Star Lifting - Stellar Husbandry

Stellar Husbandry

The lifespan of a star is determined by the size of its supply of nuclear "fuel" and the rate at which it uses up that fuel in fusion reactions in its core. Larger stars have a larger supply of fuel, but the increased core pressure resulting from that additional mass increases the reaction rate even more; large stars have a significantly shorter lifespan than small ones. Current theories of stellar dynamics also suggest that there is very little mixing between the bulk of a star's atmosphere and the material of its core, where fusion takes place, so most of a large star's fuel will never be used naturally.

As a star's mass is reduced by star lifting its rate of nuclear fusion will decrease, reducing the amount of energy available to the star lifting process but also reducing the gravity that needs to be overcome. Theoretically, it would be possible to remove an arbitrarily large portion of a star's total mass given sufficient time. In this manner a civilization could control the rate at which its star uses fuel, optimizing the star's power output and lifespan to its needs. The hydrogen and helium extracted in the process could also be used as fusion reactor fuel. Current fusion generators (and fusion bombs) use deuterium and tritium. Most of a star’s mass consists of light hydrogen and helium. A technologically advanced civilization may develop fusion reactors capable of using ordinary hydrogen by currently unknown means. Alternatively, the material could be assembled into additional smaller stars, to improve the efficiency of its use. Theoretically all the energy of the matter lifted from a star could be harvested if it is made into small black holes, via the mechanism of Hawking Radiation.