Dyson Sphere - Impossible?

Fraggle Rocker said:
A partial Dyson Sphere. Sounds like Ringworld. Anybody read Larry Niven?
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No, I don't read entertainment anymore. I used to in my teens, though.
My reading habits are strictly for edification. I can spend hours upon hours reading on subjects that interest me and I feel much more entertained than anything a fiction writer can do.
 
I do not believe anyone has here pointed out that a Dyson Sphere would be subject to massive gravitational forces which would exert such a pull as to collapse the structure (a sphere with absolutely no-counteracting force is ludicrous) and few people seem to realize how much mass - and how difficult it would be to move this mass - would take to build such a structure. Also, how would one store and transmit this energy?

It is an impossible and wasteful endeavour.
 
Prince_James said:
I do not believe anyone has here pointed out that a Dyson Sphere would be subject to massive gravitational forces which would exert such a pull as to collapse the structure (a sphere with absolutely no-counteracting force is ludicrous) and few people seem to realize how much mass - and how difficult it would be to move this mass - would take to build such a structure. Also, how would one store and transmit this energy?

It is an impossible and wasteful endeavour.
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It would be a 'boom' to the bagless vacuum industry (600 trillion +), at least according to Mr. Nickelodeon. :D
 
You will see that I included an image of a Ringworld on that page;
http://www.orionsarm.com/civ/Dyson_Spheres.html
about half way down. If you follow the link you will see that I have suggested a possible solution to one problem which Niven had; his Ringworld was made of material which was many times stronger than any physically possible known material. My version is held together at least partly by gravity.
 
Prince_James said:
I do not believe anyone has here pointed out that a Dyson Sphere would be subject to massive gravitational forces which would exert such a pull as to collapse the structure (a sphere with absolutely no-counteracting force is ludicrous) and few people seem to realize how much mass - and how difficult it would be to move this mass - would take to build such a structure. Also, how would one store and transmit this energy?

It is an impossible and wasteful endeavour.
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If you actually read the links provided you will see that Dyson's idea was not a solid shell, but rather a swarm of energy collection satellites, which can be arranged in a number of stable configurations to intercept most of the starlight.
However Paul Birch has suggested that a solid shell could be supported by the use of dynamic orbital rings; a series of magnetic tubes arranged in great circles around the star, containing particles which are accelerated to just slightly faster than orbital speed. The effect is analogous to the creation of a magnetically supported balloon shell.

In fact a Dyson shell could be supported by sunlight alone, but such a so-called Dyson Bubble must be very lightweight; Anders Sandberg calculates that a light supported dyson bubble must not exceed a mass of 0.78 g/m^2 . The total mass of a Dyson Bubble of this density would be similar to a large asteroid, say Pallas.
 
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Fraggle Rocker said:
A partial Dyson Sphere. Sounds like Ringworld. Anybody read Larry Niven?
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Oh heck yeah!

I think a rigid sphere of any kind would have the same problem as a rigid ringworld. Neither of these constructs are in orbit around the star. The sphere or ring would tend to drift with respect to the star and would need constant fiddling with to keep it equidistant. A race of Pak Protectors might pull it off but...

Anyway, a "swarm" of precision controlled orbiting satellites is much more reasonable.
 
Dyson sphere....... I'd have thought with a name like Science forum you'd at least be debating something marginally credible!
 
Destroyer said:
Oh yes I only wish I was as smart as you. Forgive me and my humble little Minibrain.

All hail Megabrain!
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LIsten, learn and you may achieve a small portion of what you desire.
 
I was thinking, what about using a material that is similar to what's required making a Solar Sail. Then if you built it large enough and thick enough wouldn't the sunlight or solar winds keep it from impacting the sun itself and thus negate any need to control its location? It would repel naturally from the sun instead of needing to be managed?
 
sderenzi said:
I was thinking, what about using a material that is similar to what's required making a Solar Sail. Then if you built it large enough and thick enough wouldn't the sunlight or solar winds keep it from impacting the sun itself and thus negate any need to control its location? It would repel naturally from the sun instead of needing to be managed?
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Nice idea, now go away and build it, come back when it's finished, NEXT!!
 
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