Not quite.
Yes, quite. Any material heated to the same temperature will look the same in FLIR. You're literally seeing the temperature, so the material is irrelevant.
A shiny steel ball bearing heated in a furnace along with a rusty dull ball bearing will barely glow a bit red while the rusty one will be a bright orange.
That's because it will take the shiny steel ball's surface longer to reach a higher temperature. It's like the difference between holding a match to a 1 kg steel ball and 1 kg of steel wool.
No, the "insulation" effect of shininess works in both directions. I first found this out by trying to find out how hot I could make a paperclip with the alcohol lamp in my chemistry set as a kid. You're just guessing.
So you claim that a shiny steel ball heated to 1000°C will have a different infrared signature than a dull steel ball heated to 1000°C?
Yes. If that wasn't so, (and the shiny ball DID absorb heat slower), I'm pretty sure you could make a perpetual motion machine. You could also make one-half of the shiny ball rusty and still see the same effect.
Some web page on this stuff. https://reliabilityweb.com/articles/entry/a-practical-guide-to-emissivity-in-infrared-inspections
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