Dyson Pair
Names: Dyson PairDyson AlphaDyson BetaDyson barrierDyson aliens
First appears in Book 1: Pandora's Star, chapter 2 (ONE)
Appearances
B1
B2
What you know
Book 1: Pandora's Star
- Ch 2The Dyson Pair are two stars, a K-type and an M-type, that Oxford astronomers found in 2170 had shifted to infrared, indicating alien enclosure by shells.
- Ch 2Astronomers originally judged the shells took seven to eight years to build; Dudley's observation suggests envelopment is instantaneous.
- Ch 2The Dyson Pair are two stars enveloped in shells, almost a thousand light-years beyond Earth's star; they were discovered by Oxford's telescope, and construction timing is unknown.
- Ch 2Dyson Alpha vanished on schedule during the observation, as if switched off, which both men call impossible.
- Ch 4Two star systems about two light-years apart, over twelve hundred light-years from Tanyata, each enclosed by a thirty AU barrier.
- Ch 4The barriers around Alpha and Beta formed within three minutes of each other, and are identical.
- Ch 4The Dyson Pair is enclosed by barriers whose purpose is unknown; they may be an ancient device left running by a civilization that moved on.
- Ch 7Two stars enclosed by a force field for over a thousand years; the Guardians argue it contains a terrible threat.
- Ch 7A starship has been sent to investigate it after an observation showed the enclosure was a force field rather than a solid shell.
- Ch 11A species that has deliberately locked itself away from the rest of the galaxy.
- Ch 11Two stars enclosed by barriers; the reason the barriers were raised is unknown, and the High Angel observed no earlier conflict or stellar alteration nearby.
Connections
- includesDyson Alpha
- includesDyson Beta
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 4CST reveals Beta's identical enclosure
Nigel reveals that CST's exploratory wormhole showed Dyson Beta's barrier formed within three minutes of Alpha's, identical to it, suggesting a defensive action by one civilization.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Director rules out Marie Celeste link
The Institute Director tells Wilson and Oscar the Marie Celeste's builders could not have made the Dyson barrier, which predates the arkship, so it is not connected to the Dyson Pair.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Mac and Oscar question the High Angel
The High Angel appears as a human executive and says it knows nothing of the Dyson Pair or why barriers were raised, but doubts they were defensive against aggression.