Killing a star safely

A messenger from the stars just arrived in peace but has brought horrible news. A vast swarm of planet devouring phototropic insects are approaching from deep space and our only hope is to obscure or snuff out our sun until they pass by.

The messenger provided a copy of the galactic encyclopedia which includes all of the scientific knowledge of the Kardashev Type II civilization she comes from, but she has since returned to space, heading off to warn other civilizations of the approaching threat.

We have enough time to prepare Earth for the cold darkness. The encyclopedia includes several different techniques for generating enough energy to keep us warm and techniques for synthesizing nutritious food without the need for plant life. We also have time and the new knowledge to build enormous opaque enclosures to serve as green houses, zoos and gardens, so none of our world's bio-diversity will be lost. We won't have to live in complete darkness but we will need to keep our light hidden behind solid windowless walls.

So my challenge as an author and world builder is that I don't have my own copy of that encyclopedia. So I can't read the chapter on how to safely snuff out our sun without making it go nova or expand to consume the Earth. I would also prefer to keep it's corpse in one piece so that the arrangement of the solar system can continue, relatively unchanged.

My question is...

Given unlimited resources, nearly magical scientific knowledge and enough time, how do we snuff out or obscure the light and heat of our Sun?

I'm looking for an alternative to building a complete Dyson sphere because my goal as an author is to write stories about the dark cold earth. Sort of an homage to the old Space 1999 TV series, only with a more ominous, grittier, darker theme.

Bonus points if the process is reversible once the swarm has flown by.

posted over 5 years ago

Henry Taylor‭

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