Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices

[Macavity]

I think my only contribution will be to identify the things by name! However they did feature in the recent edition of the BBC's "Bang". But "electricity from Infra-Red" - Certainly something to feed the imagination... Perhaps we'll all become "IR imagers" in the future?

[acey]

I suppose you could always point a camcorder at the sky and put it on "nightshot" mode - though I don't suppose you'd see much.

Trouble with IR astronomy, I believe, is that there are only certain wavelengths that can penetrate the atmosphere - but it can surely only be a matter of time before someone comes up with detectors for amateurs.

I suppose you have to keep them in a deep freeze though - just think what IR "light pollution" must be like.

[callump]

There are a number of amateurs who do IR imaging of planets - a standard ccd is sensitive enough at near IR frequencies. You need to remove the IR block filter, and add an IR Pass one (that blocks the visible), though.

For anything longer, you really need to be up a mountain...

/sbs