stelare

Stelare is a fictional term used in science fiction and worldbuilding to describe a class of technologies and processes that regulate, extract, or amplify energy from stars without destroying the star. In most depictions, stelare devices or fields enable civilizations to access stellar energy for megastructures, interstellar propulsion, or planetary power grids while aiming to minimize radiative backlash and stellar disruption. The concept is typically treated as highly speculative and often requires physics beyond current scientific understanding.

Etymology and usage

The name is constructed from the Latin-based root stella meaning star, with the suffix -are to suggest a procedural or functional field. Variants of the term appear with different capitalizations and spellings depending on the fictional setting, sometimes aligning with a particular culture or technocratic faction within a story.

In-universe concepts

Stelare concepts commonly involve an engineered interaction between a star and a containment or mediation system. Common elements include a stelare lattice or sheath, advanced plasma confinement, and exotic energy transfer mechanisms that purportedly tap a star’s output while maintaining stellar stability. Authors distinguish between low-stelare regimes that harvest modest energy and high-stelare regimes that offer vast power at increased risk. Debates within stories often focus on long-term ecological and cosmic consequences, as well as questions of control, ethics, and governance over such potent technology.

In fiction and media

Stelare appears as a versatile plot device across speculative fiction and role-playing settings, used to justify vast energy infrastructures, star-faring capabilities, or the construction of megastructures. It remains a hypothetical concept rather than a real scientific approach, cited for worldbuilding texture rather than empirical accuracy.

See also: energy harvesting, Dyson sphere, stellar engineering, megastructure, planetary power grids.