Pointed my IR laser at the sky today, and it showed about -12.2 celsius. Is there no blackbody radiation in the air? Or there is such gases like Nitrogen? Argon? Also, how far does the laser reach into the sky?
In: Physics
There is blackbody radiation in the air, but colorless gasses like nitrogen, oxygen, and argon in our atmosphere are very bad at interacting with infrared light. Things at -12°C emit very little infrared light through blackbody radiation, so since the thermometer gets very little infrared, it assumes it must be at that temperature or below
Latest Answers