If a LASER can take the light, direct it in a certain direction, why not create a panel which takes the light and “directs” it in the same direction it came from, out of the other side of the panel. This would obviously require a huge amount of computing capability, taking each photon as it hits the panel and emitting a photon of like size and energy out of the other side.
If the panel is conceived as a sphere, then the sphere would become theoretically invisible, at least as light is perceived.
The sphere could be cooled to the ambient temperature, making it invisible to thermal devices.
I do not think it would be possible to adjust for gravity, it would still bend light waves around it, gravity lensing, which did not actually hit it.
“If a LASER can take the light, direct it in a certain direction, why not create a panel which takes the light and “directs” it in the same direction it came from,... This would obviously require a huge amount of computing capability...” [wbarmy, post 9]
Sorry, won’t work for two reasons.
Laser light and natural light are not the same.
1. Emissions from a laser are so coherent and of such a narrow bandwidth (which means a only tiny difference in wavelength across their spectrum of emitted light) that they are affected pretty much the same by any material they pass through or are reflected by. So they all bounce the same way or bend the same amount.
Natural light - from stars, or light bulbs, or candle flames etc is not coherent and contain much larger bandwidths (many different wavelengths, aka colors). Natural beams reflect or refract in different ways and amounts according to their color. Much more difficult to predict or imitate. But it’s why “white” light splits into many colors on passing through a prism.
2. Light is not strictly photons. It also has wave properties; if it reflects from and object or is refracted passing through it, the wave phase can change and so can the polarization. True of all light: laser beams, or candle flames alike.
In fact, these properties apply to all forms electromagnetic radiation, from miles-long radio waves, through VHF and UHF radio and higher frequencies, microwaves, IR, ultraviolet, X-rays, even cosmic rays (highest frequency commonly known).
Visible light is only a tiny part of the electromagnetic spectrum, between IR and ultraviolet in frequency.
I’m neither a physicist nor an astronomer, but it sounded as if some of the article’s text seemed to refer to processing of imagery & signals from telescopic observations of stars and galaxies. The techniques being researched here could prove useful in creating more accurate pictures and better overall understanding of the objects being observed.