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[-] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 34 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Everything in the universe reflects light. Except black holes. Only things you cannot see do not reflect light.

[-] tweeks@feddit.nl 8 points 4 days ago

And things in itself that are too small to see with even a microscope do not reflect light right? Light might interact there but will not reflect in the usual sense, it can however emit light though. As far as I understand that is.

[-] Entropywins@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago

There is a lot to it wavelength, size of reflecting object (if it's smaller than the wavelength it can't reflect anything back also applies to emitting photons), reflectance or the fraction of light reflected at the surface of the object (the energy it obsorbs vs energy it kicks back), phase shift, if the photon is traveling from one medium to another with a lower or higher refractive index (redirection of a wave as it passess from one medium to another) it will change the oscillations (kinda like a feedback loop, photons effect electrons in the medium and electrons effect photons right back) like looking at a pencil behind a glass of water distorts what you see. I probably missed some things but I gotta admit it always fascinates me to think about light and reflection.

[-] Deme@sopuli.xyz 3 points 4 days ago

The event horizon isn't a physical object. Does a singularity reflect light? (I'm guessing it's still a no)

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Once something moves past the horizon any light that bounced off it would be pulled towards the center with it. Effectively making it non reflective. It's possible all the energy from being crushed into a singularity causes a glow around it, like the disk around the outer area of a black hole.

If that's the case, the glow itself would also be sucked immediately into the singularity. Maybe for the shortest of time, on the tiniest plank scale, the singularity produces light.

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

The accretion disk would emit light as particles were accelerated into the hole. Plus there would be hawking radiation from the evaporative process black holes have.

[-] cows_are_underrated@feddit.org 2 points 4 days ago

The only form of "light" (it isn't really light but radiation, which I'd basically the same as light just that it has a different energy value etc) is the hawking radiation.

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago

Excellent point, thank you.

[-] Deme@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 days ago

The event horizon only obscures objects that are inside it, it has nothing to do with reflectivity of the object itself.

An observer situated between the singularity and an object within the event horizon could still intercept the light reflected from said object.

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Light bouncing of an object is what creates reflection. The only way to see reflection past the horizon is to be closer to the singularity than the object you're looking at.

[-] Deme@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 days ago

That is what I said, yes.

The point being that the event horizon deals with the structure of spacetime, while reflectivity is a material property. An object doesn't get painted with vantablack when it passes the event horizon.

[-] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 2 points 4 days ago

I'm going to break this cycle and not repeat the same thing a fourth time.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 days ago

The event horizon is the effect of the object not reflecting light.

[-] Deme@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 days ago

No. An object within the event horizon is still reflecting light just as it was before falling in. The only difference is in relation to where that reflected light can or cannot go from there.

[-] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Never seen a singularity so would have to agree it doesn't. Visible Event Horizons are made up of matter that does reflect light, but if there is no matter involved only light you would likely see is distorted as it passes through it from other sources

[-] Deme@sopuli.xyz 3 points 4 days ago

No event horizon is made up of matter. Do you mean the matter around and behind the black hole, by which the location and size of the black hole can be inferred?

[-] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Yeah that's what I was referring to

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 4 days ago

except you can still arguably see things that don't reflect light, if you were anywhere near a black hole (let's imagine it has no accretion disk and thus isn't surrounded by a bunch of light) it'd be pretty obvious what with the bending of light and how it's a disk of pure blackness against the backdrop of stars.

[-] lud@lemm.ee 5 points 4 days ago

And you know, light sources. They don't need to reflect any light.

[-] CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

But they still do. It might just be overpowered by the emitted light.

[-] lud@lemm.ee 0 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Does a candle really reflect light?

[-] stephen01king@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 days ago

Candle fire does reflect light, that's why it has a shadow.

[-] CrazyLikeGollum@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Yes. The flame is a cloud of gas and particulate heated to the point that it glows. It will reflect light. Just not a lot, and it's also emitting enough light to overpower any reflected light in most conditions.

And of course the candle itself reflects light.

[-] lud@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago

It doesn't need to reflect any light though.

[-] someacnt@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago

Yes, paraphene candle reflects light, unless you won't know that it's white

[-] lud@lemm.ee 2 points 4 days ago

I obviously mean the flame.

this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
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