BY LETTER
Asoka's Pillar
Sophonts > Xenosophonts > Alien Civilisations Outside the Terragen Sphere
Galactography > Places and Locales
Sophonts > Xenosophonts
Galactography > Places and Locales
Sophonts > Xenosophonts
 Image from Steve Bowers | |
| Asóka's Pillar is a cylindrical Dyson shell that appears to be actively supported by rotation, although the exact details of the mechanism are not clear at this distance. | |
Asóka's Pillar is a dysonian megastructure in the shape of a cylinder, located around an isolated star of about 0.64 solar masses in the Milky Way's galactic halo some 53,000 light years above the galactic disk. It is known for its strange, intermittently repeating laser transmission which it apparently broadcasts in all directions in a 'raster scan' pattern.
Records of Asóka's Pillar pre-date the Technocalypse, but that era's infoplagues have made it difficult to reconstruct much of the history of early technosignature astronomy. Most historians agree that it was discovered in the early 4th century AT, but the message could not be decoded at the time and it was misclassified as an extragalactic source due to its unusual location. Later that century, further analysis of the region with better instruments revealed its nature as a dyson structure, evidently supported by mass beams, and showed it was in fact much closer than previously thought. This made it the fourth Medium Energy Emitting Civilization discovered in the Milky Way Galaxy, and it was thus dubbed MEEC-MW-4.
Further analysis in the Federation era successfully decoded much of the message. Although some additional portions were decoded in the 3rd and 4th millennia, no known progress has been made since. Inquiries made to higher toposophic institutes and avatars of archai result in replies that the rest cannot be decoded. This suggests it may be devoid of meaningful content, beyond their ability to decode, and/or that they are unwilling to share it.
The message proclaims that these beacons (plural) mark the Empire of the Resplendent One, outlines eir instructions for running an optimal society, and describes the prosperity and might of the Empire, which is claimed to occupy 33 billion star systems. No transport-class wormhole has been observed nearby that could link it to any such empire, though it is possible that comm-gauge wormholes exist within the structure. Because of its evident isolation, it has been speculated that the entity or civilization inhabiting the structure is delusional in some sense, or that it makes these claims to intimidate any potential aggressors. Another theory states that at one time, such an empire did exist, and that there were in fact other similar beacons in its territory. All of these may have since been destroyed or repurposed by others, but this one escaped due to its orbit taking it far away from the galactic disk, and automated processes or hyper-dedicated AI keep the structure maintained and the message broadcasting.
Asóka's Pillar would have last been in the galactic disk 104 million years ago, based on the trajectory of its orbit around the galaxy. However, most dysonian structures are capable of gradually reconstructing themselves into new forms if desired by the inhabitant(s), so it is possible that in the past Asóka's Pillar took the form of a stellar propulsion swarm, and that it is an interloper from another galaxy that has changed its trajectory and has opted to orbit the Milky Way. It may be many billions of years old.
Related Articles
Appears in Topics
Development Notes
Text by ProxCenBound
From an idea by M. Alan Kazlev; updated 30 September 2018
Initially published on 07 October 2001.
Expanded further 7 October 2024 by ProxCenBound, including ideas from AstroChara and Todd Drashner.
From an idea by M. Alan Kazlev; updated 30 September 2018
Initially published on 07 October 2001.
Expanded further 7 October 2024 by ProxCenBound, including ideas from AstroChara and Todd Drashner.
