Thermal Vision Vs. Night Vision

Night vision goggles are able to multiply a given amount of light by thousands of times. This light may come from any given source such as the moon, stars or even the light coming from a nearby city. The downside for regular night vision goggles is that during utter darkness, they are uncapable to detect any object since the light is not present.

Here is when thermal goggles come in handy - thermal detection can be used even when there's no source of light. An additional advantage is that they can be programmed to sound an alarm when an enemy draws closer which is done by 'knowing' where heat is. The downside for thermal goggles is that they cannot detect "cold" objects.