could Dark Matter be stars encased in Dyson spheres?

Pyro Pilots Lounge. For all topics *not* covered in other DBB forums.

Moderators: fliptw, roid

Post Reply
User avatar
roid
DBB Master
DBB Master
Posts: 9996
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2001 3:01 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Contact:

could Dark Matter be stars encased in Dyson spheres?

Post by roid »

Could Dark Matter and the Fermi paradox both answer one another?

What if Dark Matter was nothing more than stars encased in Dyson spheres. And thus - perhaps proof of alien civilisations evolving from a Type 2 civilisation into a Type 3.
ie: they will keep harvesting more and more stars into their civilisation until they have claimed our entire galaxy.


It would not bode well for the ability to negate the effects of mass/gravity (or at least the ability to use it as an energy source) - as we can see the effects of the Mass of the dark matter on the surrounding matter (that's how we know it's there).
If it is proof of aliens then it means that they either can't - or can but just arn't - negate the effects of the mass/gravity of the stars they are hiding.
User avatar
Testiculese
DBB Material Defender
DBB Material Defender
Posts: 4689
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2001 3:01 am

Post by Testiculese »

That would take a few extra trillion stars in each galaxy to account for that though...last I read, the amount of DM in an average galaxy is about the same as non-DM, and the DM sphere exists mostly outside the galaxy, or between several.
User avatar
Firewheel
DBB Ace
DBB Ace
Posts: 342
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:01 pm
Location: Tohoku, Japan

Post by Firewheel »

I'm more worried about the False Vacuum theory being true, in which case at any time the entire universe could be destroyed by expanding bubbles of true vacuum that would subsequently re-write the laws of physics of all space they pass through! :D

The best part is, you can never see it coming.
User avatar
Spidey
DBB Grand Master
DBB Grand Master
Posts: 10808
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2001 2:01 am
Location: Earth

Post by Spidey »

Did I miss something…did someone prove the existence of dark matter when I wasn’t looking? :P
User avatar
Testiculese
DBB Material Defender
DBB Material Defender
Posts: 4689
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2001 3:01 am

Post by Testiculese »

In an indirect-indirect way, kinda.
User avatar
Sedwick
DBB Ace
DBB Ace
Posts: 457
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 8:30 am
Location: Waukesha, WI

Re:

Post by Sedwick »

Firewheel wrote:I'm more worried about the False Vacuum theory being true, in which case at any time the entire universe could be destroyed by expanding bubbles of true vacuum that would subsequently re-write the laws of physics of all space they pass through! :D

The best part is, you can never see it coming.
Isn't that the "Big Whoosh" theory, where two teams of scientists proved that the rate of the universe's expansion is increasing, as though growing anti-gravity forces are at work?
Wings
DBB Ace
DBB Ace
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:35 pm

Post by Wings »

Maybe intelligent life is the thing that's rare, or all intelligent life blows itself up with hydrogen bombs! Maybe dark matter is just burned out galaxies, or our observation of the universe is totally wrong somehow.
User avatar
[]V[]essenjah
DBB Defender
DBB Defender
Posts: 3512
Joined: Mon Dec 20, 1999 3:01 am

Post by []V[]essenjah »

Dayumn, never woulda figured you humans could detect us flyin' around. ;) :P
User avatar
roid
DBB Master
DBB Master
Posts: 9996
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2001 3:01 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Contact:

Re:

Post by roid »

Testiculese wrote:That would take a few extra trillion stars in each galaxy to account for that though...last I read, the amount of DM in an average galaxy is about the same as non-DM, and the DM sphere exists mostly outside the galaxy, or between several.
ooo, so you could say that - entire galaxies are missing?
Type 3 civilisation perhaps?
Wings
DBB Ace
DBB Ace
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:35 pm

Post by Wings »

Could it possibly just be large masses of black holes orbiting eachother? Burnt out galaxies? Large chunks of typical matter, but with no fusion occuring? I think building a dyson sphere might take an entire star of energy and mass.
User avatar
Tricord
DBB Alumni
DBB Alumni
Posts: 3394
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 1998 12:01 pm

Post by Tricord »

Roid, that's a nice theory but I see a huge flaw.

Suppose a civilisation was able to harness 100% of the energy emanating from a star, rendering it invisible. What do you think happens with the energy? My guess is that it has to be transported someplace else to be actually used. You can't just \"hide\" power or energy, if you harness it in place A you've got to release it in place B. Even if you do something useful with it someplace else, at this galactic scale it should be just as visible as the unshielded star it was harnessed from.

The cool thing about the universe is that you can't \"hide\" something -- everything leaves traces, even black holes that are supposed to be closest to invisible.

My 2 cents ;)
User avatar
Tunnelcat
DBB Grand Master
DBB Grand Master
Posts: 13740
Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2007 12:32 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.

Post by Tunnelcat »

What about the multiple universe theory? Maybe energy can transfer between them and thus appear to be \"lost' or 'disappearing' from our frame of reference. 8)
wangle
DBB Cadet
DBB Cadet
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun May 04, 2008 2:18 am
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Re:

Post by wangle »

Testiculese wrote:That would take a few extra trillion stars in each galaxy to account for that though...last I read, the amount of DM in an average galaxy is about the same as non-DM, and the DM sphere exists mostly outside the galaxy, or between several.
I think this is a great idea. Consider the age of the galaxy. 13.7 billion years? Life started the instant single celled orgranism could exist and it took a few billion years for them to get to us. If we keep going we'll have a Dyson sphere in less than 10 billion years. It makes sense that a lot of solar systems had a head start that has to be calculated in the billions. The real crazy thing about dark matter is that there's so very much of it and you can build a lot of Dyson spheres in 14 billion years.
Wangle
Post Reply