• Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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    6 months ago

    Even if that level of efficiency were possible, 0.01% of a star’s output is still a substantial amount of heat. You would still have to radiate it away otherwise it would melt your mega structure, and you would have to radiate it out equally in all directions otherwise you’d knock it off its orbit with the thrust generated from the radiating of the heat on one side.

    • nilloc
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      6 months ago

      Yeah, it’s interesting to think about IR powered thrust.

      I wonder if moving a star by cooling one side could ever happen? Like in a some weird future tech way obviously.