In Search of Dyson Spheres-SETI@home Mar. 23 Update

SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson Spheres - by Amir
Alexander

http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html

A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12 micron range
leading to an interesting article.

Regards, Jason H.

"Jason H." wrote in message
link.net...
SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson
Spheres - by Amir
Alexander


http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html

A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12
micron range
leading to an interesting article.

Regards, Jason H.

WOW--this is great stuff. Kudos to Charlie Conway! Even
though they haven't come up with definite positive results
yet, the approach looks good...and I'm sure will get better
with time. Dyson's proposal is finally getting the attention
it deserves. BTW, I'll take that figure of 11 potential ones
at the moment out of the 33 candidates. Hmmm...lessee now,
if that were accurate, going back to the Drake Equation at-
http://www.seti-inst.edu/science/drake-calc.html
and plugging in all 1s except Average Civilization Lifetime,
I get (if I can see well enough to count the zeros this late
at night) 1.1 Billion years! Hmmmm...well yeah, that makes
sense from the age of stars chosen. ) ...tonyC

"Jason H." wrote in message
link.net...
SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson
Spheres - by Amir
Alexander


http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html

A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12
micron range
leading to an interesting article.

Regards, Jason H.

WOW--this is great stuff. Kudos to Charlie Conway! Even
though they haven't come up with definite positive results
yet, the approach looks good...and I'm sure will get better
with time. Dyson's proposal is finally getting the attention
it deserves. BTW, I'll take that figure of 11 potential ones
at the moment out of the 33 candidates. Hmmm...lessee now,
if that were accurate, going back to the Drake Equation at-
http://www.seti-inst.edu/science/drake-calc.html
and plugging in all 1s except Average Civilization Lifetime,
I get (if I can see well enough to count the zeros this late
at night) 1.1 Billion years! Hmmmm...well yeah, that makes
sense from the age of stars chosen. ) ...tonyC

Jason H. wrote:
SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson Spheres - by Amir
Alexander

http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html

A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12 micron range
leading to an interesting article.

Regards, Jason H.


Interesting article, just a few things that came to my mind:

- A shell of a few meters thick would not allow light through for
Optical SETI to detect, unless the aliens use light comms outside of the
shell or the shell has not been completed, as mentioned in the article.

- What happens if a comet or asteroid approaches the shell while
orbiting the solar system's centre of gravity. Will the aliens have
'Comet Police' to destroy threats to the shell? ;-)

Still an article worth reading....


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28° 12' E
GMT+2

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Jason H. wrote:
SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson Spheres - by Amir
Alexander

http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html

A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12 micron range
leading to an interesting article.

Regards, Jason H.


Interesting article, just a few things that came to my mind:

- A shell of a few meters thick would not allow light through for
Optical SETI to detect, unless the aliens use light comms outside of the
shell or the shell has not been completed, as mentioned in the article.

- What happens if a comet or asteroid approaches the shell while
orbiting the solar system's centre of gravity. Will the aliens have
'Comet Police' to destroy threats to the shell? ;-)

Still an article worth reading....


--
25° 45' S
28° 12' E
GMT+2

Join the Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org

Jason H. wrote:

SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson Spheres - by Amir
Alexander

http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html

A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12 micron range
leading to an interesting article.

Regards, Jason H.

A classic Dyson sphere is not feasible, but there are other possibilities.
See Dyson Sphere at the Wikipedia, particularly the "shell" comments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

Jason H. wrote:

SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson Spheres - by Amir
Alexander

http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html

A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12 micron range
leading to an interesting article.

Regards, Jason H.

A classic Dyson sphere is not feasible, but there are other possibilities.
See Dyson Sphere at the Wikipedia, particularly the "shell" comments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere

"V" == Victor writes:

V Jason H. wrote:
SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson Spheres - by
Amir Alexander
http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html
A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12 micron
range leading to an interesting article. Regards, Jason H.

V Interesting article, just a few things that came to my mind:

V - A shell of a few meters thick would not allow light through for
V Optical SETI to detect, unless the aliens use light comms outside
V of the shell or the shell has not been completed, as mentioned in
V the article.

Actually, in Dyson's original proposal, it was not a solid shell. The
tensile forces on a solid shell are enormous, and it's not clear how
to hold one of these together. (Even in Larry Niven's _Ringworld_,
the ring is made of some incredibly strong, as yet unknown material.

In Dyson's original proposal, one would have a bunch of small screens,
each on independent orbits. The combined effect of the screens would
be enough to capture all of the radiation from the star.


V - What happens if a comet or asteroid approaches the shell while
V orbiting the solar system's centre of gravity. Will the aliens
V have 'Comet Police' to destroy threats to the shell? ;-)

They'd better. Of course, if one has the technology to build an
all-encompassing shell (whether solid or composed of smaller screens),
one probably has the technology to monitor incoming dangerous objects.

--
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No means no, stop rape. | http://patriot.net/%7Ejlazio/
sci.astro FAQ at http://sciastro.astronomy.net/sci.astro.html

"V" == Victor writes:

V Jason H. wrote:
SETI@home Update, March 23, 2004:In Search of Dyson Spheres - by
Amir Alexander
http://www.planetary.org/html/UPDATE...te_032304.html
A group of 33 stars exhibits excess radiation in the 12 micron
range leading to an interesting article. Regards, Jason H.

V Interesting article, just a few things that came to my mind:

V - A shell of a few meters thick would not allow light through for
V Optical SETI to detect, unless the aliens use light comms outside
V of the shell or the shell has not been completed, as mentioned in
V the article.

Actually, in Dyson's original proposal, it was not a solid shell. The
tensile forces on a solid shell are enormous, and it's not clear how
to hold one of these together. (Even in Larry Niven's _Ringworld_,
the ring is made of some incredibly strong, as yet unknown material.

In Dyson's original proposal, one would have a bunch of small screens,
each on independent orbits. The combined effect of the screens would
be enough to capture all of the radiation from the star.


V - What happens if a comet or asteroid approaches the shell while
V orbiting the solar system's centre of gravity. Will the aliens
V have 'Comet Police' to destroy threats to the shell? ;-)

They'd better. Of course, if one has the technology to build an
all-encompassing shell (whether solid or composed of smaller screens),
one probably has the technology to monitor incoming dangerous objects.

--
Lt. Lazio, HTML police | e-mail:
No means no, stop rape. | http://patriot.net/%7Ejlazio/
sci.astro FAQ at http://sciastro.astronomy.net/sci.astro.html

Victor wrote:
Interesting article, just a few things that came to my mind:

- A shell of a few meters thick would not allow light through for
Optical SETI to detect, unless the aliens use light comms outside of the
shell or the shell has not been completed, as mentioned in the article.

- What happens if a comet or asteroid approaches the shell while
orbiting the solar system's centre of gravity. Will the aliens have
'Comet Police' to destroy threats to the shell? ;-)

Later on I also thought of :

- perturbations on the shell caused by the gravitational influence of
nearby stars

&

- the effect of the solar wind on the structure.

For both these effects, I guess the ETI will have to use one or more
mechanisms to keep the structure in place.

--
25° 45' S
28° 12' E
GMT+2

Join the Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org