A search of the IRAS database for evidence of Dyson Spheres

One of the forms of astroengineering activity that a very advanced civiliza tion could possibly carry on is the constructions of huge "buildings" in sp ace around the central star. Historically such constructions are called Dys on Spheres. We would like to introduce a new name - Astroengineering Constr uctions (AC) - to mean a more general type of construction not necessarily related to any specific star. AC absorb energy from different types of acti vity and re-emit it as infrared radiation, i.e. radiation lying in the subm illimeter and millimeter range. Further, AC are expect to have spectra simi lar to the black-body spectra because they re-emit all the energy that they absorb, although in the infrared range, as already mentioned. Thus, the ef fective temperature of these Planckian distributions is expected to lie bet ween 3-300 K with the spectrum peaking between 10 mu m and 10 mm. We have a nalyzed the IRAS database and extracted a catalog of sources whose spectra are similar to the black-body emission. The catalog of these sources and th eir preliminary parameters are discussed. The distribution of the color tem peratures of IRAS sources and the sky distribution of sources are also cons idered. The possibility of the distinction of AC from thick circumstellar d ust shells around red giant stars is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.