Who knows physics?

[Cancer]

Re: Who knows physics?

 

Even on Mars' date=' there isn't that much UV relative to visible light -- the sun's emission spectrum peaks in the visible range. If you want to increase the total available light, I'd go for mirrors, though it's not really a problem you have to worry about all that much.[/quote']

 

An advantage to this idea is that mirror coatings can selectively reflect only those parts of the spectrum you want. As trivial example, silver coating on a glass mirror reflects visible wavelengths well, but the coating is absorptive in the UV so it would not be reflected to the collection point. (This is the reason ground-based astronomical telescope mirrors have aluminum coatings: silver has higher reflectivity in most of the visible window, but it's catastrophically poor as a relector in the UV.)

[McCoy]

Re: Who knows physics?

 

Why not just throw out a huge array of solar cells outside your colony and use them to run sunlamps for the plants?

Yes, could cover the entire habitat with Douglas-Martin Sunpower Screens and run them to grow lights, probably will do that for the farms, but want a parklike area with "natural" light for when the residents are feeling claustrophobic.

[The Mad GM]

Re: Who knows physics?

 

Orbital mirrors? Say six in orbit, with numerous banks of thin mirrors that adust to always reflect light at your park. If they are roughly the same size as the park, one at a time would be enough to get close to the right amount of light.

[Nyrath]

Re: Who knows physics?

 

There is a branch of physics called "nonlinear optics". A nonlinear optical material can in theory shift the frequency of light that passes through it.

 

The rubber science comes in due to the unfortunate fact that current nonlinear materials only work with very high light intensities, generally laser beams.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_optical

[ajackson]

Re: Who knows physics?

 

Nonlinear optical behavior is typically used to reduce the wavelength (frequency-doubled lasers and the like); the goal here was to increase the wavelength. If you want to do it at all, fluorescence is the way to go.