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Which is exactly my point. The question isn't whether Dyson speheres radiate, the question is can we detect an artificial megastructure and my answer is no, ba
by zare_st 3y ago
Which is exactly my point.
The question isn't whether Dyson speheres radiate, the question is can we detect an artificial megastructure and my answer is no, based on the hypothetical Dyson design.
- cgriswald 3y agoThat is physically impossible unless there is new physics in that hypothetical design. All physical objects radiate heat and a Dyson sphere in particular would be trivial to detect. You look take a picture of the sky in infrared and in the visible spectrum. If you find an infrared source but no associated visible star you’ve got a strong candidate for being a Dyson sphere. Such searches have actually been conducted. Other megastructures might be discovered through the same methods as exoplanets.
- JPLeRouzic 3y ago> If you find an infrared source but no associated visible star you’ve got a strong candidate for being a Dyson sphere You mean like brown dwarfs?
- cgriswald 3y agoYes, but a Dyson sphere, even around a red dwarf, would be far more luminous in the infrared than a brown dwarf. It would also have a different spectrographic signature, and importantly its heat distribution would appear artificial.