Skip to main content Is black light a thing? : r/astrophysics

Is black light a thing?

I already posted on r/nostupidquestions before anyone redirects me there.

Also, before you say that’s literally just darkness, just hear me out please lol. Despite it being called a lightbulb, can a lightbulb, or just bulb, emit light that is the color black? This sounds pretty damn stupid but bear with me. I was daydreaming today, not while typing this post, about a house with light bulbs that emit all different colors, including black.

Is this possible at all in real life? Can a bulb create the color black without the influence of any external environment, in the same way light bulbs create sparks of incandescence that become light? Can you create a shadow out of thin air, with nothing around it?

I get that this was originally about whether we could make whatever black light is to help see in the same way a normal light bulb works, but now I’m more curious

[deleted]

But wouldn't that mean that there is visible and invisible light? If black is when all visible light is absorbed by something? (This is a serious question)

1

Most light is invisible! Visible light is just a tiny fraction of the light spectrum. Invisible light includes radio waves, infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma.

1
Continue this thread