Dyson sphere
Noun
Meaning
A hypothetical system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture its entire energy output.
(science fiction) A solid shell of matter enclosing a star.
Source: en.wiktionary.orgSynonyms
Examples
A Dyson sphere was a significant plot device in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics".
Although the construction of such a massive inhabitable statite would be a gigantic undertaking, and the required material science behind it is early stage, there are other engineering feats and required materials proposed in other Dyson sphere variants.
A second type of Dyson sphere is the "Dyson bubble".
He proposed that a Dyson sphere could be a possible means: a shell or cloud of objects enclosing a star to absorb and utilize as much radiant energy as possible.
Dyson shell A cut-away diagram of an idealized Dyson shell, a variant on Dyson's original concept, with a radius of 1 AU The variant of the Dyson sphere most often depicted in fiction is the "Dyson shell": a uniform solid shell of matter around the star.
Since then, other variant designs involving building an artificial structure or series of structures to encompass a star have been proposed in exploratory engineering or described in science fiction under the name "Dyson sphere".