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Hotpoint
Technology > Technology Type or Material > Drytech/Hylotech
Technology > Application > Infrastructure
Technology > Technology Levels > Middle Tech / Midtech
Technology > Application > Power Generation
Technology > Application > Infrastructure
Technology > Technology Levels > Middle Tech / Midtech
Technology > Application > Power Generation
 Image from Steve Bowers and Anders Sandberg |
Illumination source used by some types of Backgrounder and Haloist habitats.
Hotpoints are constructed from cometary or Kuiper masses by encasing the object in a shell of high efficiency fusion reactors. The reactors gradually consume the substance of the central body and use a proportion of the energy produced to illuminate a ring or shell of surrounding habitats. The light is carefully conserved within the habitat so that little is wasted; hotpoints can rarely be detected directly by distant observers, although the waste heat from such a habitat is detectable with suitable instruments.
Hotpoints vary in their energy output and frequency depending on the preferences of their users. Some may shine almost as brightly as a small star or sunline, while others are barely visible. In particular, many Backgrounder or deep space Haloist habitats use hotpoints that radiate almost entirely in the infrared portion of the spectrum. In such cases, the residents of the surrounding habitats will usually modify themselves to see in extremely low light levels or in frequencies matching the primary energy output of their parent hotpoint.
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Development Notes
Text by Todd Drashner
Initially published on 28 July 2007.
Initially published on 28 July 2007.
