I came here to see if anybody else noticed this. Habitability was not part of the criteria and the sphere was not a single solid object.
Wimpy McSquishy
I think the page title should be changed to Dyson Shell, because that is what the page is essentially describing, not a Dyson Sphere. I know the difference is mentioned on the page, but the vast majority of the page is devoted to the shell version of the concept (the more difficult and less useful version). Maybe more of the page could be devoted to the different varieties of Dyson Sphere, or heck, at least include a link to That Other Wiki's page on the subject.
Anyway, that's just my thoughts.
'Cross my heart, strike me dead, stick a lobster on my head.' Hide / Show Replies
My main concern is that the page seems like it could possibly be misleading.
'Cross my heart, strike me dead, stick a lobster on my head.'
Aw heck, image already has a caption. There goes my chance to say "Not to scale."
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without the pothole to Understatement the current caption doesn't really work though, yours would probably be better than the current version.
One of the listed conditions for the trope is "3. Contain an inside surface where people can survive (possibly with space suits) without being burnt to a crisp by the star." Thing is, the original idea behind the sphere was basically a ginormous solar array, which ideally would be as close to the star as possible. And many Dyson Spheres in fiction are exactly that, such as in Stellaris.
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