16 ms·

As others pointed out, it depends on your energy needs. You need matter for fusion and almost all of the matter of the solar system is in the sun so you can eit

As others pointed out, it depends on your energy needs. You need matter for fusion and almost all of the matter of the solar system is in the sun so you can either extract mass from the sun and do the fusion yourself or... let the sun do the fusion, as it already does, and just harness that

Symmetry 5y ago
Extracting mass from a star is a lot easier than trying to build a Dyson sphere around it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting Even without considering what to do with the resultant mass star lifting is just good stellar husbandry for a civilization looking to last.
- raattgift 5y ago
  That solar corona really hates your molecular bonds passionately. It's not too keen on metal crystals either. It's hard to see how to ignore that level of hatred as one approaches the photosphere en route to scooping out stuff below that, especially if it flares or reconnects through you and your gear "in close orbit around the star's equator". Your gear and repair & installation techs are much safer a couple gigametres away. If you really want to extract mass from a star, just wait long enough, or find one ready to release a suitable amount. There are plenty of options from CMAs to flares to UV Ceti style flare stars, to deflagrating white dwarfs, novas, and supernovas. Let the star's nuclear energy do the "heavy lifting", eliminating all the problems catalogued before the "... plasma jets hundreds or thousands of astronomical units long ... [t]he details of extracting useful materials from [that has] not been extensively explored". (The linked article at the top discusses relativistic jets driven by million-solar-mass and larger black holes. The jets are likely to be more constant and/or more predictable than natural mass outflows from stars, but extracting and storing energy from that is even less "extensively explored". An option in between is to use the natural mass flow from a companion star onto a compact star (white dwarf, neutron star, black hole) by sticking the moral equivalent of a water wheel into the stream. It's just a (compared to water hot & sparse) fluid flowing downhill, and there are plenty of examples in our galaxy.)

Symmetry 5y ago

Extracting mass from a star is a lot easier than trying to build a Dyson sphere around it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting Even without considering what to do with the resultant mass star lifting is just good stellar husbandry for a civilization looking to last.

raattgift 5y ago
That solar corona really hates your molecular bonds passionately. It's not too keen on metal crystals either. It's hard to see how to ignore that level of hatred as one approaches the photosphere en route to scooping out stuff below that, especially if it flares or reconnects through you and your gear "in close orbit around the star's equator". Your gear and repair & installation techs are much safer a couple gigametres away. If you really want to extract mass from a star, just wait long enough, or find one ready to release a suitable amount. There are plenty of options from CMAs to flares to UV Ceti style flare stars, to deflagrating white dwarfs, novas, and supernovas. Let the star's nuclear energy do the "heavy lifting", eliminating all the problems catalogued before the "... plasma jets hundreds or thousands of astronomical units long ... [t]he details of extracting useful materials from [that has] not been extensively explored". (The linked article at the top discusses relativistic jets driven by million-solar-mass and larger black holes. The jets are likely to be more constant and/or more predictable than natural mass outflows from stars, but extracting and storing energy from that is even less "extensively explored". An option in between is to use the natural mass flow from a companion star onto a compact star (white dwarf, neutron star, black hole) by sticking the moral equivalent of a water wheel into the stream. It's just a (compared to water hot & sparse) fluid flowing downhill, and there are plenty of examples in our galaxy.)