ANU nano crystal development may provide new night vision technology

[gary]

In an article in today's Sydney Morning Herald (http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/nightvision-glasses-nanocrystals-developed-at-anu-allow-direct-vision-into-the-infrared-20161207-gt5vsf.html), Marcus Strom reports on
the development at ANU of nano crystals that "blueshift" infrared
light into the visible spectrum.

The hope is that when applied as a thin film on glass that they may provide
a new night vision technology.




Article and video here -
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/nightvision-glasses-nanocrystals-developed-at-anu-allow-direct-vision-into-the-infrared-20161207-gt5vsf.html

[clive milne]

Cheers Gary, that is inspiring stuff.

I wonder if it will make mirobolometers redundant?

[astroron]

Wouldn't the night sky look beautiful,especially the milky way.?
Cheers:thumbsup:

[OICURMT]

I suspect that this technology wouldn't be much use for astronomers, as there are too many fugitive heat sources.

But for driving safety, it could be a game changer, as long as the heater in the car is off.. ;)

[AussieTrooper]

Oh sod that. We'll never get another night's sleep out field if we are able to walk around at night just like it is daytime. It's bad enough with the crappy stuff we have to use now.
Hopefully I will be retired by then...

From an astro pov, it can be quite interesting to turn night vision gear upwards. The resolution isn't good enough to observe much detail on anything, but it does its job and shows far more stars than are visible to the human eye. The jewell box is notable, as are many nebulae and clusters. Without actually checking stars against a chart, I'd say you get down to about Mag 8 when using night vision gear.

[Wavytone]

Righto - I'll get me a set of these newfangled infrared vision goggles... a couple of extra magnitudes would be nice...even if only to drive onto the observing field without annoying anyone.