"Could a Planet Be 'Cloaked'?"

sisu · **Joined:** Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:08 pm **Posts:** 3424

Quote:

Many pixels have been devoted to exotic materials that could one day make "invisibility cloaks" a reality, thrilling science fiction fans who dream of, say, their own Tardis equipped with a "chameleon circuit." (Time travel, alas, is a thornier issue).

The latest research on this comes from the University of Michigan, where engineering professor L. Jay Guo has developed a "perfect black" type of cloth that can render a 3D object "invisible." Guo's work is described in a new paper in Applied Physics Letters.

It's basically a black carpet made out of carbon nanotubes (CNT), capable of absorbing 99.9 percent of the light that hits it. "It's not cloaking, as the object can still cast a shadow," Guo cautioned. "But if you put an object on a black background, then with this coating, it could really become invisible."

....Guo also speculates that a similar type of substance might be found in the universe, effectively hiding entire planets or stars from our telescopes' probing eyes.

"Since deep space itself is a perfect dark background, if a planet or star were surrounded by a thick, sooty atmosphere of light-absorbing carbon nanomaterial gases, it would become invisible due to the same principle,"

full article: http://news.discovery.com/space/paint-i ... 11211.html

wayne · **Posted:** Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:56 am

Interesting read! I hope to see more on this.

blademan9999 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:19 am **Posts:** 63

There is no "stealth in space" http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/r ... detect.php
What about infrared?
It'll absorb the radiation, then re-emit as infrared rays.
Also it'll sometimes occlude stars. That's one way astronomers find extra-sloar planets.
although this means you normally won't be able to see eco-planets from visible light.
The infrared rays will make it EASY to detect cloaked planets in this solar system.

Acolyte · **Joined:** Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:25 am **Posts:** 9412

wayne wrote:

Interesting read! I hope to see more on this.

Extremely funny... It's an Invisibility device and you want to see MORE? :lol:

For those interested, check out butterfly wings and colours. Nature had it first.

Rob · **Posted:** Fri Nov 16, 2012 9:11 am

The only reason for cloaking a planet would be, obviously, to remain undetected. A rogue planet careering through space is unlikely to:

a) sustain life
b) be expected to ever come close to being spotted by intelligent beings - space is too wide and empty

So therefore a cloaked planet would need to be guided, and most likely artificial.

If aliens are capable of building a planet and piloting it through the universe, then the only advantage of building a planet (as opposed to a smaller ship, or many smaller ships) is to be disguised as a planet.

SO - it won't happen, it makes no sense. We will either have cloaked spacecraft of more manageable sizes heading our way, or an artificial planet will be in orbit somewhere (pretending to be a real planet).

Acolyte · **Joined:** Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:25 am **Posts:** 9412

We are not paranoid enough. We are not cloaked and now cannot be. If there are many civilisations out there then it is reasonable to suppose some are predatory, some are peaceful and some are paranoid. Only the middle group are safe to be around.

And we are broadcasting our presence to the Universe at the Speed of Light.

How stupid do we have to be? In 100 billion star systems, if there is only a millionth of 1% who would hunt us, that is 1000 species who would be very grateful for a radio beacon such as we began broadcasting and have not ceased to do since the early 1900's.

A planet can be cloaked, not b y making it invisible but by refusing the application of technologies that boost signals beyond the atmosphere. Such signals must be restricted until digital communications become realistic AND targeted. ANYTHING else is a minus sum game where all choices lead to greatest risk.

blademan9999 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:19 am **Posts:** 63

Acolyte wrote:

We are not paranoid enough. We are not cloaked and now cannot be. If there are many civilisations out there then it is reasonable to suppose some are predatory, some are peaceful and some are paranoid. Only the middle group are safe to be around.

And we are broadcasting our presence to the Universe at the Speed of Light.

How stupid do we have to be? In 100 billion star systems, if there is only a millionth of 1% who would hunt us, that is 1000 species who would be very grateful for a radio beacon such as we began broadcasting and have not ceased to do since the early 1900's.

A planet can be cloaked, not b y making it invisible but by refusing the application of technologies that boost signals beyond the atmosphere. Such signals must be restricted until digital communications become realistic AND targeted. ANYTHING else is a minus sum game where all choices lead to greatest risk.

And most of those will be civilizations that are extremely far from us, and therefore there is no point in doing anything.

Acolyte · **Joined:** Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:25 am **Posts:** 9412

That's not at all true. It may be that our current level of power output might escape notice but we are increasing our output at almost exponential rates. Current;ly it is possible that stars out to (to pick a figure) 40 light years can detect us IF they concentrate their equipment in our direction. Soon we will be the brightest radio star in their area.

If the nearest inimical civilisation is 200ly away, it will take 4 times the output to attract their attention - the time to STOP broadcasting like we are the only people in the Universe is as soon as we can get people to stop doing it.

If there are no bad folk out there, or if we are alone, nothing is lost. If there are such races, we are standing in front of the firing range screaming 'SHOOT ME' and building an amplifier so the guys with the cannons can hear us. A sane society would wait till we can get out there and take a quiet look around.

Ever wonder why we aren't picking up signals? One possibility is we are looking for the wrong stuff. Another is all those who broadcast die in short order.

Say Fool CSA · **Posted:** Mon Nov 19, 2012 6:55 pm

Fools amswer is YES.
In the wars in " space " folks can take a huge ball of rock Urth size
or bigger Planet ) they place a thrust engine on it. once it starts to move on the correct angles they push it in a space hole and it " POPS "
into the battle space.
not " Cloaked " but nobody saw it coming !!
Does this Help ?

"Could a Planet Be 'Cloaked'?"

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