[MR4D]

Not the OP, but if you think about it, putting devices at Lagrange points is in some ways the start of the process of building one.

The JWT is the most famous device at such a point, but there are a few others as well. [0]

The great thing about a swarm is that you can do it one at a time. Change the timescale to a thousand years or more, and there implied size even with our current level of tech would be nearly unimaginable compared to what we have today, while probably nowhere near a sphere.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_objects_at_Lagrange_po...

— - - EDIT: meant to add - even if the world were destroyed today, the JWT would still transmit signals for some time (I don’t know it’s design lifetime, but likely years if not decades).

[Ekaros]

I'm not sure but there is question also about resources. Let's say we turn all rocky objects excluding most of Earth and our Moon in the solar system to Dyson swarm. Would this have any noticeable effect on how we show outwards? There is lot of dust around solar system already and asteroid belt is also there.

[jmyeet]

I've seen one estimate that 1% of Mercury's mass is sufficient to build a full Dyson Swarm around the Sun.

That's part of what makes Dyson Swarms attractive: planets are incredibly inefficent uses of mass in terms of living area created.

Why Mercury? It's metal-rich, has no atmosphere, has relatively low mass and energy is incredibly abundant due to proximity to the Sun.

Many seem to think we would need to dismantle the Solar System. We do not.