Dyson sphere A Dyson sphere was a colossal sphere constructed around a star , completely surrounding it . The interior of the sphere would absorb the entire energy output of that star , allowing for lifeform s to live on the interior surface almost indefinitely . Such a structure was theorized by the 20th century physicist Freeman Dyson . One of these spheres encased a G - type star and had a diameter of two hundred million kilometer s , giving it an internal surface area of approximately 250 million M - class planets . The exterior shell was composed of carbon - neutronium , and the interior was much like a habitable planet with various types of terrain and an atmosphere . The sphere was equipped with portals with the diameter of several large starship s which opened to allow ships to enter the interior , where there was enough room to orbit the star . Ships were guided through using tractor beam emitter s triggered by subspace signals . As no radiant sunlight or solar wind escaped from the sphere , starships were not able to detect it until they were almost on top of it . As a result , the crashed onto it in 2294 after being pulled in by the sphere ' s immense gravity well while en route to the Norpin colony . In 2369 , the discovered the " Jenolan " and investigated the sphere . The sphere was deserted because the star around which it was constructed was highly unstable . ( ) Appendices . Background information . The photosphere ' s designation is a homage to the movies ' and ' . LV426 is the name of a moon where the crew of the tug ship " Nostromo " discover the eggs of a parasitic lifeform . Technically speaking , the episode showed a Dyson " shell " rather than a Dyson sphere . A Dyson sphere – sometimes called a Dyson " swarm " – consists of a series of satellites ( or statites ) orbiting a star which capture a large portion of its energy output and then transmit that energy to another location ( e . g . , a planet in the star system ) , or are themselves space habitats . The Dyson sphere was named after scientist , who envisioned a in 1959 , although the actual sphere that Dyson theorized was not a solid object like the one visualized in the episode . Dyson himself , who himself never took his idea too seriously , said in a later interview that , while the science behind it was " nonsense " , as a TV viewer he enjoyed the episode . More specifically , he called his theory a " joke . " About " Relics " , Dyson said " " Actually it was sort of fun to watch it . It ' s all nonsense , but it ' s quite a good piece of cinema . " " In the same interview , he said that " Stapledon sphere " would be a more appropriate name , in honor of , whose depiction of such an object in his 1937 novel inspired young Dyson to look into the theory . A Dyson shell would retain all energy produced by the star , and would somehow have to radiate much of this into space to maintain a habitable surface temperature . One possible way of conserving such vast quantities of energy without emitting any visible radiation ( as is seen on - screen ) would be to convert all the energy to mass - essentially using a replicator - like technology to create the many , many , many planets ' worth of matter necessary to construct the whole sphere . Another would be to create a colossal gravitational field . If this was the case , it would explain why the " Enterprise " was jolted suddenly upon leaving warp , and possibly why the " Jenolan " s distress call went undetected until the " Enterprise " passed within a very short distance . Story premise . The concept of the Dyson sphere , as a B - story premise , had actually already been circulating among the writing staff for years , but until the episode " Relics " , the opportunity had never arisen to utilize the notion . " " It was something that we were trying to put in for a long time and it became a standing joke . " " , noted episode Writer Ronald D . Moore . Once " Relics " came up , the opportunity finally afforded itself and the episode ' s Science Consultant Naren Shankar went to work to beef out the concept , " " I originally thought the interesting thing would be to make it a partially complete Dyson ' s Sphere . It ended up being a completed Dyson ' s Sphere that was uninhabited . When Ron had written about the Dyson ' s Sphere in the teaser , he wrote " tech " and I gave him the numbers for the size of it . He was shocked that it was so big . It was like the equivalent of four million earths . It ' s huge . If you build something the size of the [ sic ] sun ' s orbit , you ' re talking about a sphere with a diameter of two hundred million miles . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 24 , issue 3 / 4 , p . 27 ) Dyson sphere maquettes . For the " Star Trek " episode , both exterior and interior maquette s were built at Gregory Jein , Inc . , while the initial full - sized exterior view and interior long views were executed as matte painting s by Eric Chauvin . ( " " , 3rd ed . , p . 220 ) The episode ' s visual effects supervisor David Stipes initially wanted to do the exterior approach scene in CGI . He envisioned the " Enterprise " approaching the sphere from a great distance , and when the sphere grew closer its initial smooth looking surface would resolve into a fantastically detailed network of structures against which the " Enterprise " would be dwarfed . " " It would have been a perfect CGI shot " " , Stipes enthused , but budgetary considerations made the proposal unfeasible , causing him to sigh at the time , " " Contrary to what people are saying about CGI , it ' s still not as cheap as doing a model " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 24 , issue 3 / 4 , p . 