Stupid physics thought of the evening

If a spacecraft aimed an IR laser at another at the *exact* frequency of it's normal thermal radiation... would the laser be noticable because it's coherent or invisible in the background?

@Doephin Thinking about it now, I think you'd end up with a hotspot that would show up on thermal imaging, unless it was _super_ low power.

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Awoo Space

Awoo.space is a Mastodon instance where members can rely on a team of moderators to help resolve conflict, and limits federation with other instances using a specific access list to minimize abuse.

While mature content is allowed here, we strongly believe in being able to choose to engage with content on your own terms, so please make sure to put mature and potentially sensitive content behind the CW feature with enough description that people know what it's about.

Before signing up, please read our community guidelines. While it's a very broad swath of topics it covers, please do your best! We believe that as long as you're putting forth genuine effort to limit harm you might cause – even if you haven't read the document – you'll be okay!