Sample reflectivity profile

[ahmadr]

The one thing I would recommend, though: Get some fine grit sandpaper, painter's tape, a can of black Duplicolor, and a can of clearcoat Duplicolor, and black out that chrome grille surround. It'll give the car more of a "sport" look, and it'll get rid of the other big reflective thing on your front end.

It is reflective, but because it is angled, it is reflecting light to the stars

[ahmadr]

If you believe this, what do you think makes different objects different colors? Why is one car red and another blue?

I was talking about reflectivity = the % of return of a light striking an object . What I explained is : the parts of his car that reflects his flash would be mostly identical if taken with a infrared flash .

If you look at remote imagery made by satellite you will see that some material absorbs greatly infrared , mostly plants , but on a car there are no such material : each part reflects infrared according to their own color and their finish , mat with less , glossy with high reflectivity , bright color with high , dark with less , but the rule of proportionality remains the same ...

Exactly. The "profile" I shot assumes IR would have the same reflectivity as visible light. As long as you don't have anything targeted for IR blocking (or transmission), this is a good assumption. Furthermore, virtually all the reflection comes from inherently reflective items (lights, plate) that would certainly do the same for IR

[Eloi]

The fact that infrared light is also reflected off the mirrors provides evidence in support of the idea that infrared light behaves like visible light.

From a Nasa site ...

http://media.nasaexplores.com/lessons/04-047/5-8_2.pdf