The Dyson Sphere Theory

Now to explain all of this, I am going to have to get deep into the weeds. Part of the blame for this is one of the smartest men I like to listen to - Physicist Michio Kaku.

Some have read about one of the biggest head scratchers in the heavens we are looking at these days. Star KIC 8463853, which is a nice little orb in the Cygnus Cluster. The Cygnus Cluster, which is located about 1,500 light years away, has a little secret. For no reason that we know of, this star has been dimming. Now to explain this, I am going to have to get deep into the weeds. Part of the blame for this is one of the smartest men I like to listen to - Physicist Michio Kaku.

First the weeds. There is a theoretical scale of civilizations. That is assuming there is more than one civilization around. This scale is called the Kadrashev Scale. And it goes up to three. Type 1 civilization is us. That type of civilization uses energy which reaches the planet from a nearby star (our sun). Type 2 civilization harnesses energy from an entire star - maybe using something similar to a Dyson Sphere (more on that soon). Type 3 can control the energy from the entire host galaxy (maybe dark matter or energy?) Anyhow, the entire scale (of course) is hypothetical. 

Back to our dimming star. Stars don't dim.They don't have a dimmer switch. At least that is what we think. Of course we know very little about the universe. Maybe less than 1%. And that is why the Kepler and the Hubble keep searching the heavens for answers.

Now for the weird part - and I mean weird.Scientists are so stumped by star KIC 8463853. This dimming star, is an enigma. Some have suggested it is the result of a Type 2 Civilization using a Dyson Sphere to harness the star's energy.

So what is a Dyson Sphere? For Star Wars fans, think of the Death Star. Only with a Dyson Sphere, the structure would be much, much larger. And it would cover part (maybe all) of the star. The purpose? To harness most (or all) of the magnificent power the star is releasing. And to build such a structure, is so beyond our way of thinking, it is unimaginable. 

Back to Dr. Kaku. Along with Dr. Stephen Greer, I have heard them address the type of civilizations there might be in our universe (or multiverse). And if you believe the Drake Equation, there are at least 10,000 intelligent civilizations in our galaxy alone.  Plus, if you multiply that number by the number of estimated galaxies there are in the universe (about 100 billion), you come up with a pretty high number - in other words, lots of zeros after the number.

Anyhow, Dr. Greer thinks because we are still burning fossil fuel which has trapped the sun's energy from thousands of years ago, we might not even be a Type 1 civilization - maybe a Type 0. And both he and Dr. Kaku think there might be civilizations who are so advanced, who have been around for millions of years, they might be in the Type 100 or beyond range. 

In any event, call me fascinated. I have been so fascinated by the stars since I lived across the alley from a university professor. He built a telescope in his back yard and would invite me over to watch with him. On moonless nights, I would go across the alley and he would show me some of the wonders of the heavens.

I will be keeping track on how the Kepler is doing watching KIC 8463853. This is really good stuff. In fact, for astronomy nerds, this is as good as it gets. Are there more out there who are more advanced than us? Don't know. But there is something. Discovery is part of the joy of living.