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You could definitely use moonlight to heat up an engine, if you have a big enough concentrator. You just can't reach a temperature higher than the surface of th
by teraflop 10y ago
You could definitely use moonlight to heat up an engine, if you have a big enough concentrator. You just can't reach a temperature higher than the surface of the moon itself. Stirling engines are capable of operating with relatively small temperature differences.
- LeifCarrotson 10y ago> You just can't reach a temperature higher than the surface of the moon itself. False. You can't reach a temperature hotter than the black body which emitted the light. The moon is a reflector which is as cold as -153 C, not a black body emitter. Try reflecting sunlight with a large mirror cooled by air to 23 C through a magnifying glass onto an object in the shade. You can still light things on fire.
- caspianm 10y agoA better analogy is a piece of paper. Like a mirror, it reflects rather than thermally emits the light, but unlike a mirror, it scatters the reflected light, limiting how much it can be focused.