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Infrared is the only way to see things that are cold (as in not a star) or extremely far away (due to redshift).


What about reflected light, like most things we see in the solar system?


Good point, I shouldn't have said "only." I have heard of reflected light been used for exoplanet observations although I think it's quite faint. I guess some nebulae are illuminated by stars. I don't know if the reflected light is longer wavelength than the incident light, but I suspect so. BTW I'm not an astronomer!




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