"Mirror, mirror on the wall..." :))

Romania
March 25, 2007 3:11am CST
If mirrors need light to work ... what happens if you put night vision goggles on in the dark and look at a mirror?
1 person likes this
1 response
• India
25 Mar 07
Ha ha ha!! That is a very good question indeed!! I guess, the way night vision goggles look in the movies, if you look at yourself in the mirror with them on you may not see a pretty reflection!! Ha ha!! And you would look very green to yourself!! Ha Ha!! Mmm... Now, if I try going into the science of the matter, the image you look at would depend on what kind of night vision goggles (NVG) you use. If it is a passive NVG, it simply amplifies several thousand times whatever very little ambient light there is, and so you see the object. And the color that is used to project the image is usually green because shades in green are the most easy to differentiate between than in any other color. If it is a active NVG, it uses a kind of infrared flash light to illuminate the object in front and visualize it in the reflected and amplified infrared light. It is similar to using a regular flashlight, without the goggles! So you can imagine what you can see in the dark, when you point a flashlight at yourself in the mirror! The flashlight itself is visible in the mirror and blinds you to everything else. So you may not see anything when you look into the mirror with the active goggles on except a bright light, unless you find out a way to dismantle the infrared flashlight from the NVG and point it at yourself instead of the mirror, while you look into the mirror with the goggles on!! Even then you will see a green person looking back at you from the mirror with large shiny eyes!!! Ha Ha Ha!! Happy night viewing!
• Romania
25 Mar 07
Verry good answer cacophonix ;) Thnx