• tal@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    “I want a spot, but I want all of my sunlight focused onto a spot about a centimeter across. I’ll give you the coordinates.”

    • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      Because the sun is not a point source but a disk half a degree across, you can’t focus the sun tighter than about a 1km spot from a mirror in low earth orbit.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        Okay but can we make that 1 km hot enough to burn everything inside of it?

        For science of course.