![]() ![]() The ring current required to generate this magnetic field would be generated by a ring of particle accelerator space stations in close orbit around the star's equator. The magnetic nozzles would convert some of the plasma's thermal energy into outward velocity, helping cool the outflow. This would deflect the star's solar wind into a pair of jets aligned along its rotational axis passing through a pair of magnetic rocket nozzles. The resulting outflow would be collected by using a ring current around the star's equator to generate a powerful toroidal magnetic field with its dipoles over the star's rotational poles. This would produce a large and sustained eruption similar to a solar flare at the target location, feeding the solar wind. The simplest system for star lifting would increase the rate of solar wind outflow by directly heating small regions of the star's atmosphere, using any of a number of different means to deliver energy such as microwave beams, lasers, or particle beams – whatever proved to be most efficient for the engineers of the system. Methods for lifting material Thermal-driven outflow Ī mechanism for "harvesting" solar wind (RC = ring current, MN = magnetic nozzles, J = plasma jet). This energy could be supplied by the star itself, collected by a Dyson sphere using 10% of the Sun's total power output would allow 5.9 × 10 21 kilograms of matter to be lifted per year (0.0000003% of the Sun's total mass), or 8% of the mass of Earth's moon. For example, lifting solar material from the surface of the Sun to infinity requires 2.1 × 10 11 J/kg. Stars have deep gravity wells, so the energy required for such operations is large. The star lifting techniques that have been proposed would operate by increasing this natural plasma flow and manipulating it with magnetic fields. Over the course of a star's life on the main sequence this loss is usually negligible compared to the star's total mass only at the end of a star's life when it becomes a red giant or a supernova is a large proportion of material ejected. Stars already lose a small flow of mass via solar wind, coronal mass ejections, and other natural processes. The term appears to have been coined by David Criswell. Star lifting is any of several hypothetical processes by which a sufficiently advanced civilization (specifically, one of Kardashev-II or higher) could remove a substantial portion of a star's matter which can then be re-purposed, while possibly optimizing the star's energy output and lifespan at the same time. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) ( March 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. This article possibly contains original research. ![]()
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