An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A hypothetical structure built around a → star by an advanced → civilization to utilize most or all of the → energy radiated by their star.
The idea of such a sphere was first formalized and popularized by theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson in 1960, though it was originally put forward by a 1945 science fiction novel. Dyson assumed that the power needs of → intelligent civilizations never stops increasing. He also proposed that searching for the existence of such structures might lead to the discovery of advanced civilizations elsewhere in the Galaxy. Sometimes referred to as a → Dyson shell or → megastructure.

See also: Freeman John Dyson (1923-). His article, entitled “Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation,” appeared in the 1960 issue of Science, 131 (3414), 1667-1668; → sphere.