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technology - What is the largest (engineered) physical object dreamed of in science fiction?



I can think of 3 kinds of big.



  • By volume

  • By a linear measure

  • By mass or weight


Bonus points for all three. Extra bonus points for the object being realistic in construction.


Let's add to it that it not be naturally occurring.




Answer



The biggest in terms of volume would probably be a Matrioshka brain.



A Matrioshka brain is a collection of multiple Concentric Dyson Spheres which make use of different wavelengths of light.



Here's the list from Wikipedia's article on Megastructures where I found it:




  • The Alderson disk is a theoretical structure in the shape of a disk, where the outer radius is equivalent to the orbit of Mars or Jupiter and the thickness is several thousand miles. A civilization could live on either side, held by the gravity of the disk and still receive sunlight from a star bobbing up and down in the middle of the disk.

  • A Dyson sphere (also known as a Dyson Shell) refers to a structure or mass of orbiting objects that completely surrounds a star to make full use of its solar energy.


  • Larry Niven's Ringworld is an artificial ring with a radius roughly equal to the radius of the Earth's orbit. A star is present in the center and the ring spins to provide artificial gravity.

  • A Matrioshka brain is a collection of multiple Concentric Dyson Spheres which make use of different wavelengths of light.

  • A Stellar engine either uses the temperature difference between a star and interstellar space to extract energy or serves as a Shkadov thruster.

  • A Shkadov thruster accelerates an entire star through space by selectively reflecting or absorbing light on one side of it.

  • Topopolis (also known as Cosmic Spaghetti) is a large tube that rotates to provide artificial gravity.



A couple of the others that move entire stars around would probably be considered bigger in terms of mass if you count the mass of the star.


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