80 ) Stipes later elaborated , " " At first we talked about generating it with computers . But we ran into some challenges , so we called in Greg Jein " " . Still , some use of computer aid was made as Stipes explained , continuing , " " But Greg ' s model was huge . But we needed it to be a hundred feet long to give us the required scale . So the crew shot a selection of the panel and then digitally reproduced that section over and over , in cookie - cutter fashion , making things look like it stretched on for miles . " " At his model shop , Jein and his team of modelers built two versions of the Dyson sphere surface , an exterior one , actually several of those for assembly into one huge exterior maquette , with one featuring the articulated access door , and an interior one . On constructing the maquettes , Jein recalled , " The master pattern is made out of sections of a Japanese model kit . We cast them into a larger pattern and then made a rubber mold . Then we peeled it off and started pouring giant urethane bricks . We put the bricks on wooden frames and put the frames together once we got to the stage . ( . . . ) The exterior was pretty straight forward , because all the panels were the same except for the door . We had more fun with the interior , because we made it look like an industrial city block . We put our high school names in some of the buildings , like " Dorsey High School " , but the audiences never saw that . We used a lot of pieces out of " central casting " – that ' s what we call our stock molds that have lots of detail in them – to break up the surface so that each panel wasn ' t exactly the same . I carved the main core around the door out of foam because we didn ' t have time to make molds ; It ' s sort of free - form . " ( " " , p . 275 ) Two additional specialty maquettes were constructed for particular close - up scenes , a more detailed enlarged one of the exterior surface to go with the USS " Jenolan " studio model in order to depict its crash site , and a detailed interior airlock corridor maquette for close - ups of the escaping USS " Enterprise " - D . For the interior airlock maquette , Jein and his team used parts and pieces he kept lying around in his model shop as stock . " " We used some left over running ship parts to make the corridor from the interior of the Dyson ' s Sphere to the exterior , so the justification for hoarding all those parts these last 20 odd years finally paid off . " " , Jein clarified . ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 24 , issue 3 / 4 , p . 27 ) The effects footage shot for this occasion of the interior airlock corridor , was later reused in the season 2 episode . In that episode , it was supposed to represent the ( much smaller ) spacedock doors , through which Ensign Harry Kim in an alternate timeline was escaping ( in the opposite direction ) aboard a commandeered runabout . The visual effects stock footage for that scene was newly composited in post - production at CIS Hollywood . Penny Juday endeavored to give insight into the creation of the interior maquette model by trying to explain the technique of " kitbashing " in the TNG Season 2 DVD - special feature , " Inside Starfleet Archives - Penny Juday , Star Trek Coordinator " . According to Juday , the art department produced similar structures on several other occasions , combining them on a large board . Neither the exterior maquette panels nor the two specialty maquettes were ever sighted again , having more than likely been discarded , as was usual with episode - specific production pieces this large . Against all odds however , the resin - and - plywood interior maquette , measuring 84 inches square , survived long enough to end up in the " " auction as , estimated at US $ 800 - $ 1 , 200 , where it sold for US $ 5 , 000 ( $ 6 , 000 including buyer ' s premium ) on . Apocrypha . In book # 5 of the " " series ( " Double or Nothing " ) Captain s Calhoun and Picard encounter a Dyson sphere constructed by an anti - Federation alliance . Calhoun and Picard eventually succeed in thwarting the alliance and destroying the sphere . The sphere seen in Relics is revisited in the novel " " . A planned six - month exploration is cut short when a neutron star is launched at the sphere by parties unknown . In the " Deep Space Nine " " " book series , Chief O ' Brien is briefly trapped in a Pah - wraith Hell where he is forced to wander the interior of a Dyson sphere for several millennia , unable to understand how the sphere was constructed or learn anything about its creation . In " The Starless World " , Kirk and crew encounter a Dyson sphere that surrounds and is controlled by a god - like entity . The sphere has been traveling towards the galactic core for several billion years at sub - light speed and intends to enter a black hole as part of an ancient compact . In season eight of " Star Trek Online " , players battle the Voth for control of a Dyson sphere in the Delta Quadrant which formerly belonged to the Solanogen - based lifeform s ( referred to as the " Solanae " in the game ) seen in the TNG episode . The player also learns that the Dyson sphere encountered by the " Enterprise " - D in ( referred to as the " Jenolan " Dyson sphere ) has disappeared without a trace , along with the science team analyzing it . It is later found that both spheres generate and utilize Omega particle s to power a form of propulsion for each sphere ; this form of propulsion caused the " Jenolan " sphere to " jump " further into the Delta Quadrant . In the Season 8 . 5 episode " A Step Between Stars " , the player character and Tuvok rediscover the " Jenolan " sphere and the ship studying it while trying to shut down a device on the Solanae sphere . The rediscovery causes a schism between the Federation , the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Republic , and the summit to discuss it allows the Undine to invade Sol . The sphere is ultimately discovered to have traveled to the Nekrit Expanse , and serves home base to a multinational task force in the " Delta Rising " expansion . In the episode " Uneasy Allies " , its revealed that another Dyson sphere , the Andromeda Dyson sphere ( or Herald Dyson sphere ) , was located in the Andromeda Galaxy and was inhabited by the Iconian species alongside with their Herald servants . Later , using the same propulsion system as the Jenolan ' s , the Andromeda sphere jumped into the Milky Way Galaxy , more precisely to a point in the Iconia system . In the " Star Fleet Battles " gaming universe , the Tholian Holdfast is depicted as having migrated to our galaxy by transporting their home world which is described to be similar to a mobile Dyson sphere .