JWST Investigates Stars Thought to Host Dyson Spheres

WHO:

ScienceAlert - Olivia Curtis, astrophysicist at Pennsylvania State University, co-author of the analysis.

ScienceAlert - Erik Zackrisson, astrophysicist at Uppsala University in Sweden, leader of Project Hephaistos.

WHAT:

ScienceAlert - The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) examined two stars suspected of hosting Dyson spheres.

ScienceAlert - The search sifted through roughly five million Milky Way stars.

ScienceAlert - Seven stars were identified as candidates, with two emerging as the most compelling.

ScienceAlert - The two candidates were revealed to be impostors, with their light boosted by distant galaxies.

WHERE:

ScienceAlert - The stars and galaxies studied are located in the Milky Way and beyond.

WHEN:

ScienceAlert - The analysis is described in a preprint available on arXiv.

WHY:

ScienceAlert - The search aimed to find technosignatures that could indicate advanced alien civilizations.

ScienceAlert - False positives could help improve future searches for alien technology.

HOW:

ScienceAlert - The researchers used JWST's infrared capabilities to detect mid-infrared glow indicative of energy harvesting.

ScienceAlert - The analysis involved developing new techniques to untangle light and address JWST's quirks.

ScienceAlert - The galaxies were identified as a Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxy and a dusty starburst galaxy, both producing warm infrared glow.

(UPDATED July 28, 2026 17:30 UTC)

Astrophysicists Olivia Curtis from Pennsylvania State University and Erik Zackrisson from Uppsala University have conducted an analysis using the James Webb Space Telescope to search for signs of advanced alien civilizations among roughly five million stars in the Milky Way and beyond. They initially identified seven stars as candidates for hosting Dyson spheres, but further investigation revealed that the two most promising candidates were actually impostors, their light amplified by distant galaxies. This research, which utilized JWST's infrared capabilities and innovative techniques to analyze light, aims to refine future searches for technosignatures, with the findings now available in a preprint on arXiv.