Dyson Sphere under construction?

[Anomalocaris]

Yeah, Dyson sphere seems more like Kardashev II civilization's idea of an amusing steam punk story than a kardashev II civilization's idea of a great infrastructure project.

[vorlon13]

A dimming event seems to be underway now.

Around 2 1/2% so far.  Scopes around the world are swinging to view what is going on.

Out of all the possible explanation why would we choose the one that requires an extraterrestrial super intelligent race?

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The light curves taken so far are VERY unusual.  Something interesting and unanticipated is going on at that star.  Spectra of the F type star there (when nothing is happening) show a VERY ordinary F type star.

[Cyberman]

Dyson sphere: like an ordinary sphere, but cordless and made out of yellow plastic.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The trouble with Dyson constructions (sphere, swarms, rings, - any of them really) is that they require such a massive investment of technology and energy that by the time a particular civilization is able to build one, they've probably already licked the problems that a Dyson Whatever is meant to solve.

Boru

Can't say "probably" with this much information. "...might have..." works better.

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Out of all the possible explanation why would we choose the one that requires an extraterrestrial super intelligent race?

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The light curves taken so far are VERY unusual.  Something interesting and unanticipated is going on at that star.  Spectra of the F type star there (when nothing is happening) show a VERY ordinary F type star.

And my question still stands.

[Anomalocaris]

Dyson sphere: like an ordinary sphere, but cordless and made out of yellow plastic.

And cost 5 times more, without apparently capturing any more star light.

[vorlon13]

BTW, turning around the perspective;

to an observer far away from our solar system, there is something apparent about here that would also be very unusual. The radio brightness for a distant observer would be astonishingly high, and quite variable. And the variability would have 24 hour and 365 day cycles. Our otherwise ordinary G type star would be 'uniquely' anomalous.

Human civilization on earth radiates an enormous amount of radio waves. To a distant observer, it would all be melded together, no individual source (like my garage door opener) would be discernable. And we radiate at those wavelengths more than the sun does.

[Anomalocaris]

Out of all the possible explanation why would we choose the one that requires an extraterrestrial super intelligent race?

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The light curves taken so far are VERY unusual.  Something interesting and unanticipated is going on at that star.  Spectra of the F type star there (when nothing is happening) show a VERY ordinary F type star.

I offer an explanation that is IHMO more plausible.  There is one or more super earth orbiting close near the Roche limit.  At this distance the surface is likely mostly molten and the atmosphere consist of metallic rock vapor.  Tidal stress is progressively but unevenly stripping the rock vapor atmosphere and distending and disintegrating the planet.  Every now and then a big chunk comes off due to tidal stress, and with it a big puff of rock vapor is liberated and enter orbit around the star. Darkening occurs when a large amount of rock vapor is released, recovery occurs either as photo pressure blows away the rock vapor, or some of the vapor is accreted back onto the planet on become incorporated into the star. The lack of periodicity and the variability in the magnitude of darkening is the artifact of the chaotic nature of the gradual stripping of a planet by thermal heating and tidal stress.

Does the absorption spectrum of the star change during a darkening event?

[vorlon13]

I think that is a planned observation. Perhaps underway in this dimming event.

As for a large body near the stars Roche limit, that object would be in a very short time period orbit, and while we might discern changes over several cycles, successive events would be highly similar.

We aren't seeing anything like that.

Also, the proffered comet cloud theory seems to me to be very weak, why this one star has something like that (that I still don't think would produce the lightcurve seen, BTW) and no other star has something same/similar is a real poser.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

BTW, turning around the perspective;

to an observer far away from our solar system, there is something apparent about here that would also be very unusual.  The radio brightness for a distant observer would be astonishingly high, and quite variable.  And the variability would have 24 hour and 365 day cycles.  Our otherwise ordinary G type star would be 'uniquely' anomalous.

Human civilization on earth radiates an enormous amount of radio waves.  To a distant observer, it would all be melded together, no individual source (like my garage door opener) would be discernable.  And we radiate at those wavelengths more than the sun does.

And at 50 light years it would possibly be indistinguishable from ordinary noise according to discussion I've read.

[Anomalocaris]

I think that is a planned observation.  Perhaps underway in this dimming event.

As for a large body near the stars Roche limit, that object would be in a very short time period orbit, and while we might discern changes over several cycles, successive events would be highly similar.

We aren't seeing anything like that.

Also, the proffered comet cloud theory seems to me to be very weak, why this one star has something like that (that I still don't think would produce the lightcurve seen, BTW) and no other star has something same/similar is a real poser.

If the rock vapor outbursts spread out and streams behind the planet and persist for a variable number of orbits depending on the size of the individual outburst events, then there would not necessarily be any strong correlation between duration and observable variability of events and the period of a Roche limit orbit during most of an event, except at the beginning, before the outburst cloud had time to spread out around the orbit.