Dyson sphere facts for kids

A Dyson sphere is a giant, imaginary structure that completely surrounds a star. It was first thought of by a smart scientist named Freeman Dyson. You might have also heard about it in science fiction stories, movies, or video games.

The idea of the Dyson sphere came from a special kind of thinking called a thought experiment. Freeman Dyson noticed that people and civilizations always need more and more energy as they grow. He thought that one day, humans would need so much energy that our own planet, Earth, wouldn't be able to provide enough.

So, he imagined a way to collect all the energy from the Sun. This system would be made of many structures built around the Sun to catch all its light and heat. Dyson didn't say exactly how to build such a huge thing. He first wrote about his idea in a science journal called Science in 1960.

Different Kinds of Dyson Spheres

There are a few different ways people imagine a Dyson sphere could be built:

Dyson Shell

• A Dyson shell would be a solid, giant ball built around a star.
• The inside of this shell could even become a place where people live. This would happen if the shell spun fast enough to create artificial gravity.
• Building a Dyson shell would be extremely hard, maybe even impossible.
• It would need a huge amount of building materials.
• Also, keeping such a massive structure stable around a star would be very difficult because of the star's strong gravity.

Dyson Swarm

• A Dyson swarm is not one solid structure.
• Instead, it's made of millions of smaller objects, like giant solar panels, that orbit the star.
• These many objects would form a kind of cloud or sphere around the star.
• This type of Dyson sphere is considered the most realistic to build, compared to a solid shell.

Dyson Bubble

• A Dyson bubble is also made of many small objects, similar to a Dyson swarm.
• But these objects are not orbiting in the usual way.
• They would be held in place around the star by using very large, very light structures, like huge light sails.
• These sails would use the pressure from the star's light (called stellar winds) to stay in position.
• This means they wouldn't need to orbit; they could just "float" in place.

Images for kids

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  3D drawing of a Dyson swarm with many large, orbiting panels.

• 

  Freeman Dyson in 2005.

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  A Dyson ring, a simpler part of a Dyson swarm. It shows how big the collectors would be compared to the Earth-Moon distance.

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  A more complex Dyson swarm made of several Dyson rings.

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  A Dyson bubble, showing objects held in place by light from the star.

See also

In Spanish: Esfera de Dyson para niños