for anomalous stars.
Imagine a giant structure, enveloping an entire star, capturing its energy and sending it to the civilization that built it. This is the Dyson sphere, a fascinating idea that has moved from science fiction to serious scientific speculation. Originally envisioned as a network of solar-powered satellites, the concept has evolved into the idea of a massive solid shell completely surrounding the star. It is an idea so far-fetched that it challenges our understanding of what is technologically possible.
Hephaestus Project
Although it seems impossible, a research team at Uppsala University in Sweden has announced that they have found several potential candidates for these massive Dyson spheres in the Milky Way. Project Hephaestus, named after the Greek god of blacksmiths, took on the major task of searching for extraterrestrial life. But instead of listening to sentient radio messages, one instead searches for traces of extraterrestrial technology.
Like Dyson spheres. This bold approach to the search for extraterrestrial life opens the possibility of discovering civilizations that may not actively attempt to communicate, but still leave traces of their presence through their technology.
m dwarves
All proposed candidates for potential Dyson spheres are called red dwarf stars, or M dwarfs. These small, relatively cool stars are the most common in our galaxy, and have long been considered promising targets in the search for habitable planets. Now they can also be home to something even more exotic.
M dwarfs are interesting because they are very common in the Milky Way and have long lifetimes, giving a potential civilization plenty of time to develop advanced technology such as Dyson spheres.
The Hephaestus Project has identified seven potential candidates for Dyson spheres. All of them show a large abundance of infrared radiation, which cannot yet be explained by known natural sources. This is also consistent with a Dyson sphere, which absorbs starlight and radiates energy as heat in the infrared spectrum.
– Probably not Dyson spheres
But before declaring that we are now in contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, the researchers caution against jumping to conclusions: “We would like to emphasize that although our candidates show properties consistent with partial Dyson fields, it is certainly premature to assume that the MIR (mid-infrared) radiation presented in these sources is their source,” they conclude.
Billion Earth
The main stumbling block for Dyson balls is the enormous amounts of materials needed to build them at all. For example, if we enveloped our Sun enough to extract 10% of its energy, we would need a surface structure equivalent to a billion Earths. This is according to astrophysicist Simon Goodwin:
Our solar system contains the solid material equivalent of a hundred Earths, so any advanced extraterrestrial civilization would have to dissolve 10,000 planetary systems and transport them to the star to build its own Dyson sphere, he wrote. here.
While it's true that M dwarfs can be as small as a tenth of the radius of the Sun, we're still talking about a thousand planetary systems similar to ours needed to encapsulate one.
If these results are confirmed – and it is very likely – it will not only be a scientific sensation, but an event that will shake all of humanity. Are we really alone in the universe, or do we have super-intelligent neighbors building huge structures around their stars?
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