Forget Alien Megastructures. Look For 'Service Worlds'

Void · 2023-10-03 19:50:00

Moderators, kill this topic if you wish, I don't need it's existence but it is sort of an alternate notion of how Aliens and perhaps some day humans might work with rogue worlds, bringing them into and casting them out of their star systems.

https://www.sciencealert.com/forget-ali … ice-worlds
Quote:

Forget Alien Megastructures. New Study Says We Need to Look For 'Service Worlds'.
SPACE
26 September 2023
ByMATT WILLIAMS, UNIVERSE TODAY

I have recently thought about sending laser power to Centaurs, from the inner solar system, so that would be a baby step to the above process.

Centaurs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur_( … stem_body)
Image Quote:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ … system.png

The green dots are apparently Centaurs.

Done

Last edited by Void (2023-10-03 19:57:38)

tahanson43206 · 2023-10-03 20:39:18

For Void ... re new topic ...

Thanks for bringing this new option to the forum!

I had to read almost to the bottom of the article to find out what the authors meant by the term "service world".

If someone else makes the same deep dive, I think they'll be rewarded for the effort.

I'd like to see this topic develop from this strong start.

(th)

Void · 2023-10-04 09:24:18

Looking at the question of Centaurs as an early attempt by a civilization to manipulate distant objects using Lasers, I seem to read that Centaurs are thought to be about 50/50 Rocky/Icy.

Saturn's moon phoebe is considered to be a possible captured Centaur, so we do have a look at it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_(moon)
Image Quote:
Quote:

Phoebe (/ˈfiːbi/ FEE-bee) is the most massive irregular satellite of Saturn with a mean diameter of 213 km (132 mi).

I believe that most Centaurs are smaller. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur_( … stem_body)
Quote:

Estimates for the number of centaurs in the Solar System more than 1 km in diameter range from as low as 44,000[1] to more than 10,000,000.[4][5]

So, many may not be of a preferred size, but some may be.

Done

Last edited by Void (2023-10-04 09:32:46)

Calliban · 2023-10-04 09:30:14

The premiss of this study, that alien civs will prefer to manoeuver natural bodies into the habitable zone, rather than deconstruct them and build artificial habs, appears to be motivated by sentiment rather than practicality. It suggests that alien civs won't build space structures out of asteroids and bodies, because deconstructing these bodies would be a destructive act. That is a moral sentiment that aliens may or may not share.

Void · 2023-10-04 09:34:08

Well India is to some extent an alien culture to some of us. But I appreciate that your criticism may have needed value here.

Many have wondered about projecting lasers outward to manipulate situations on cold worlds. So, I think the concept is worth some bit of a look. I have stepped back from such aggressive ideas as capturing rogue planets and objects to a solar system, and am looking into how far humans might eventually get in working with objects in our solar system already. Centaurs interest me for the moment.

I think there could be a sort of "Ignition Sequence", where if you had an array of lasers, you might send robots and laser beams to a centaur, to do such a "Startup". At some point such a developed Centaur might achieve nuclear power of some kind, fission and/or fusion.

Then the process might move to another Centaur.

Done.

Last edited by Void (2023-10-04 09:40:11)

Void · 2023-10-04 09:43:59

It is kind of a new concept so, I like that.

I have been wondering about worlds that seem useless to us. For instance, Proxima Centauri, has a few worlds, it seems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxima_Centauri

Planets b and d may not have atmospheres. Good chances they don't. Of the two I sort of prefer the smaller d.

As I see it is likely that tidal locked worlds might have lots of potential. In this case the possibility of volatiles on the dark sides. And then enormous energy on the sunward side.

The Dyson Sphere idea supposes that an alien society would necessarily want to grow to its limits of potential. That is not surprising, as that was the world view, I think we were in at that time.

But one such world such as b or d could hold a whole civilization. By distributing such establishments across many star systems, they might do better as the potential for a civilizational war could be reduced.

As for civilizations that could capture rogue planets into a star's orbit, obviously if they can do that, then they can do interstellar travel.

In that case then so what if most of a star's solar output is not captured by a Dyson Spere? There are many stars going to waste, why try to get the last bit of energy from one?

And the psychology could be a good one, as if you spread planets in use across many stars, innovation may be produced, as one world might come up with something new. They might become somewhat alien to each other but might still have the same roots and may still wish to share cultural achievements.

So, yes maybe alien is not quite what we would project it to be from a 20th century mentality.

But I am not claiming that there are aliens manipulating rouge planets into orbits of stars. But maybe there are.

Done

Last edited by Void (2023-10-04 10:17:16)

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#1 2023-10-03 19:50:00

Forget Alien Megastructures. Look For 'Service Worlds'

#2 2023-10-03 20:39:18

Re: Forget Alien Megastructures. Look For 'Service Worlds'

#3 2023-10-04 09:24:18

Re: Forget Alien Megastructures. Look For 'Service Worlds'

#4 2023-10-04 09:30:14

Re: Forget Alien Megastructures. Look For 'Service Worlds'

#5 2023-10-04 09:34:08

Re: Forget Alien Megastructures. Look For 'Service Worlds'

#6 2023-10-04 09:43:59

Re: Forget Alien Megastructures. Look For 'Service Worlds'

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